Memories of Childhood Homes: Some Contributions of Environmental Autobiography to Interior Design Education and Research

Abstract

Environmental autobiography is a written memoir of one's own life with emphasis on environmental aspects. This article proposes that environmental autobiography, in addition to its value as a self–learning process, can generate useful concepts for the programming phase in designing children's environments. Much of the limited knowledge about children's use of interior space is based on observational studies by adults. Environmental autobiography is a method for understanding more directly children's feelings about the places they inhabit. As self–reported data, environmental autobiography may yield insights into child–environment behaviors that might otherwise be ignored. Reentering the childhood experience can be a rich source of inspiration for interior design students. This article presents examples from students’ environmental autobiographies collected over a 4–year period. A central theme of these accounts is the preference for small, enclosed spaces. This theme is discussed as it supports children's need for seclusion, exploration, and imagination.