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Everyday aesthetic as a basic need

Architecture builds the frames for human lives and thereby frames humans and their well being. Thus, the role of the user and their needs are brought into the picture. The American psychologist Abraham Maslow defined human basic needs as physical needs that must be fulfilled. In my thesis I intend to argue that certain psychic needs should also be added to the basic needs of humans; in particular, the need for aesthetics. I intend to define a specific type of aesthetics, namely the everyday aesthetic that has existed as long as the aesthetic debate. The everyday aesthetic can be defined as a symbolic communication expressed by the user in connection with residential architecture.Scholarship on the need for aesthetics in relation to architecture is lacking. This thesis addresses the subject through a case study documentation and by analyzing traces and patterns of the everyday aesthetic in fifteen residential neighborhoods in different cities across the United States (July 2006). The conclusion that can be drawn from this empirical research indicates the desire for everyday aesthetics functions like a basic need and can be understood as a psychic need appropriate for addition to Maslow's pyramid of human's needs. / Department of Architecture

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/188094
Date January 2006
CreatorsFokdal, Josephine
ContributorsFlores, Carol A. Hrvol
Source SetsBall State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Format90 leaves : ill. (some col.), col. map ; 28 cm.
SourceVirtual Press
Coveragen-us---

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