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3. Home sweet home (social space to live in)

LIVING IN THE HOME: PAST

• The family group is homogeneous, a family from the working class in jobs which require a certain level of qualifications. The father is the breadwinner; the mother plays a pivotal role: she is the housewife, the family budgeter, and she who raise the children.
  
• After eating, some time was spent in family discussion. As there was no central heating, and the family spent more time at home, these discussions took place around the table, under which was the only heating, the brasero. The bedrooms were very cold and the children would wait as long as they could before going to bed.
  
• The kitchen was also a favourite place, as it was where the mother spent most of her time, and did the cooking, on a large stove, which radiated heat.
  

LIVING IN THE HOME: PRESENT

• Family life is very different nowadays from that of fifty years ago. The family now needs a home with a living/dining-room, a kitchen, a bedroom for the parents, and one for each child.
  
• Although they are sharing a home, much of the time is spent outside, and there is no focus for family life. New technology has made it possible for the individual to spend more time outside, and the family is united only at mealtimes, and when asleep.
  

LIVING IN THE HOME: FUTURE

• Imagine a house with its own life, which makes its own decisions. A simple remote control is used to open and close the blinds, control the light, the inside temperature, the humidity and the security system.
  
• The house in which we live at the moment has been much the same for about a century, but it is unlikely that this will continue for much longer, given the changes that are being produced with the new technology.
  
• The application of the new technology to the house, according to the experts, will permit an important saving of energy, which in turn implies a greater respect for the environment, as fewer natural resources are used.
  
• It is difficult for us to have an idea of what life will be like in the house of the future, but we can be sure that, with the advances in technology applied to the house, the change will be considerable.