Glossary entry (derived from question below)
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!
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) | Yvonne Gallagher |
3 -1 | download | Odette Grille (X) |
2 | empower | SafeTex |
Change log
Dec 2, 2018 22:11: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
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
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
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 days (2018-12-02 22:09:29 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Glad to have helped
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
|
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 :)
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 :)
Discussion
"(...) 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."
And I think better verbs might be 'grasping' or indeed the literal and more powerful 'seizing.'
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".
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"?
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.
"...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