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| ==Construction== | ==Construction== | ||
| Modern house construction techniques include ] (in areas with access to supplies of wood) and ] or sometimes ] (in arid regions with scarce wood-resources). Some areas use ] almost exclusively, and quarried ] has long provided walling. Increasingly popular alternative construction materials include insulated concrete forms (foam forms filled with ]), structural insulated panels (foam panels faced with oriented strand board or fiber cement), and light-gauge steel framing and heavy-gauge steel framing. | |||
| Some home designers have begun to collaborate with structural engineers who use computers and ] to design kitted and pre-cut steel-framed homes with known resistance to high wind loads and ] forces. These newer products provide labor savings, more consistent quality, and possibly accelerated construction processes. | Some home designers have begun to collaborate with structural engineers who use computers and ] to design kitted and pre-cut steel-framed homes with known resistance to high wind loads and ] forces. These newer products provide labor savings, more consistent quality, and possibly accelerated construction processes. | ||
Revision as of 02:52, 29 April 2006
- This article discusses structures for habitation. For other meanings of the word "house", see House (disambiguation).
A house in its most general sense consists of a human-built dwelling with enclosing walls, a floor, and a roof. It provides shelter against precipitation, wind, heat, cold and intruding humans and animals. When occupying a house routinely as a dwelling. English-speaking humans may call that house their home (though animals may often live in the house as well, both domestic pets and "unauthorised" animals such as mice living in the walls). People may leave their 'home' most of the day for work and recreation, but typically return home at least for sleeping.
A house generally has at least one entrance, usually in the form of a door or a portal - but note that some early houses such as those at Çatalhöyük used roofs and ladders for access. Many houses have back doors that open into the backyard (American English and Australian English) or back garden (British English). Houses may have any number of windows or none at all.
==Word use==
In English the word "house" on its own usually refers to a dwelling for one family, or for more than one family living together, sharing the house. In other languages the translation for "house" often covers other types of building, such as tower blocks or commercial property: in German, for example, a "Haus" can also refer to a hotel or a block of "flats" (UK) or "apartment" blocks (US).
English-speakers can use the word "house" in combination with other words in English to describe buildings other than residential dwellings, such as an opera house, a "monkey house" (a building for several cages) in a zoo, etc. The term "madhouse" refers disparagingly to a mental hospital or insane asylum (also see House (disambiguation) for more.) The White House has only a secondary use as a dwelling.
As a verb, to house (pronounced "haʊz") means "to provide a routine locale for an object, a person or an organization". Museums, for example, can house historic or artistic artifacts. A business may be housed in a storefront, or a family may be housed (by a local authority, for example) in an apartment or a house. Planners and the like often refer to a collection of domiciles (either for persons, for organizations, for animals or for objects) as housing. An individual person or a single object might also find housing in an appropriate domicile.
"House" and "home" are not synonymous. "House" refers to the physical object, "home" has a more abstract and poetic connotation as the center of family life. Enlisted men during World War II used the phrase "A house is not a home" - in part to justify infidelity during war-time. On the other hand, a stately home classifies as a house.
Types of house
- See also list of house types.
Three basic house types exist:
- Single-family homes - detached and often standing on their own parcel of land
- Semi-detached houses - attached to one or more houses
- Terrace (architecture) (UK) or rowhouse (USA) - attached to other houses, possibly in a row (separated by a party wall)
In the United Kingdom, 27% of the population lives in terraced houses and 32% in semi-detached houses, as of 2002. In the United States in 2000, 61.4% of people lived in detached houses and 5.6% in semi-detached houses, the rest living in rowhouses or apartments, except for 7% living in mobile homes.
A "face house" is built in one or more faces; though it occurs most commonly as a fort or playhouse for children, this design sometimes serves as a house for adults.
Archaeologists have a particular interest in house shape: they see the transition over time from round huts to rectangular houses as a significant advance in optimising the use of space, and associate it with the growth of the idea of a personal area.
Inside the house
Many houses have several rooms with specialised functions. These may include a living/eating area, a sleeping area, and (if indoor facilities are available) a washing/lavatory area. Often, in traditional agrarian societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock may share part of the house with human beings. In the West, with ready access to plumbing and a fairly high standard of living, each house will at least contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or kitchen area, and a living room. A typical "4-square house" (pictured) occurred commonly in the early history of the United States of America, with a staircase in the center of the house, surrounded by four rooms, and other sections of the house including a garage.
Ideally, builders of houses should design rooms to meet the needs of the people who live in the house. Such designing, known as interior design, has become a popular subject in universities. Feng shui, originally a Chinese method of situating houses according to such factors as sunlight and microclimates, has recently expanded its scope to include designing house interiors with the intention of giving harmonious effects to the people living inside the house.
Construction
Modern house construction techniques include light-frame construction (in areas with access to supplies of wood) and adobe or sometimes rammed-earth construction (in arid regions with scarce wood-resources). Some areas use brick almost exclusively, and quarried stone has long provided walling. Increasingly popular alternative construction materials include insulated concrete forms (foam forms filled with concrete), structural insulated panels (foam panels faced with oriented strand board or fiber cement), and light-gauge steel framing and heavy-gauge steel framing.
Some home designers have begun to collaborate with structural engineers who use computers and finite element analysis to design kitted and pre-cut steel-framed homes with known resistance to high wind loads and seismic forces. These newer products provide labor savings, more consistent quality, and possibly accelerated construction processes.
Lesser-used construction methods which have gained (or regained) popularity in recent years include:
These methods though not in wide use, frequently appeal to homeowners who may become actively involved in the construction process.
Compare wattle and daub.
Animal houses
Humans often build "houses" for domestic or wild animals, often resembling smaller versions of human domiciles. Familiar animal houses built by humans include bird houses, hen houses, and doghouses or kennels, while housed agricultural animals more often live in barns. However, human interest in building houses for animals does not stop at the domestic pet. People build bird houses, bat houses, nesting sites for wild ducks, and more.
Heraldry
The house occurs as an exceedingly rare charge in heraldry.
Shelter
Forms of shelter simpler than a house include:
- dugouts
- yaodongs
- tents (see also camp)
- campers
- huts
- roofs without walls, or a structure with roof and partial walls, such as often at a bus stop (see picture there), and a gazebo.
Compare houseboat.
See also
Articles |
Lists |