This collection brings together forty-five contributions, mostly anthropologists, but also designers, architects, archaeologists, journalists and artists. They were invited to engage in a kind of home-gleaning, surprising both themselves and their readers through a reflective encounter with an object from the place they live.

Hence, we are talking of lived objects and lived research, blurring the boundaries between fieldwork and deskwork, observation and analytical writing. The goal is to delve into the material ecologies that surround us, creating a contemporary portrait of the places we inhabit. The blending of design thinking with ethnographic inquiry and storytelling opens new methodological possibilities for both fields. In this spirit, the essays do more than document domestic life—they enact a form of situated theorizing.

Each object becomes a lens through which broader questions of belonging, temporality, and transformation are explored. Whether it is an empty jar, a misplaced photograph, or a gadget blinking in the corner, these items serve as portals into layered histories and possible futures.

The act of attending to them is not merely descriptive but generative, offering new ways to think about intimacy, care, and the politics of everyday life. In this way, objectography becomes a method of world-making—one that is tactile, reflective, and deeply personal.

Table of Contents

Foreword. Primus Inter Pares. Daniel Miller (London, UK)

An Author, an Object, and a Home. Francisco Martínez and Tomás Errázuriz

a) Biographies of continuity

1. Blanket. Magda Crăciun (Bucharest, Romania)
2. Cabinet. Tinatin Khomeriki (Tbilisi, Georgia)
3. Pebble. Adam Drazin (London, UK)
4. Chair. Mika Pantzar (Helsinki, Finland)
5. Photo Frame. Blanca Callén (Badalona, Spain)
6. Pie Tin. Jeremy Gould (Helsinki, Finland)

b) Methods of dwelling

1. Lamps. Maria Manuela Restivo (Gondomar, Portugal)
2. Fireplace. Jenny Rinkinen (Heinola, Finland)
3. Hooks. Roland Reemaa (Tallinn, Estonia)
4. Pitiless Floor. Ben Highmore (Bristol, UK)
5. Earplugs. Pedro Neto (Lisbon, Portugal)
6. Frames. Patrick Laviolette (Brno, Czech Republic)

c) Devices of care

1. Fridge. Tomás Errázuriz (Santiago, Chile)
2. Dishwasher. Martín Ávila (Stockholm, Sweden)
3. Hair Dryer. Giacomo Pozzi (Milan, Italy)
4. Cochlear Hearing Device. Jeff Malpas (Tasmania, Australia)
5. Arepa Grill. Catalina Cortés Severino (Bogotá, Colombia)
6. Hummingbird Feeder. Hermione Spriggs (New Mexico, USA)

d) Social world-making

1. Cheese Ball Container. Katie Kilroy-Marac (Toronto, Canada)
2. Jam Jar. Sophie Woodward (Manchester, UK)
3. Cupboard. Lucy Khofi (Johannesburg, South Africa)
4. Books. Michael Jackson (Arlington, USA)
5. Woven Basket. Justicia C. Tegyeka Kiconco (Kigali, Rwanda)
6. Family Photos. Ricardo Greene (Puerto Varas, Chile)

e) Evocative things

1. Framed Hole. Kiven Strohm (Singapore)
2. Key-things. Martin D. Frederiksen (Aarhus, Denmark)
3. Empty Honey Jar. Elizabeth Saleh (Beirut, Lebanon)
4. Shirt. Nastasia Fomina (Kyiv, Ukraine)
5. Matchbox. Suzie Thomas (Antwerp, Belgium)
6. Castle Knocker. Tim Edensor (Manchester, UK)

f) Displacement

1. Passport. Čarna Brković (Mainz, Germany)
2. Guitar. Hanna Valynets (Minsk, Belarus)
3. Perro. Ana Gutiérrez Garza (Edinburgh, Scotland)
4. Vase. Beatričė Juškaitė (Vilnius, Lithuania)
5. Pointe Shoes. Jenny Tang (Shanghai, China)
6. Beach House. Damián Omar Martínez (Mar Menor, Spain)

g) Futures of dwelling

1. Vinyl Collection. Francisco Martínez (Tallinn, Estonia)
2. Sublet Room. Anna Kin (Almaty, Kazakhstan)
3. Countryside House. Sung-Hoon Hong (Okcheon-myeon, South Korea)
4. Book. Anatolijs Venovcevs (Longyearbyen, Norway)
5. Futures Table. Sarah Pink (Melbourne, Australia) 

Afterword. A Saturation. Kathleen Stewart (Austin, USA)

Home: A User’s Manual. Santiago Orrego (Bogotá, Colombia)