The Relationship between the Dweller and the Dwelling Revisited

The houses of the modern and postmodern era have failed to provide a "friendly haven" for their dwellers. Some evidence shows that they even promote a sense of alienation and detachment among the dwellers. Available studies show that this problem could be related to a variety of factors such as the lack of harmony between the dwelling and the existential aspects of human being, the lack of meanings associated with such aspects and, the passivity of the dwellers.
Accordingly, the main question of this paper is how the dweller and dwelling are associated. To this end, this research aims at characterizing the house that encourages human to discover its hidden dimensions. Such a house promotes a reciprocal interaction with its dweller and it is like a mirror through which the dwellers can see themselves and reflect on what has been talked about.
This article argues that "the legibility of dwelling" and "the dweller’s interpretation of meanings" are helpful to establish the relationship between the dweller and the dwelling. The relevant studies and theories on the topic were collected and analyzed to explore "the exchange of meaning between the dweller/dwelling". This study is an attempt to identify the factors contributing the relationship between the dweller and the dwelling. In this regard, based on the degree of legibility and meaning exchange, we proposed several levels of relationship between the dweller/dwelling:"Signification", "Meaning made by the dwellers" and "Meaning generated by the dwelling’". Finally, the characteristics of a dwelling which interacts with the dweller are introduced and categorized as "readable and familiar dwelling", "thought-provoking and imaginative dwelling" and "transcendental dwelling".