Reading Summary:

In Hilde Heynen’s article, “‘Leaving Traces’: Anonymity in the Modernist House,” she explores the varying theories surrounding modernity and the ideal of ‘homelessness’ expressed through architecture. Modern architecture is causing a disconnect from dwellings and the sense of ‘home’. Heynen speaks about this idea of metaphorical ‘homelessness’ expressing the lack of privacy and intimacy in modern architecture, as modernity captured ideas of functionalism and heroism pulling away from comfort and warmth. Walter Benjamin experimented with this paradox differentiating between two models of dwelling, including an old model based on security and enclosure and a new one aiming towards flexibility and openness. Throughout his experiment, Benjamin argued that modernist architecture was intended to create settings for inhabitants that would offer a classless society through openness and transparency. However, opposing modernists argued that the abstract interiors of modern architecture expressed masculinity, disregarding desires and ideas associated with femininity. In creating these cold and abstract spaces, modernists are taking away from the feminine aspect of architecture associated with the feeling of ‘home’. Sibyl Moholy-Nagy agreed with these ideas and expressed that a home should provide its inhabitants with a sense of identification and privacy. She expresses that architects should focus on shaping individuals’ identity into their homes rather than merely designing a building. Overall, Heynen expresses how modernist architecture is often associated with a masculinist logic of abstract interiors, but interesting modernist houses have been modified by feminine sensibilities to create a more complex and inhabitable space.

Building Interpretation:

Tailored Coffee Roasters is a local coffee shop located in Eugene Oregon, not far from the University of Oregon campus. It is a public space with a variety of seating for people to occupy and use how they please. Tailored is a great example of a modern space that also offers the unhoused people an environment of comfort and warmth. This space offers many aspects of modern architecture through its large use of transparent glass all along the facade, however through its interior decorations it offers a more personal touch. Which provides a comforting homey feel to its users. Allowing the unhoused people to occupy the space during its open hours and feel a sense of ‘home’. While the uses can not imprint their own identity to the space, they can be immersed in the space’s own identity. Allowing the users to still be comfortable even if it is not the same comfort they are provided in their own homes. Altho this space does lack privacy, it still provides a safe space for the users to interact with the home Tailored has created for itself. 

This image provides a view of Tailored’s interior space showing is modern design and homey/personalized decorations