There have been several architectural monographs with the word “everyday” in the title. The one that springs to mind is Architecture of the Everyday by Deborah Burke and Steven Harris. Another, Architecture isn’t just for special occasions by Julie Eizenberg and Hank Koning, implies “everyday” without saying it. There are multiple possible meanings and intentions coded in “everyday” as used in this context. It could refer to high culture vs low culture, or to learning from everyday surroundings. It could be a way to posit one’s work as assessable and anti-elitist in a discipline where elitism is firmly entrenched, expressing the belief that Architecture (capital “A”) is for everyone and ought to be enjoyed daily. Through the lens of praxis it refers to phenomenology, which emphasizes the holistic, unbreakable, ontological link between the self and the everyday world.
My use of “everyday” is narrowly focused on unexpected sights that inspire. The picture below was taken in my kitchen. It’s the swoop of two string pulls from a set of blinds which gracefully folded into the shape of a dolphin entirely accidentally. Appreciating sights like this adds texture to one’s creative life.
