• Author:Eric
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Humanitas // Part 1

As a young boy of only 9 I received a homework assignment from school to design my dream home. I didn’t realise before then how much this would excite me, but it did. I went home and almost worked through the night to prepare my design for my dream home. I had a large format piece of paper and drew a large floor plan, complete with furniture layouts and little cars in the garage – I love cars, so this part was a particular labour of love. The house was elevated above ground level, with a central open courtyard and floor to ceiling windows all around the perimeter, taking in views of the perfect location – beach and ocean on one side, mountains on the other.

It’s taken me years to make sense of this passion for homes and house design in the overall picture of my life. I’m still on this journey, as it sometimes seems an odd sort of passion to work with. Over the next five blog posts, I hope to unpack this and explain some of the thinking behind this interest of mine, how I’ve developed it and how I see it in action within the purposes of God in my life.

Initially, this passion was developed through observing the homes around where I lived, and sketching the houses that I visited. My brother was also a huge influence in my early life, as he studied architecture at around the same time.

I see our homes as fundamental to who we are as people. Intertwined with our family unit, the places we live create the environment where we become who we are. They create a safe space to learn and grow, to experience new things and to process old. As such, they are fundamental to human flourishing, and their importance in our lives is not to be underestimated.

PHOTO CREDIT: I took this photo on a research trip to Copenhagen; one of the many modern buildings in the Ørestad area of the city.