The research in this thesis was motivated by an interest in understanding the work and effort that goes into organising family homes, with the aim of informing the design of novel information technology for the home. It was undertaken to address a notable absence of in-depth research into domestic information and communication technology in the fields of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). To that end, this thesis presents an ethnographic study of everyday routines in thirteen family homes. Following an established tradition within HCI and CSCW, the study applies qualitative fieldwork methods as a means to investigate and interpret the empirical materials. Periods of extended observation and semi-structured interviews with the thirteen families over a three-year period form the basis of the empirical material. The materials are analysed using a hybrid perspective composed of a combination of influences from the study of material culture, to interaction analysis and ethnography. The hybrid analytical perspective draws out insights regarding the families’ mundane practices and the artfully devised solutions they use to organise daily life. Four household activities and artefacts are given specific focus: (i) household list making, (ii) the display qualities of refrigerator doors, (iii) the organisation of household clutter, and (iv) the devising of bespoke solutions in organising home life. Broader findings include the observations that people tailor solutions to meet their needs, that optimum efficiency is not the pre-eminent determinant in what method or artefact people choose to organise themselves and their homes, and that homes determine their individual characters in part by how everyday tasks and organisation are accomplished. In short, the personal qualities of these mundane practices are part of what makes a home a home. These findings are used to elicit implications for information technology design, with the aim of encouraging designers of domestic technology to be aware of and respectful towards the idiosyncratic nature of the home, and, wherever possible, to design in such a way as to allow the technology to be appropriated for families’ bespoke tailoring. To evaluate and address this point, two design projects, one on augmented magnets and another on a “media bowl”, are used to develop and test out this approach. Both projects are critically examined to reflect on the efficacy of the design approach and what lessons might be learnt for future studies and design exercises. The combination of detailed ethnographic fieldwork on family homes combined with the development of experimental design projects is intended to deepen the understanding of the mundane behaviours and everyday routines of family homes, in order to better inform the design of information technology for the home.

Ce travail de thèse en architecture se veut être une réponse à l’impasse conceptuelle dans laquelle se trouvent la plupart des recherches centrées sur les comportements de consommation d’énergie au logement, étudiés soit sous l’angle technique soit sous l’angle culturel, sans réussir à dresser une image complète des pratiques de consommation d’énergie. Elle repose sur une démarche de recherche inductive menée à partir de deux enquêtes de terrain, l’une auprès de vingt ménages habitant le parc social et l’autre chez six ménages du parc privé, qui ont conduit à une description ethnographique fine des pratiques domestiques. Celle-ci repose principalement sur la mise en place d’une méthodologie originale permettant de rendre lisibles les usages réels de l’énergie en fonction des activités qui ont lieu au domicile, en leur rendant leur contexte et leur dimension spatiale. Les résultats permettent de révéler un lien fort entre le rapport au logement qu’entretiennent les habitants (grâce à l’occupation des différents espaces et des ambiances mises en place, de la mise en scène du logement), et leur rapport à l’énergie (au travers de l’usage des différents appareils utilisant de l’énergie, du chauffage ou de l’aération), qui ne relève de facteurs financiers que dans des cas extrêmes. Les comportements de consommation alors observés prennent place dans le contexte de la construction d’un environnement rendu habitable et confortable par ses habitants, et donc dans une dimension très subjective du « bien habiter » et du « bien consommer ». / This architectural thesis is the reaction to the conceptual impasse found within most of the researches centred around behavioural patterns concerning energy consumption within housing, which is examined from either a technical or a cultural angle while failing to represent an overall view of energy consumption practices. The thesis is based on an inductive research approach following two surveys: with twenty households from the social housing sector and with six from the private housing sector, which generate a comprehensive ethnographic definition of domestic practices. This definition is predominantly based on a newly formulated methodology which provides insight into the real uses of energy with regards to domestic activities by applying a spacial quality to the context and dimension of such behaviours. The results reveals a strong link between the connection that the inhabitants have with their dwellings (resulting from their use of various spaces and their creation of particular environments, the staging of the home) and their relationship with energy (via the use of energy-based appliances, of heating and ventilation), rather than economic factors which are only relevent in extreme cases. Behaviours concerning consumption therefore take place within the context of a created environment made liveable and comfortable by its occupants and therefore a very subjective context with regards to «living well» and «consuming well».

Après la crise des années 1990, le monde rural, à l’image de la société russe, est traversé, à partir des années 2000, par un processus de normalisation économique et sociale. Cette thèse étudie ce phénomène – par le bas – à partir d’une enquête ethnographique menée au sein des espaces ruraux russes, portant sur les pratiques de la vie quotidienne dans divers lieux et auprès de différents acteurs en situation de précarité. L’argumentation développée obéit à un double mouvement. Elle montre d’une part comment le développement de l’économie de marché a généré au sein de la population rurale des formes diverses de précarité et d’autre part que l’investissement des individus au sein de l’économie domestique peut être considéré comme un moyen de se protéger contre le risque de précarisation, en se reconstruisant des formes de vie stables et en réduisant par là-même l’incertitude de leur existence. D’une part, l’examen de l’organisation de l’économie domestique est centré sur la mise en place des mécanismes de protections rapprochées en réponse à la situation de précarité vécue par les acteurs. D’autre part, cette thèse met en évidence que le mouvement de repli des hommes vers la sphère domestique entraine une redéfinition de leur rôle au sein de la famille et comment leur intégration à un collectif de travail domestique permet à ceux-ci de retrouver une place légitime dans la société. Enfin, ce travail révèle la manière dont les logiques marchandes véhiculées par le développement du capitalisme sont retraduites dans les pratiques économiques ordinaires et comment elles expriment un mouvement conjugué de domestication du marché et de marchéisation de la sphère domestique. / After the crises of the 1990’s, like the overall Russian society, the rural world experienced a process of economical and social normalization. This thesis studies this phenomenon – from below – on the basis of an ethnography of the practices of everyday life carried in the Russian rural territories, in various places and concerning different people in precarious situation. The argumentation of this thesis follows a double movement. On one hand, she explains how the development of the market economy generated in the rural population various form of precarious situations, and on the other hand she demonstrates how the work of people in the household production can be interpret as a protection toward this risk and a way of rebuilding some stability and security into the conditions of their daily life. Firstly, the analysis of the organisation of the household economy is focusing on the constitution of the family solidarities and on the way they help people dealing with the insecurity of their daily life. Secondly, this thesis emphasis that the movement of retreat into the household experienced by the men lead to a redefinition of their role in the family and highlight how by their integration in the household production they manage to rehabilitate themselves within the society. Thirdly, this study shows how the market logics spread by the development of the capitalism economy are translated in the ordinaries economics practices and how these practices reveal the existence of a combine movement of domestication of the market and marketization of household economy