A healthy machine for living: Investigating the fluidity of open spaces in the domestic environment during the pandemic

Abstract

The study investigates the rising utilisations of open domestic spaces for living activities during the COVID-19 outbreak. As a living machine, the house is constituted by elements through a particular organisation for the wellbeing of the users, which includes its open spaces. The study points out that the discussion of the role and utilisations of domestic open spaces has been limited, focusing on simple activities and its performances on aiding building comforts. Based on observations and interviews on fifteen households in greater Jakarta, Indonesia, the paper maps different utilisations of open spaces, addressing them as fluid spatial strategies that support the health and wellbeing of the overall domestic spaces. The study highlights three important roles of domestic open spaces in a tropical context, demonstrating their transitional, hygiene enhancing, and productive capacities. It is argued that these capacities embrace and encourage the often-fluid relationship between architecture and its surrounding environment, as a part of a healthy machine of living, particularly in the times of a pandemic.