HOME AND GARDEN

Thriving places, thriving lives

Professor brings people together to think about how their homes help them live better

Meet author Tasoulla Hadjiyanni

BEFORE AND AFTER -- “The “before” version is a two-bedroom affordable housing apartment (1,011 square feet) from one of Minneapolis’ largest affordable housing providers, Aeon’s Ripley Gardens. With two bedrooms, it can be inhabited by a maximum of four people, according to Minneapolis’ occupancy limits. The “after” scheme proposes a design solution that is more flexible and adaptable. Physical and social health are supported by the kitchen being moved to the right side of the unit for a more direct connection to the social area. A person cooking can easily supervise children doing homework or converse with family members and guests. That person can also have views to the outdoors, which makes cooking a more enjoyable task and eases stress. The kitchen can be closed or open and this option can be accomplished with a simple window on the wall that connects to the social area. If totally open, it can accommodate multiple cooks on the two counters. Flexibility continues with the dining area, which can easily be expanded for special celebrations and large gatherings. A similar approach is applied to the bathroom, which is now compartmentalized and an additional sink is placed in the corridor for multiple users. The privacy concerns in the bedrooms are subdued by the placement of closets used as a buffer. An angled wall forges a sense of entry and can be used to display cherished possessions, helping craft meaning and identity. From within the bedroom, the angled wall can be the setting of a desk, signifying the importance of education and grounding aspirations for the future.” - From The Right to Home, page 302

INSIDE 3 HOMES -- 1) In many of the immigrant families we interviewed, including Somali families, extended families were an instrumental means for adaptation, as families could share incomes and help each other with things like cooking and child caring. In this Somali family’s home, the bathroom is used for the wudu ritual, which means to wash before praying. When ventilation is not suitable and when materials are not resistant to mold and mildew, problems with landlords would start and the wudu ritual would endanger elders who had to lift their feet in the sink. At the same time, having all fixtures in one space increased stress for families who had to share a bathroom and get out of the house for work and school. A solution is compartmentalizing bathroom designs. - Excerpted from "Right to Home," by Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, Ph.D., Northrop Professor of Interior Design at the University of Minnesota

INSIDE 3 HOMES -- 2) Another example is corridor-type kitchens: In our interviews with Mexicans, disparities in obesity could be tied to kitchen designs. Obesity is one of the underlined conditions that increases the risk of severe illness in the pandemic and can be among the explanations for the great numbers of Hispanics who have died during the pandemic. Hispanic adults (47%) had the highest prevalence of obesity; Hispanic women (50.6%) the second highest; Hispanic youth, the highest rate (25.8%). Corridor-type kitchens in apartments, with very little counter space were not conducive to cooking healthy meals for this extended family of 6. - Excerpted from "Right to Home," by Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, Ph.D., Northrop Professor of Interior Design at the University of Minnesota

INSIDE 3 HOMES -- 3) 3Native Americans suffer premature death and violent injury at rates far exceeding those of non-Natives. Depression is also pervasive, and suicide rates among male youth ages 18-19 are six times higher than any demographic in the state, 2.5 times the national average. Partly to blame are the forced assimilation and forced acculturation American Indians experienced and therefore a better understanding of Ojibwe efforts to reclaim their past and reconstruct lost material and immaterial connections in the home is imperative. This family uses the dining room for beadwork, a traditional Ojibwe craft that helps revitalize the Ojibwe language, foster connections between the past, the present, and the future, as well as provide supplemental income to the family. The poor lighting stressed the elder's eyes and she wished she had more space to lay out her crafts so she did not have to move things around for the Sunday dinners. - Excerpted from "Right to Home," by Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, Ph.D., Northrop Professor of Interior Design at the University of Minnesota

HYGGE AND ALONENESS Instrumental to the Scandinavian “hygge” is the ability to be both together and alone. A window seat in a home and separated “retreat spaces” in the workplace, provide opportunities to recharge.

Posted Thursday, March 25, 2021 8:25 pm

CHANGING HOMES

COVID-19 has changed what people want in their homes as they’ve needed to accommodate work and school at home, and figure out how to effectively quarantine.

“Flexibility and adaptability are now key,” said Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, Northrop Professor of Interior Design at the University of Minnesota. People are balancing the need for aloneness versus togetherness through a variety of ways, including:

• Flexible spaces for children to play and study with easy supervision

• A bedroom/bathroom combination that can be separated for quarantine

• Kitchens that boast a separated disinfecting and organizing station

• Mold-resistant material finishes and adequate natural and mechanical ventilation in bathrooms

The storage of food and cleaning supplies is a valued characteristic, as are smaller units that are affordable. People are looking for multi-functional/adaptable rooms that can go from living spaces to working spaces for children and adults. They appreciate furniture with antimicrobial and easy-to-clean fabrics and materials, and touchless sensor-operated appliances to limit germ spread.

“Also crucial is mental health, and the design implications for supporting mental well-being vary from space layout to lighting, materials, sound and acoustics, as well as views to the outdoors,” observed Hadjiyanni.

“There cannot be any more apartment buildings designed without access to the outdoors through functional balconies” that allow for light and air along with space for children and adults to decompress.

MEET AUTHOR Tasoulla Hadjiyanni

“I was 10 years old when Turkey invaded the Cyprus and my family joined the thousands of refugees around the world, losing everything we had ever known. Losing my house and home ruptured my way of being. I embarked on a new life as a 10-year old child of war, rootless, fearful, and apprehensive, with a gap in my heart that could not be closed.

“To counteract my sense of loss, I turned to my schoolwork – education, my parents told me, is something no one can ever take away from you. Before completing high school, I was awarded an AMIDEAST scholarship to study architecture in the U.S., a diplomatic effort on the part of the U.S. to assist refugees in Cyprus rebuild their lives. Little did I know that I would meet my husband a few months before graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and move to Minnesota.

‘My experiences as a refugee and a member of the Greek diaspora propelled me to connect with others who experienced displacement and injustice as part of my healing process. I was struggling with not knowing how to mend my broken self and worst of all, being pregnant at the time, I did not know how to create a sense of home for my daughter and my family.

‘In collecting the stories of refugees, immigrants and minorities both in Cyprus and Minnesota what struck me was recognizing that the effects of losing one’s cultural connections and sense of continuity carried forward for generations. I, therefore, used my platform to advocate for designs and policies that recognize home as a right and contribute to creating communities in which everyone can thrive.”

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN

How does the design of your house or apartment help you live a healthy and connected life?
Kingfield resident Tasoulla Hadjiyanni has been studying this through her work as Northrop Professor of Interior Design at the University of Minnesota.
“Homes are among the primary settings where we live, cook, eat, play, socialize, pray, work, study, and engage in activities that give meaning to our life and determine our ability to thrive,” she observed.
Her latest book, “The Right to Home - Exploring How Space, Culture, and Identity Intersect with Disparities” features stories of Hmong, Somali, Mexicans, Ojibwe, and African Americans in Minnesota. It explores how elements of interiors support or suppress meaning-making.
Hadjiyanni focuses on the intersections of design, culture, and identity under conditions of displacement. Her own experience as a refugee from Cyprus as a child propelled her into this work.
“Bottom line is that we all eat, play, sleep, socialize, pray, work, rest, etc.– how we do these may be different,” pointed out Hadjiyanni. “As a result, there could be unexpected uses and unintended consequences of domestic environments.”

Connecting through stories
Hadjiyanni is an interior design scholar and educator – and she’s also a storyteller. “‘A story is the shortest distance between two people,”’ they say. So I create platforms for people to talk about their stories, I collect stories, and I find ways to share stories with diverse audiences,” she said. “These are often the stories of community members whose voices are not heard and whose stories are not known, such as refugees, immigrants, and minorities. I use interviews and focus groups primarily, including gathering stories inside peoples’ homes, as a way to see and better understand challenges people might be facing.” (See sidebar INSIDE 3 HOMES on page 7).
The physical realities of living space have big impacts on how people live. A kitchen layout may restrict cooking. The size of social areas limits gatherings with friends. A dining table can shape aspirations.
Hadjiyanni founded Culturally Enriched Communities to advocate for buildings that pave the way for social and racial justice. At the heart is a drive to create communities in which everyone can thrive.
Her award-winning scholarship and teaching pedagogies have been widely published, and used to decolonize design education.
“Home is more than housing,” she stressed. “It includes the ability of people to construct meaning inside their house – along with schools for their children to be educated, workplaces where they can earn an income and find purpose, parks to relax and exercise, and hospitals to heal their wounds. The spatial scales relevant to eliminating disparities range from the kitchen table (or lack thereof) to a room, a house, a neighborhood, a city, a nation, and the world.”

Landscapes of Hope
Her current work builds off the two crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd, which occurred 12 blocks from her house.
The Landscapes of Hope project (www.cec-design.com/landscapesofhope/) includes a digital map of over 200 buildings in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Searchable by building type and location, the map enables easy access to design-related interventions for everything from affordable housing to streets. “At the same time, searching by location enables advocates from different neighborhoods of Minneapolis (North Minneapolis, Seward, Longfellow, Powderhorn, Lake Street, Hennepin Ave., Nicollet Ave., South Minneapolis, and Lyndale Ave.) and St Paul to see stories in their area, so they can form partnerships and synergies while giving visibility to the neighborhoods’ resilience,” said Hadjiyanni.
“I knew the neighborhoods and businesses impacted by the protests. I set out to share these stories in ‘Landscapes of Hope,’ because I know that the answers we are looking for in terms of how to move toward social justice are right here, in front of our eyes, if we know where to look.”
She added, “Many of these businesses are Black-owned, immigrant-owned, refugee-owned, family-owned, and women-owned restaurants, shops, daycares, and hair salons, along with organizations that pave the way for eliminating disparities and creating a just and equitable world.”
Minority-owned firms in Minnesota generated more than $8.7 billion in sales, pointed out Hadjiyanni, and Minnesota boasts close to 3,200 African immigrant businesses.
“Design can be used to strengthen everything from economic opportunities for Black and immigrant entrepreneurs through the development of thriving business corridors in BIPOC communities to health and well-being through parks that instill dignity and foster community,” stated Hadjiyanni.
Learn more at www.cec-design.com.