What is Pride of Place?

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to work with a volunteer home repair ministry,

which goes into the most desolate and remote parts of the United States and helps homeowners

bring their homes up to safety standards. A large part of my job was to connect homeowners with

volunteers from around the country and teach them how to do the needed repairs. These repairs

ranged from adding a new porch to completely renovating a once uneven shell of a mobile home.

We received requests and met with people who, in 2017, did not have running water in their home.

This is Dave, one of our homeowners, posing on his brand new floor.

We met with one homeowner whose disabled brother and young grandson lived with her.

The floors in three rooms and bathroom were falling through and were a serious safety hazard

to her family. By replacing and reinforcing her floor, along with many other things, she no longer

had to worry about her family getting hurt within their own home. When we first met her, she was skittish

and talked only in short replies. By the time all the construction was finished she was

happy, outgoing, friendly and loving to everyone she met. She got a makeover and invited her daughter

to come live with her in the newly safe home. She told me later that she began hosting her ladies'

group in her renovated family room and because of the ramp that we added to her backdoor,

her brother was finally able to get out of the house for the first time in 3 years and go to doctors'

appointments that he had been missing.

As we left each of our homeowners at the end of the summer,

we saw pride, love and tears in their eyes. As a designer, that’s what I want to give people.

I want to create places not spaces. I want to give people an emotional connection to the place.

Whether that be through symbolic artifacts and mementos, or simplicity to invoke relaxation and refuge.

I want users to feel something positive when they walk into the spaces.

I want to create places that are filled with meaning, even though that meaning may be different to

every single person that walks in.  I want users to feel the joy of discovery and be able to connect

with the environment in an intimate and distinct way.