But note that the typical home has more space per person now.
70m² is a lot more for the modern family structure of two adults, 1-4 kids, and maybe a pet than it is for the traditional family of the old days where there’d be the man of the house, his wife or possibly multiple wifes, their kids (note that they would have way more kids than nowadays because of the lack of contraception and very high infant mortality that led to having to make a lot of kids since only about half of them would make it to adulthood), maybe kids from previous marriages, miscellanous relatives and possibly their families, servants (for example, IIRC in ancient Athens the average family had 4 slaves or so), and domestic animals, as it was common for urban dwellers to still have some animals like a few chickens and a goat or something, and pets of course.
What changed a lot is occupancy. It used to be that homes were multi-generational and families were larger. I don’t know in this context, but in Europe until recently, it was common for grandparents-parents-kids to live all together, with sibling of the parents often included and potentially their families too. An apartment occupancy rate around 5-7 was common, while single family homes where unheard of until last century. This strengthened social ties, smoothly provided care for who needed it, and made the family more economically resilient.
It definitely was that back in Ea’s time as well. The concept of the nuclear family is very recent, its dominance of Western culture is hardly a century old.
More space isn’t necessarily a better thing, there are very real diminishing returns after a certain point. Plus, living space is both an asset and a liability - you have to pay to keep the space warm or cool depending on your local climate, and you also have to clean the space.
I think home design has regressed. Once the industrial machine learned how to shit out cookie-cutter designs, real crafted homes became a luxury only the rich (or extreme DIYers) could have.
Growing up, I wanted nothing more than to channel Bob Vila and spend a decade slowly putting together a house that would last 500 years by myself in my spare time.
Remarkable how the typical home hasn’t actually grown all that much over the years.
But note that the typical home has more space per person now.
70m² is a lot more for the modern family structure of two adults, 1-4 kids, and maybe a pet than it is for the traditional family of the old days where there’d be the man of the house, his wife or possibly multiple wifes, their kids (note that they would have way more kids than nowadays because of the lack of contraception and very high infant mortality that led to having to make a lot of kids since only about half of them would make it to adulthood), maybe kids from previous marriages, miscellanous relatives and possibly their families, servants (for example, IIRC in ancient Athens the average family had 4 slaves or so), and domestic animals, as it was common for urban dwellers to still have some animals like a few chickens and a goat or something, and pets of course.
The size of the human animal has not varied much.
Kinda has tbh, we got fat
What changed a lot is occupancy. It used to be that homes were multi-generational and families were larger. I don’t know in this context, but in Europe until recently, it was common for grandparents-parents-kids to live all together, with sibling of the parents often included and potentially their families too. An apartment occupancy rate around 5-7 was common, while single family homes where unheard of until last century. This strengthened social ties, smoothly provided care for who needed it, and made the family more economically resilient.
It definitely was that back in Ea’s time as well. The concept of the nuclear family is very recent, its dominance of Western culture is hardly a century old.
More space isn’t necessarily a better thing, there are very real diminishing returns after a certain point. Plus, living space is both an asset and a liability - you have to pay to keep the space warm or cool depending on your local climate, and you also have to clean the space.
People really haven’t changed.
Sometimes I wish I could peer into the past and tell them not to sweat the future too much.
I mean, they coulda stood to sweat it a little at the right times
I think home design has regressed. Once the industrial machine learned how to shit out cookie-cutter designs, real crafted homes became a luxury only the rich (or extreme DIYers) could have.
Growing up, I wanted nothing more than to channel Bob Vila and spend a decade slowly putting together a house that would last 500 years by myself in my spare time.
(LOL, spare time…)