Eglash - Bao

The discussion of architectural settlements and fractal patterns was particularly intriguing to me because it made me wonder how we as individuals perceive our physical domains versus what they look like from the perspective of an outsider. The factors that seem to influence the actual layout of a household, at least from what can be gathered from the reading, seem to include things such as religion, agricultural significance, livestock, etc. I thought it was particularly interesting that the way in which an individual household was architecturally designed mimicked the way in which the village looked overall. It appears as though an individual can learn a great deal from the way in which a grouping of these houses are arranged. Some of these things might be the importance of certain activities, such as farming or herding, as well as the importance of family members and where they are placed within the house. One example that really stood out to me was that of the household working outward - where, in order to allow additional members to continue living together, they simply added on the original structure. Another example that stood was out was that of the household mimicking the human life cycle and the household as the womb of the earth. While there are invisible ties that connect families together, it is equally important, if not moreso, to consider the physical structure in which families reside and what it is that the household really represents to the community and to the individuals.