The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

PART THREE | INNER RESOURCES
hidden away when we are not using them. The bathroom symbolizes
a place where we express our feelings, and where we relieve
ourselves (urination) of unconscious content (defecation) that we
don’t need anymore. The bath and shower symbolize a new spiritual
attitude and are related to the bathroom’s role in rituals of
cleanliness and purification. Staircases allow us to travel to different
levels. When we go to another level in a dream, we are connecting
to another part of ourselves. For example, when descending we
are working out past programming. Going upstairs is symbolic of
coming to a new understanding. Where does the staircase lead?
The new understanding will relate to where the staircase leads you.
A spiral staircase represents a point of view understood from a new
level. The attic represents intuition, as does the roof. Being at the
top of the house we get the big picture, which allows us to see all
the possibilities. The basement symbolizes the unconscious. It
often has a furnace, which provides heat for the house. Heat
symbolizes warmth in your life and may open the door to recognizing
physical symptoms or concerns about physical energy.
In the dream, a front yard indicates that you are conscious of
the situation the dream is referring to. The garden can be a place of
unity. The walls around it may indicate privacy and protection of
the self. If you have found new rooms, this points to new possibilities
within you. The front door points to conscious understanding,
while the back door may point to something in the unconscious
that needs to be examined. Locked doors indicate understandings
that are still not conscious. Hallways symbolize transitions. Hotels
symbolize temporary situations, while apartments point to a
compartmentalized part of the self. The house in your dream will
symbolize the way you are living your life. In a dream, going home
indicates that you are reconnecting with yourself.
These comments give the briefest glimpse of and introduction
to the world of dreams and their symbols. I want to give some
flavor of the possibility for designers to engage more than material
when they undertake a project. In the design of everything lies
the symbolic value of the artifact as well as its material quality.
The design of a bathroom is more than tiles and plumbing.
Symbolically, we are dealing with rituals and conditions of renewal
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