Research Papart: Dutch Feng Shui - Gezelligheid

 

Foreword

Next to architecture, I love cultural psychology. I grew up in Hong Kong and now live in the Netherlands for five years. While living here I found the contrast of experiencing the consumeristic architecture lifestyle in Hong Kong and a very humane architecture lifestyle in the Netherlands. I was inspired through this cultural differences. Since being surrounded by different cultures, I grew in different personalities through all the daily rituals, social moral concepts and developed architecture. As a result, I appreciate my life more in the Netherlands. Therefore, I started to be fascinated if I can introduce this humane lifestyle to capitalistic Hong Kong.

Indeed there must be a big difference between Asia and Westerns cultures, but every culture has its pros and cons. Since the world is getting globalised, why shouldn’t we by this chance to learn the advantage from others which can also bring us a better life. On the other hand, some part actually comes from our human nature: no one would resist comfort, cosiness and happiness of home and socialising, and I would consider in one Dutch word, gezelligheid. In this case, it also means some so-called culture can also be applicable to everybody. Similar as Chinese Feng Shui, as well as all religions, although it is only a belief, its knowledge had extended around the world. Feng Shui is a popular Chinese philosophical system with a deep research behind, where ancient people tried to achieve to build architecture in metaphoric terms with combining the Chinese-science in order to find the balancing of harmonising everyone with the surrounding environment. Later on it is taken more on a personal level, where people notice that there is also a strong influence on building and human being. Feng Shui became a popular method that people believe it can bring them luck and fortune by setting up the harmony in the house. On the other hand, in the Netherlands, gezelligheid for Dutch people is as important as the fortune for Chinese people. Similarly, it is also about how the surroundings bring the influences to our life.

In my paper, I am not going to discuss how the Chinese Feng Shui is, but I want to research about what is the typical Dutch word or atmosphere “gezellig” is. It is a cheesy typical Dutch word, but in a fact that we do always easily forget there must be the reasons why is can become so widely used word. In my paper, I would like not only to remind Dutch people how much value does this “gezelligheid” have, but also to bring this knowledge out of the Netherlands. As well as Chinese Feng Shui, although it is a local philosophy, all people around the world can use it as long as we find the goodness of it. Gezelligheid, will be the next Dutch Feng Shui.

In part of my paper, via the Dutch history, art and domestic culture, we can see the storyline of this gezelligheid and what is it exactly. In this part, you may not allow finding the exact description about gezelligheid, but you can start to feel and understand it because gezelligheid is a setting of the atmosphere which is invisible. Yet, furthermore, in the later part, I will try to translate it into more practical definitions where you will be introduced the meanings of what does gezelligheid contain and how can you create the atmosphere by the physical and sensual settings. In the way to discover how all the linkages between culture, scenes and architecture. This paper for me is valuable to refer when I design, I believe this research will contribute us to concern more about the abstract sensual design in the space parallel with the conceptual and functional quality.