Author(s)

BALKIZ YAPICIOGLU, LIUDMILA CAZACOVA

Abstract

This paper focuses on housing design for private cultures such as Islam. The suggested design approach is monitored through the assessment of Mirbat (Dhofar Governorate, Sultanate of Oman) domestic architecture. This research builds on the authors’ previous works in protective architectural features and a survey of residential satisfaction, that identified the importance of housing privacy to residential satisfaction in private cultures and suggested the need for privacy is not met in modern residences. Through a comparison of traditional and contemporary Mirbat’s residences features, the authors identify that protective architectural features that were employed in traditional residences which contributed to privacy provision of the inhabitants are no longer employed in contemporary housing design (or used as decorative elements). Therefore, this study takes the next step and proposes a new approach of residence design which can accommodate the privacy required in private cultures. Furthermore, through the employment of traditional housing protective architectural features in a modern setting, the authors propose a residential layout model that considers inhabitants’ social background, traditions and lifestyle that could serve desired privacy. Finally, the authors evaluate the proposed residential model according to the privacy criteria (as identified through the residential satisfaction survey) and conclude that suggested approach in layout and the proposed model satisfy residents’ privacy needs and has potential applications in private cultures such as Islam, as well as in other cultures for safety provision.

Keywords

private cultures, Islamic cultures, privacy, protective architectural features, housing design