Compiled by AHRC Centre for the Study of the Domestic Interior
Version 1.1
A nest, like any other image of rest and quiet, is immediately associated with the image of a simple house. When we pass from the image of a nest to the image of a house, and vice versa, it can only be in an atmosphere of simplicity. Van Gough, who painted numerous nests, as well as numerous peasant cottages, wrote to his brother: 'The cottage, with its thatched roof, made me think of a wren's nest.' For a painter, it is probably twice as interesting if, while painting a cottage, he dreams of a nest. It is as though one dreamed twice, in two registers, when one dreams of an image cluster such as this. For the simplest image is doubled; it is itself and something else than itself. Van Gogh's thatched cottages are overladen with thatch. Thick, coarsely plaited straw emphasises the will to provide shelter by extending well beyond the walls. Indeed, in this instance, among all the shelter virtues, the roof is the dominant evidence. Under the roof's covering the walls are of earth and stone. The openings are low. A thatched cottage is set on the ground like a nest in a field.
Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962), a leading European philosopher, explored the meaning of home in his 1958 study, The Poetics of Space. Bachelard took elements of the house, 'from cellar to garret', in order to understand what might be considered to be their ontological meaning. His ideas were extremely influential on subsequent philosophers, as well as on art, architecture and design in general.
In this section Bachelard develops an analogy between the psychology and phenomenology of the nest and domestic space.
Physical / Emotional States
Boundaries and Thresholds
Idea
Bachelard, Gaston 1958
Book, JA2010
Bachelard, Gaston 1958
Book, JA2011
Bachelard, Gaston 1958
Book, JA2013
Bachelard, Gaston 1958
Book, JA2015
Lefebvre, Henri 1974
Book, JA2033
Lefebvre, Henri 1974
Book, JA2034
Lefebvre, Henri 1974
Book, JA2035
Compiled by AHRC Centre for the Study of the Domestic Interior
Version 1.1