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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

charger la maison

English translation:

imbue homes (with a sense of personality/identity and style)

Added to glossary by Yvonne Gallagher
Nov 25, 2018 20:42
5 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term

charger la maison

French to English Other Architecture
Aujourdhui, le recours à des plans en source ouverte, aux CNC machines et drones DIY en architecture, l’impression 3D de bâtiments en même temps qu’elles dé-prolétarisent l’acte d’habiter, nous émancipent de la neutralité et de l’aridité du style international.en restaurant la possibilité de *charger la maison*. L’enjeu pour l’Afrique ne fait pas uniquement dans la faible empreinte environnementale de ces usages ! C'est d'abord la fenêtre d'émancipation pour décoloniser le futur de nos villes, qui plaide pour que le continent saisisse ce Kairos par le cheveu.

Is the author trying to say "provide the home with power" or more "take care of/attend to"? Thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 imbue homes (with a sense of personality/identity and style)
3 -1 download
2 empower
Change log

Dec 2, 2018 22:11: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry

Discussion

Daniel Gray (asker) Nov 27, 2018:
Hi Tony Thanks for your message. Agreed. Looking back at the text, I put:

"(...) it is an opportunity that Africa needs to seize with both hands."

Going back to "charger la maison", I thought this could perhaps be a solution in line with Daryo's thoughts:

"(...) freeing us from the constraints of a featureless international style while giving homes a distinctive identity once again."
Tony M Nov 27, 2018:
@ Asker I don't believe there is any sense of 'giving weight to' here, which apart from anything else would hardly be a logical opposition to 'neutrality / aridity', as pointed out by Daryo below.

And I think better verbs might be 'grasping' or indeed the literal and more powerful 'seizing.'
Daniel Gray (asker) Nov 27, 2018:
Thank you... for all your suggestions so far. Much appreciated.

Another idea that was sent to me was along the line of "giving weight/meaning back to houses/homes".

@Daryo I understood that to mean "taking the opportunity with both hands".
Daryo Nov 27, 2018:
nous émancipent de la neutralité et de l’aridité du style international en restaurant la possibilité de *charger la maison*.

1 -- nous émancipent ... en restaurant la possibilité de "charger la maison" =>"charger" has a positive connotation, as it's paired with "emancipation"

2 -- nous émancipent de la neutralité et de l’aridité du style international => "charger la maison" is the opposite of "la neutralité et l’aridité" of some nondescript/rootless "style international"

BTW, what about "saisir ce Kairos par les cheveux"?
Tony M Nov 26, 2018:
@ Odette I had the same doubt myself; but then, compared with 'neutralité' and 'aridité', perhaps the sense does have soemthing of an element of 'overladen' — did you look at the examples BDF found for us? Some of them are highly ornamented, in an exuberant way that many might find "over-the-top", certainly compared to post-War concrete austerity!
Then again, we do use 'chargé' in a positive sense too, don't we, as in 'la vieille cité chargée d'histoire'? 'Steeped in history', perhaps in EN — but difficult to see it as negative, even though we do also use it of e.g. an elderly person who bears the weight of their years.
philgoddard Nov 26, 2018:
It could mean loaded with meaning.
Odette Grille (X) Nov 25, 2018:
May be I did think of this possibility at first and it may be the right answer except I wonder why they would use "charger" with a slightly negative nuance, rather than a more positive verb.
Tony M Nov 25, 2018:
@ Asker The way I read it is this:

"...nous émancipent de la neutralité et de l’aridité du style international en restaurant la possibilité de charger la maison."

I think this is meant to imply that all these new possibilities free architecture from the constraints of international style, so that houses can once again [en restaurant] be 'loaded' (overloaded?!) with decoration and detail — see these lovely examples kindly found for us by BDF:

https://bit.ly/2zzJqjl
https://maison-monde.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maison-p...
https://maison-monde.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/hutte-or...
https://bit.ly/2Rf0AcE

Proposed translations

6 days
Selected

imbue homes (with a sense of personality/identity and style)

I agree with your last comment (and with Daryo's line of thought)

I think "charger" is definitely positive here. We have that positive sense in English too such as synonyms:
ingrain/infuse/implant/suffuse etc. (can all substitute for imbue)

or a sense of "supercharge": really inject some brio/oomph to the bland style

So, your translation:
"Freeing us from the constraints of a featureless international style while giving homes a distinctive identity once again" works for me

or it can be tweeked a bit
freeing us from the blandness of international style and (giving an opportunity) for homes once again to be inbued/supercharged/infused with unique and distinctive features

Or
....and, once again, injecting homes with a unique sense of style


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Note added at 7 days (2018-12-02 22:09:29 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Sounds good to me! Thanks."
-1
1 hr

download

AQlthough "restaurer" puzzles me, the beginning of the text makes me think "charger la maison" means the possibility to see the house on a screen before building it.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : I really don't see it that way myself; I think here 'charger' means 'with details, ornamentation etc.' (see BDF's superb links above!), and opposes 'aridité'
2 mins
disagree Daryo : you can't pair THAT with "nous émancipent de la neutralité et de l’aridité du style international"
1 day 2 hrs
Something went wrong...
11 hrs

empower

Hello

I go with the Daniel Gray who suggested in his original question

""provide the home with power"

although I can see that "upload" is a possibility (rather than download for me).

It's tricky dicky this one :)

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