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Posted by on April 2, 2007, 10:19 pm
Who I am: a non-fiction writer in Perth, Australia, who sometimes
just gets curious about something.
What has me wondering this time is this: tens of thousands
of balconies around Perth, almost never used by humans.
Why? People must want these balconies. Do they only
have in mind using them for pot plants, drying clothes,
arranging chairs for ghosts to sit in, or usually nothing at all?
What is the psychology here? Has anyone studied this
phenomenon? I have done a lot of Google searches,
looked through hundreds of book titles at Amazon,
but nothing comes up that explains this business.
I'd be glad for any clues, or contact details for anyone
who may have insights into it.
Thanks.
My latest web publication, which branches a little
in architecture: "Tips on choosing a suburb in Perth."
http://www.viacorp.com/perth-suburbs-compared.html
Looking at a lot of houses when I was researching this,
I suddenly "saw" the empty balconies.
Jim Heath
viacorp.com
Perth
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Posted by Michael Bulatovich on April 3, 2007, 4:39 pm
> Who I am: a non-fiction writer in Perth, Australia, who sometimes
> just gets curious about something.
>
> What has me wondering this time is this: tens of thousands
> of balconies around Perth, almost never used by humans.
> Why? People must want these balconies. Do they only
> have in mind using them for pot plants, drying clothes,
> arranging chairs for ghosts to sit in, or usually nothing at all?
>
> What is the psychology here? Has anyone studied this
> phenomenon? I have done a lot of Google searches,
> looked through hundreds of book titles at Amazon,
> but nothing comes up that explains this business.
>
> I'd be glad for any clues, or contact details for anyone
> who may have insights into it.
Are you talking about balconies way above grade in multi-unit buildings, or
porches and verandahs in single family houses?
--
MichaelB
www.michaelbulatovich.ca
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Posted by Michael Bulatovich on April 4, 2007, 7:36 am
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Who I am: a non-fiction writer in Perth, Australia, who sometimes
>> > just gets curious about something.
>>
>> > What has me wondering this time is this: tens of thousands
>> > of balconies around Perth, almost never used by humans.
>> > Why? People must want these balconies. Do they only
>> > have in mind using them for pot plants, drying clothes,
>> > arranging chairs for ghosts to sit in, or usually nothing at all?
>>
>> > What is the psychology here? Has anyone studied this
>> > phenomenon? I have done a lot of Google searches,
>> > looked through hundreds of book titles at Amazon,
>> > but nothing comes up that explains this business.
>>
>> > I'd be glad for any clues, or contact details for anyone
>> > who may have insights into it.
>>
>> Are you talking about balconies way above grade in multi-unit buildings,
>> or
>> porches and verandahs in single family houses?
>> --
>>
>> MichaelBwww.michaelbulatovich.ca
>
>
> Thanks for trying to work out what I was after.
> I am serious, though it may not have
> sounded like it.
>
> I mean elevated balconies, often high enough
> that you wouldn't survive a fall. Some are incredibly
> swank, in three-level McMansions, full of posh
> chairs and tables -- but never any people! The
> weather can be beautiful, the view splendid,
> it can be the weekend, it can be any time.
> Where are they? I suspect the companies that
> sell these houses must promise a kind of
> holiday-brochure vision: sit out here with all
> your friends, have drinks, impress the hell
> out of them, and feel good about yourself.
> Otherwise, what do the buyers think they're doing?
>
> I have looked at so many of these, and only
> once briefly -- so memorably -- a fine looking
> woman, like the figure on the prow of an ancient
> sailing ship. She was gazing out, doing nothing.
>
> On cheaper dwellings, townhouses with two
> floors and especially apartments, you might
> think that balconies are written into the building regulations
> as requirements. You never see such buildings
> without balconies. And in all my gawking at townhouse
> and apartment balconies, I've never seen human life.
> Pot plants, clothes drying, chairs, sometimes a little table.
> But usually nothing at all. On cheaper apartments, built in severe
> Soviet style, the balconies are sometimes used
> for outdoor storage. Rusty equipment, boxes,
> who knows what. Even that is rare.
>
> Why pay for this extra space if the use is
> so slight? What's going on here?
One of the well known problems with balconies in apartment buildings is
their depth. Below a certain width they aren't social spaces. In single
family dwellings, it probably has to do with competing social spaces winning
out. Around here they are used by people trying to get away from people.
--
MichaelB
www.michaelbulatovich.ca
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Posted by Kris Krieger on April 4, 2007, 1:12 pm
research@viacorp.com wrote in
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Who I am: a non-fiction writer in Perth, Australia, who sometimes
>> > just gets curious about something.
>>
>> > What has me wondering this time is this: tens of thousands
>> > of balconies around Perth, almost never used by humans.
>> > Why? People must want these balconies. Do they only
>> > have in mind using them for pot plants, drying clothes,
>> > arranging chairs for ghosts to sit in, or usually nothing at all?
>>
>> > What is the psychology here? Has anyone studied this
>> > phenomenon? I have done a lot of Google searches,
>> > looked through hundreds of book titles at Amazon,
>> > but nothing comes up that explains this business.
>>
>> > I'd be glad for any clues, or contact details for anyone
>> > who may have insights into it.
>>
>> Are you talking about balconies way above grade in multi-unit
>> buildings, or porches and verandahs in single family houses?
>> --
>>
>> MichaelBwww.michaelbulatovich.ca
>
>
> Thanks for trying to work out what I was after.
> I am serious, though it may not have
> sounded like it.
>
> I mean elevated balconies, often high enough
> that you wouldn't survive a fall. Some are incredibly
> swank, in three-level McMansions, full of posh
> chairs and tables -- but never any people! The
> weather can be beautiful, the view splendid,
> it can be the weekend, it can be any time.
> Where are they?
At the mall, silly ;)
People buy McMansions to *show off*, not because they want to wenjoy
living in them. Balconies are nothing more than additional decor - or,
to put it another way, because it costs extra to have them, they're
little more than just another way of saying "Look at how much money I
have!"...
...the interesting pointbeing that usually, it's not about *having* $$,
but rather, *spending* $$$. If you have a "mere" $225K house, but $1
million in income-producing investments, people look down on you,
*especially* if you <GASP!!!> do your own yard work, and especially if
you get regular hsorts, rather than paying $125 fro a pair of shorts that
has some other guy's ("designer's") name on the arse.
It's all about the desire to be envied. IOW, social status - c.f. chimp
society and baboon society.
> I suspect the companies that
> sell these houses must promise a kind of
> holiday-brochure vision: sit out here with all
> your friends, have drinks, impress the hell
> out of them, and feel good about yourself.
> Otherwise, what do the buyers think they're doing?
You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned impressing others.
Such people generally think the outdoors is "oogy". Bugs are "creepy",
and/or bite; if there is no wind, it's not comfortable, but if there is
even the slightest breeze, it'll "mess up" the $200 salon-done hair
(often done in a way that already looks like it's been slept on...ah,
fashin...). If it's humid out, or it's warm out and one perspires a it,
that'd ruin one';s makeup, or mkae one look like one has been exerting
oneself - and if the weather is too cool, that might make makeup crack or
make one's skin look dry...
...and so on and so forth. A lot of people are total dips and
dooflollies.
>
> I have looked at so many of these, and only
> once briefly -- so memorably -- a fine looking
> woman, like the figure on the prow of an ancient
> sailing ship. She was gazing out, doing nothing.
If it was a squat, "ugly" woman or man, would you have noticed...? Or
would you have thought that such people should stay indoors rather than
"putting themselves on display"?
Not making an accusation, just wondering. Everyone waxes poetic about
beauty - it's easy when beauty fits into the currently-accepted social
definition. But what about the rest of the population?
I think the difference betweent the classic European idea of the balconey
(or outdoor cafe, or so on), and the more Americanized view, is the
difference between being a human being and "living", as opposed to "being
on display".
- KMK
>
> On cheaper dwellings, townhouses with two
> floors and especially apartments, you might
> think that balconies are written into the building regulations
> as requirements. You never see such buildings
> without balconies. And in all my gawking at townhouse
> and apartment balconies, I've never seen human life.
> Pot plants, clothes drying, chairs, sometimes a little table.
> But usually nothing at all. On cheaper apartments, built in severe
> Soviet style, the balconies are sometimes used
> for outdoor storage. Rusty equipment, boxes,
> who knows what. Even that is rare.
>
> Why pay for this extra space if the use is
> so slight? What's going on here?
>
> I am simply puzzled.
>
> Jim Heath
> viacorp.com
> Perth, Australia
>
>
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Posted by Kris Krieger on April 4, 2007, 12:52 pm
research@viacorp.com wrote in news:1175566771.854807.163960
@e65g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:
> Who I am: a non-fiction writer in Perth, Australia, who sometimes
> just gets curious about something.
>
> What has me wondering this time is this: tens of thousands
> of balconies around Perth, almost never used by humans.
> Why? People must want these balconies. Do they only
> have in mind using them for pot plants, drying clothes,
> arranging chairs for ghosts to sit in, or usually nothing at all?
IMO? It's a three-pronged situation:
(1) the lack of privacy, or rather, a lack of understanding and/or the
effort required to do a few things to enhance balcony privacy;
(2) blaconies that are too small to be sueful and/or to have priovacy
adaptations made to them. A combination of potted plants and screening
materials can be used to create an area which is not completely open to
the stares of strangers, but first, the balcony (or patio) has to be
large enough to accomidate both those materials, and a modest seating
arrangement - and second, it takes a bit of knowledge about design and
about the plants and materials themselves;
(3) poeple increasingly are focused upon *lifestyle* as opposed to
*living*. They envy people who *live* yet are not willing to adjust
their own attitudes (and activities) in order to do so. In the end,
although most people will get a wistful expression, and make wistful
sounds, with regards to something like sitting outside to have their
mornign coffee, with some greenery around to give a bit of privacy, and
yet some views of the city and its activities, the fact is that most
don't want to put the time, money, or effort into creating such a space,
and evenif they wanted to pay someone else to create the space, most
don't want to get out of bed five or ten minutes earlier so as to
actually sit down and have some coffee or tea and a bit of breakfast. In
short, that sort of thing is not seen as a "value producing" activity -
it's personal, and provate, so you don't gain any social status from it;
and it's "non-productive", i.e. does not involve making money, or making
contacts with other people whom one thinks will lead to money-making
connections. This is related to people having "trophy/lifestyle kids" -
i.e., the "requisite" one or two kids, whom they then proceed to foist
off onto nannies and daycare, and otherwise ignore. It they were more
intrested in *living*, they'd take time to enjoy the kids as they
developed and learned to explore the world - IOW, the kids would be a
*part of their lives*, rather than mere window-dressing, i.e. *part of
their lifestyle*.
Building designers understand thse things, at least on a subconscious
level, so balconies are not designed for *living*. They'r more like the
"requisite" pathetic little fireplace inserts that get shoved into so
many homes and condos, and usually just end up making the wallspace
useless (because fires are pretty messy affairs, so many, and from what
I've seen most, people seldom bother with them). IOW, it's a geegaw
that's become expected as part of a certain class of "lifestyle", yet has
very little to do with how people actually *live*.
At least, that's my personal take on it.
-KMK
>
> What is the psychology here? Has anyone studied this
> phenomenon? I have done a lot of Google searches,
> looked through hundreds of book titles at Amazon,
> but nothing comes up that explains this business.
>
> I'd be glad for any clues, or contact details for anyone
> who may have insights into it.
>
> Thanks.
>
> My latest web publication, which branches a little
> in architecture: "Tips on choosing a suburb in Perth."
> http://www.viacorp.com/perth-suburbs-compared.html
> Looking at a lot of houses when I was researching this,
> I suddenly "saw" the empty balconies.
>
> Jim Heath
> viacorp.com
> Perth
>
>
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