18 June

The English so often talk about ‘going up’ to bed. Bungalows i.e. single-storey living have traditionally been associated with lower status, with the old and infirm. Again, this is about status. In a show like Downtown you’ll often hear the toffs talk about ‘going up’ to bed. And of course series like ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ dramatised these status distinctions, upstairs was the high status space. Countries with more space like the US and Australia took the other aspect of high status aristocratic life, the landed estate, and turned the backyard into the expression of status. This is also one of the main drivers of the opposition to higher density living in these countries. The McMansion was a recent hybrid, where Australians and Americans began occupying vertical status space as well, with their mini-mansions. In all 3 countries, the original model was the aristocratic manor, with its large estate. Status is always emulated, from the ‘bottom’ of societies aspiring to be the top.