reciprocity + kin.
Permaculture ‘people care’ principle in architecture and home design.
People care is a permaculture based approach to caring for self and community. Focusing on positive opportunities rather than obstacles. Based on the overture; when people’s needs are met in simple, collaborative and compassionate ways, the ecosystems encompassing them will bloom. Here at Homeful people care is embraced through the practice of ‘enoughness’: working out what you really need to be happy and healthy, without taking more than your fair share. When our homes are created with this in mind, the positive impacts radiate.
“Do what you can
With what you have.
Nothing more is needed.”
- Rick Rubin.
in a consumptive world, we can redefine care.
People Care starts with caring for self, not in a trendy self-care buy all the anti-aging products the internet offers up to you kinda way. But in a way of encouraging the development of self-reliance and awareness, which can come from a focus on non-material self-care. Through identifying robust values and taking responsibility for our decisions (and often privilege) we can begin to empower ourselves, which in turn allows the same vigor to be shared with the community around us. This is a rational place to start thinking through how your home space supports this, or can support this further. If you’re embarking on the journey of creating a home, whether a renovation or new build download our Values-led Briefing Guide here.
Through our processes here at Designful and Homeful a level of reciprocity is required to make for a delightful design experience. It’s simple, you define your needs and values and we’ll converge with you, through a design that is the best fit for your needs and site. And then we all observe an outcome that is designed from a collective perspective, starting from the base focus on self.
“A truly rational human world is one that doesn’t look like efficiency or profit or perfected machines.
It’s a world that reflects who we are as a species, in all our incredible diversity, fluidity, history and eccentricity.
It’s a world of never-ending interestingness + multiplicity.”
- Thomas Heatherwick.
designing home spaces with a focus on people.
People care principles can also relieves the external pressures of what the latest Pinterest or social media craze is. Instead it shifts the focus to a more pliable notion of architecture, something more human. A creation that will last for longer, be used flexibly for generations and take less from the world’s finite resources. That’s not to say we’re discouraging beauty in the every-day house, but rather that beautiful spaces can be defined in other ways, rather than embedded in how much of everything you’ve squeezed under a giant roof (see our previous newsletter on Defining Small.) There is beauty to be found in homes being designed to witness the seasonal shifts with open arms, for cooking, bathing, sleeping, sharing, feeling, actively living within the natural cycle around us, not tucked away in cavernous houses on screens. These are the moments that we design for, these are the moments that our Homeful pre-designed house plans support. Housing should support our kin and others for the long term. It’s time to start building homes that are truly ‘enough’ — for your values, lifestyle, budget and the planet.
“If we dedicated our lives solely to noticing changes in natural light and shadow as the hours pass, we would constantly discover something new.”
- Rick Rubin.
further reading + goodies.
Head to the Homeful shop to download your free Values-led Briefing Guide.
This resource will step you through - identifying your values and ideal lifestyle, defining what is enough for you, thinking through what functions and activities will support your values and ideal lifestyle. Then focusing on how your home can facilitate this, defining your financial capacity, and how to make decisions and compromises.
