Windows are something that many of us take for granted—they’re just part of the houses we live in or the buildings we work in. And yet for older people, windows can be vital as a way to access the world, especially those who spend a lot of time indoors.
Changing Views
What was most important for my interviewees was change—both expected (seasons, for example) and non-expected (road works or even storms). One 78-year-old lady with a suburban view said, “I love the way the trees begin to move, the branches when the wind gets up.” While an 84-year-old man who lived in an urban area said, “I like it when they’re digging. They’re always digging it up here. Mains, water, electricity, gas, telephone, all come here. I don’t mind it, so long as there’s no dust which is no good for my breathing.”While Rowles’s study focused on the immediate area outside the house, I found my interviewees really loved a view that contained different levels. A juxtaposition between the immediate and the distant was preferred, for example between a built-up neighborhood and hills in the distance, or a garden and distant motorways or factories.
It was fascinating how much the views helped the people understand life better. What they saw backed up what they had heard on the television or radio. Even something we would regard as insignificant, like bad traffic or seeing a hands-free conversation on a mobile phone. A 75-year-old woman with an urban view said:
I also found that the interviewees did not just watch people, they created stories from what they saw, with characters and plots.
One 80-year-old man who lives in an urban area said, “I see the same people going to work every morning and coming home again in the evening. I wonder what they get up to. I call this one here Frank, he looks tough, look at his suit, bet he’s a mean businessman, probably a manager of some kind.”
Some of the observers talked to the people they saw through the window too. An 84-year-old woman told me that she sometimes commented on people’s appearance, saying they were “very smart,” or telling teenagers to tuck their shirts in and pull up their trousers. While another woman said that she asked people she regularly saw how their day had been, adding, “I wonder if anyone does ask them that when they get where they’re going. I hope so.”
There is a downside however. Some of the people I spoke to worried that they’d be labeled nosy and, as an 84-year-old man put it, “I don’t tell others about it. They’d think I’d lost it. Well it’s all a bit sad isn’t it.” But the benefits to these people are still clear.