📘 Part 3: Houses

This episode's vocabulary

Long-lasting (adj.) - continuing for a long period of time.

To cater to someone/something (phrasal verb) - to provide what someone or something needs or wants.

Long-term (adj.) - continuing a long time into the future.

Advent (noun) - the fact of an event happening, an invention being made, or a person arriving.

Remote (adj.) - used to refer to an activity that is done away from the place where it usually happens, especially by means of technology.

Asbestos (noun) - a soft, greyish-white material that does not burn, used especially in the past in buildings, clothing, etc. as a protection against fire and as a form of insulation (= a way of stopping heat from escaping).

Confines (plural noun) - the outer limits of something.

To sanction (verb) - to formally give permission for something.

Inspector (noun) - someone whose job is to officially inspect something.

Directive (noun) - an official instruction.

To assemble (verb) - to come together in a single place or bring parts together in a single group.

Flatpack (noun) - a piece of furniture that is sold in pieces inside a flat box, ready for the buyer to put them together.

Spacious (adj.) - large and with a lot of space.

On short notice (idiom) - only a short time before something happens.

Extension (noun) - the fact of reaching, stretching, or continuing; the act of adding to something in order to make it bigger or longer.

Modification (noun) - a change to something, usually to improve it.

Prefabricated (adj.) - prefabricated buildings or objects are built from parts that have been made in a factory and can be put together quickly.

Palette (noun) - the range of colours used in the decoration of a house, etc.

Samey (adj.) - not interesting because of being very similar.

Uniformity (noun) - the quality or fact of being the same, or of not changing or being different in any way.

Building code (noun) - in the US, a set of local laws relating to how buildings should be designed or built, especially so that they are safe and of acceptable quality.

Universally (adverb) - in a way that exists everywhere, or involves everyone.

Standardization (noun) - the process of making things of the same type all have the same basic features.

Insulate (verb) - to cover and surround something with a material or substance in order to stop heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering.

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Questions and Answers

M: What are the differences between houses or buildings in the city and in the countryside?

R: Well, I'm not an architectural specialist. But I imagine places in the countryside are generally larger and older since they were built to be long-lasting and cater to the long-term needs of the people living there. If we take farms, for example, they have to support people living, well, living on the farm, as well as have storage space for all the livestock or whatever is harvested. And then in the countryside space is less of a premium because there's just more of it.

M: Why do some people prefer to live in the city and some in the countryside?

R: One would imagine it's to do with access to resources one way or the other. I mean, prior to the advent of the Internet and remote working people needed to live closer to their workplaces and ports to ship products from so the cities developed there. In the same way, people move to the countryside for access to space to grow crops and raise livestock, in modern times people have greater access to more of some forms of novelty in cities, compared to the countryside, which offers greater stability, by contrast, I suppose.

M: What are the safety risks in residential buildings in cities?

R: Oh, well, that's like asking how long a piece of string is, they could collapse or burst into flames or give you asbestos poisoning, or a lot of other things could go wrong. There's no reason these things wouldn't also happen in the countryside, of course, but because there are more buildings in cities, the number of incidents would probably also be higher. Some things are unique to the confines of cities, though, like high blue-collar crime rates and societal collapse, just because of the vast numbers of people and the population diversity.

M: Who should be responsible for building safety?

R: Well, ideally, everyone should be, shouldn't they? No one wants to have a building collapse on them. So we should all try and look out for each other. In an official capacity, however, I suppose in most countries there are government-sanctioned inspectors to enforce building codes and whoever controls the building is responsible for carrying out their directives.

M: Is it expensive to decorate a house or an apartment in the place where you live?

R: Well, not as far as I'm aware, since decorations are easy to come by, and it's relatively cheap to have things delivered. It might be expensive in terms of the time investment, since it's always a hassle to put things up or assemble flatpack items. Delivery charges for things might be slightly higher too since in the countryside, you have to travel farther to get things.

M: What are the most important things to consider when buying a house?

R: Well, what, other than the cost? It likely also depends on what people's long-term plans are. If you plan to start a family, you will probably want some, well, quite a spacious family home, rather than a caravan or a one-bedroom apartment.

M: What are the advantages of owning accommodation over renting it?

R: Well, apparently, the cost of living in your home or living in your own home are supposed to be lower in the long terms and you have security that no one else can just throw you out of your house on short notice. You also have some say over any extensions or modifications you might make and have to answer to fewer people about any smaller changes you might want to, well, any changes you might want to make also.

M: How will houses be different in the future?

R: Oh, it's difficult to say really. Though there are trends towards smaller houses which are prefabricated and made of materials which are environmentally friendly. Oh, and the incorporate digital technologies more readily than older homes. Of course, they don't last as long since they're put up with lower-quality materials. And I would say they lack character. I see no reason for either of those trends to be reversed either. We're just going to see more of them.

M: What are the differences between houses now and in the past?

R: Aside from the lack of character, the colour palettes are often more neutral or samey, especially in housing estates. There's greater uniformity and building codes are more universally applied now compared to the past due to drive for standardization. However, they're better insulated and more readily produced than before, which is helpful in terms of, well, just having more housing available.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your cozy answers!

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