Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Case for Rooms

citylab.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 165 posts

Re: The Case for Rooms

#21

Post by adrianmonk »

alkonaut wrote: post #7

The open (Kitchen) floor plan to me represents the idea that cooking isn’t a chore separate from eating and socializing. I want to cook for an hour without being alone. Privacy in the kitchen would never be desireable. “Entertaining” doesn’t require guests. There is also a matter of space. A shared living/dining/cooking space can use a lot less space than three separate rooms. I couldn’t afford the separate solution…

Open floor plans make better and worse use of space. One space can serve many functions, so that's a gain.

But when you eliminate a wall, you eliminate a place to put bookcases and such. One of the rules in making the most of a small space is "go vertical". Walls help you do that. So that's a loss for open plans.

Re: The Case for Rooms

#22

Post by oflannabhra »

I don't really see rooms making a full recovery from the current open floor plan trend. While I agree that there are some downsides to an open floor plan (sound, cleaning, etc), I would be surprised if the open floor plan does not have serious longevity.

Specifically, the open kitchen, which seems to be where the open floor plan started. Attitudes towards meal preparation have had significant changes over the past few decades, and given the changes to women's roles in society, I don't really see a potential to return to separate cooking and serving spaces.

I wouldn't be surprised if the pendulum swings the other way soon, so that there is at least some compartmentalization of the first floor (kitchen, dining room, living room, entry, etc). But probably the dining room and kitchen will be that last to be divided, if ever.

Re: The Case for Rooms

#24

Post by gabriel34 »

The article touches upon but does not elaborate on one of the main reasons open designs grew in popularity: money. Increasing population density drives the cost per square meter up and having a dedicated home office, dining room, etc becomes too expensive. Sure you can have lots of rooms if you have the space, but try to cram a family of four in 50 square meters with all these environments and you end up with tiny rooms. A solution would be, as stated on the last paragraph, multi-purpose rooms (e.g. guest bedroom with office)

Off topic: this article is like a fly trap for people who comment without reading the article.

Re: The Case for Rooms

#25

Post by rootsofallevil »

neogodless wrote: post #4

Most of this was historical in nature, which is fine but largely uninteresting to me at the moment. But I did perk up when I recognized one of the issues highlighted by an open floor plan in your home - noises not being contained to one area. For example, trying to watch TV while someone wants to get something done in the kitchen. My spouse and I do this to each other all the time. Someone wants to grind coffee, grab…

It never use to bother me, perhaps because we didn't have a TV for so long, so watching a movie or a TV episode was a bit of an event: Power Up Modem, Power up old PC, load Chrome, Fire up Netflix and a good 2 minutes had elapsed.

Now that we have a TV and still only watch Netflix or Youtube but because it's so easy I find myself watching stuff almost like a TV and get really annoyed when there is noise coming from the kitchen.

Re: The Case for Rooms

#26

Post by commandlinefan »

c0nsumer wrote: post #5
diminish wrote: post #2

I have a lot of clients. The ones with separate rooms are especially inefficient, in that teams seldom see each other and organize long meetings to compensate. So separate rooms are equal to "remote" work for all practical purposes. At the end, "remote" teams with monthly get-togethers and weekly calls are best IMHO.

Did you read the article? This is about history of and changes to places that people live in, not open-plan vs. separate-office workplaces.

But death to the open-office floor plan, too.

Re: The Case for Rooms

#27

Post by zwieback »

alkonaut wrote: post #7

The open (Kitchen) floor plan to me represents the idea that cooking isn’t a chore separate from eating and socializing. I want to cook for an hour without being alone. Privacy in the kitchen would never be desireable. “Entertaining” doesn’t require guests. There is also a matter of space. A shared living/dining/cooking space can use a lot less space than three separate rooms. I couldn’t afford the separate solution…

Hmm, I never thought about that - I love being in the kitchen by myself, I usually close the door to the family room, but I can see that at other times it would be nice to not be alone. Big sliding doors might be a good compromise.

Re: The Case for Rooms

#28

Post by pnw_hazor »

I love our 1989 built open great room plan.

Though we never use the "formal" dining room or formal living room as intended. They are/were used for craft rooms, playrooms, exercise rooms, temp storage, office space, and so on over the years.

Re: The Case for Rooms

#29

Post by fullshark »

c0nsumer wrote: post #5
diminish wrote: post #2

I have a lot of clients. The ones with separate rooms are especially inefficient, in that teams seldom see each other and organize long meetings to compensate. So separate rooms are equal to "remote" work for all practical purposes. At the end, "remote" teams with monthly get-togethers and weekly calls are best IMHO.

Did you read the article? This is about history of and changes to places that people live in, not open-plan vs. separate-office workplaces.

I admit I knee-jerk upvoted without reading at first because I hate open office floor plans so much.

Re: The Case for Rooms

#30

Post by zapzupnz »

ljm wrote: post #3

It has to be a mix. Fully open isn’t great because you can’t make your space your own. You have to consider the entire rest of the floor or building. Give everyone private rooms and everyone works in isolation. This might look productive but I would argue it’s not: everyone has a physical barrier around themselves, they don’t even need to set boundaries any more. But if you can give your teams a group space to themse…

What teams? The article is about homes.
Post reply on HN