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Article
Publication date: 3 February 2022

Sedef Özçelik and Kutlu Sevinç Kayihan

This paper aims to understand how the residents have utilized domestic spaces and furniture during three months' lockdown time for the Covid-19 virus spread measures and to…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to understand how the residents have utilized domestic spaces and furniture during three months' lockdown time for the Covid-19 virus spread measures and to explore how domestic living practices were adjusted which had been the daily urban activities previously.

Design/methodology/approach

The research method is a qualitative interpretivist philosophical approach with a quantitative data collection. Short questionnaires were conducted via e-mails with attached links via SurveyMonkey. The sample was the group of people who had been in active urban life before the pandemic and had been actively working at the office spaces.

Findings

Separate learning/working spaces were urged at home, at least for the set intervals in the daytime. Production in the kitchen also acted as an interactive production and entertainment. Balconies and terraces were re-discovered and acted as “urban-substitute open spaces”. The living room became the new venue for domestic interaction especially during working-learning breaks, for watching movies, personal care or reading sessions. Computers, tablets and smartphones became the urban activity base due to online meeting applications for social reasons, online shopping, working and learning. The separation of domains at home became essential.

Research limitations/implications

The study only focuses domestic uses of white-collar workers; during the lock-down period, Covid-19 pandemic. Sampling constraints are the employees who were active urban life before the pandemic and working at the office space. Sharing the house at least with one other roommate, sibling or spouse with or without children. Individuals who had not been working outside the home before the pandemic, people aged over 65, retired, permanent home workers, housewives, freelancers and other such demographic structures are excluded from the study.

Social implications

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first wave lockdown began between early March–June 2020, and millions of people were confined to the dwellings. “Staying home” stood for working-learning-shopping-interacting online, more production in the kitchen, using the living room as a domestic multi-functional venue, spending time on the terraces and balconies as domestic open spaces. The active living in the urban context dramatically shifted to “at-home living”.

Originality/value

The study only focuses on the three months' interval in which strict rules for staying home were enforced in Istanbul, Turkey. Schemas, charts and tables are generated concerning the input. The study challenges the making meaning via praxis of “to dwell” and urban living. Nevertheless, the main questions of housing such as production, social aspects, shared spaces, interaction are re-configured and the substitute urban space is created at home.

Details

Open House International, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2006

Muhammad Faqih

By the beginning of the third millennium, Euro-American culture, which is usually labelled as global culture, can be encountered in almost every corner of the world, even in…

Abstract

By the beginning of the third millennium, Euro-American culture, which is usually labelled as global culture, can be encountered in almost every corner of the world, even in remote areas. Not only physical structures but also social structures tend to be affected by the new culture. These phenomena evoke questions about the life and continuity of local traditions in the face of development or globalisation.

The dominant perspective argued that a global culture was being merged through the economic and political domination of the USA, which forced its hegemonic power into local cultures. This expansive cultural wave was regarded as a ‘corrosive homogenizing force’ against cultural diversity. The local culture would eventually give way under the relentless modernizing force of American cultural imperialism. With reference to the rise of Japanese economic domination, however, some scholars indicated that there is a new phenomenon of survival of the local culture. The Japanese adopted a global outlook and adapted to local conditions. This phenomenon however, should not be overly romanticized, due to the fact that global relations between the West and the East, or the North and the South are actually uneven, asymmetrical and unequal. Let alone the majority of developing countries are implementing development programmes that barely copy the capitalist development of Euro-American countries. Aspects of the Japanese experience however, still have influence on developing countries seeking revitalisation.

In developing countries, where development and globalization are taking place, ordinary people and their ordinary settlements are the crucial point of cultural interaction, which has not been well understood in terms of the process itself or the outcomes. It raises fundamental questions about the relationship between broad socio-economic and cultural change, under the general heading of ‘development’, to housing environments, as well as the more intimate relationship at the micro level between dwellers and their dwellings in situation where transformation is carried out by the people themselves. The use of domestic space as a part of culture is certainly influenced by the process of development and eventually results in new environmental outcomes in domestic architecture. This phenomenon could be spotlighted from Kent’s segmentation theory that concerns the relation of culture segmentation to architecture segmentation. It is of interest to investigate the process of architecture segmentation within the development process on the same level of culture segmentation that is still questioned by Kent’s proposition.

This paper investigates this within the context of Indonesia’s development programme. It consists of a detailed empirical study of three Madurese housing environments, which represent a continuum of settlements from the inner city of Surabaya to the inner remote area of Madura Island. Participant observation by living with households, in-depth interviews, measured drawings and photographs were the main methods of data collection complemented by a statistical survey. A projective test using models and in-depth interviews were used to explore peoples’ preferences as a tool to forecast future actions.

The central conclusion to be drawn from this research is that domestic architecture in Madura has undergone a fundamental transformation, mainly since Independence. This transformation is manifested in domestic space organisation and housing style. Although Kent’s theory appears to explain the match between culture segmentation and architecture segmentation, that proposition alone was found inadequate in explaining the differences within the highest levels of culture segmentation. This research found that within the same level of segmentation, the most segmented culture, persist the different architecture segmentation. Other factors, such as changes in the economic system, social structure and social relations, interplay within the development process affecting the different types of domestic space segmentation within the most segmented culture. Furthermore, within the transformation process, where the old and new forms meet, the nuance of hybridisation is always present. People adopted new forms that separated from existing practices and recombined with new forms in new practices. It is a part of people’s adaptation to smooth the transformation process of culture change.

Details

Open House International, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 December 2019

Erika Cudworth

Focusing on everyday lives and relationships within the household, the purpose of this paper is to suggest that the quality of “home” is altered by the presence of animal…

Abstract

Purpose

Focusing on everyday lives and relationships within the household, the purpose of this paper is to suggest that the quality of “home” is altered by the presence of animal companions. Conceptions of home as a haven have been critiqued on grounds of the elision of power relations, yet home has also been understood as a place of resistance to, and refuge from, an exploitative and exclusionary public world. Acknowledging differentiated relations of power and understanding homemaking as a process, this paper investigates the playing out of species relations within home space.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on empirical material from a study of companion species in households and public spaces, deploying ethnographic material gained through extended observation and semi-structured and often mobile interviews with dog “owners” in urban and rural contexts in the UK.

Findings

Dogs transform domestic space through muddying human lives. This process is twofold. First, life in posthumanist households problematizes boundaries between humans and other creatures in terms of relationships, behaviour and use of space. Second, muddied living involves breaching and maintaining domestic order. Muddied living is characterised by tension, power and compromise. Homes are posthuman not just by including non-human animals, but through elements of dog agency in how home is made.

Originality/value

Little has been written of “home” within sociology, despite “home” capturing a range of social practice. Sociologists examining human–animal companion relations have not considered how relations play out in home space. This paper investigates home as a shared space of multispecies interaction, making the case for a posthuman sociology of home.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 41 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 March 2022

Olivia Krauze

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), careful plotter of the fictional region of “Wessex,” is a novelist both acutely aware of the role of space in his works and remarkably fascinated by…

Abstract

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), careful plotter of the fictional region of “Wessex,” is a novelist both acutely aware of the role of space in his works and remarkably fascinated by violence. Bringing these two significant elements of his fictional method together, this chapter examines the numerous violent spaces created by Hardy throughout his fiction. It focuses in particular on the ways in which different spaces, at first presumed to be safe, become invaded by extreme acts of violence. In the course of the chapter, I ask: How does this perversion of space by violence contribute to Hardy's literary aims? How do spatial relationships and boundaries intersect with his characterization? And does Hardy leave his readers with any hope for future spaces?

I suggest that Hardy's situation of acts of violence in a range of spaces, natural and domestic alike, is purposefully disorientating. It allows him to interrogate defined social ideas of “moral” indoor spaces and “wild” outdoor landscapes during the late Victorian period. There is, in fact, no such thing as a safe space in Hardy – spaces are ambiguous, changing and shaped by their inhabitants. The effect of violent spaces in Hardy, therefore, provides a challenge both to the conventional settings of nineteenth-century realist writing and any presumed knowledge of these environments. It might be tempting to see such spatial aesthetics as rather pessimistic, yet I argue that by dispelling the illusory link between space and safety, Hardy promotes a more sensitive awareness of everyday environments and our interactions with/within them.

Details

Re-Imagining Spaces and Places
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-737-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2003

Luchien Karsten and John Leopold

Working time patterns are moving away from the traditional pattern of regularity, standardisation and co‐ordination to a new triptych of individualism, heterogeneity and…

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Abstract

Working time patterns are moving away from the traditional pattern of regularity, standardisation and co‐ordination to a new triptych of individualism, heterogeneity and irregularity. Seeks to make sense of these changes through the concept of hora management as an approach to manage the interface between temporally asymmetric domains of organisational and domestic space mediated through the space of professional relations. Drawing on the societal approach, defines the three spaces – professional relations, organisational and domestic – and builds a model of their inter‐relationship that incorporates the supranational impact of the European Union. Organisational citizenship will require managers to pursue family‐friendly policies and recognise that time spent in one domain cannot be equated with time spent in another. Hora management offers a way of managing these tensions and contradictions.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Haunting Prison: Exploring the Prison as an Abject and Uncanny Institution
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-368-8

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2006

S.S.Y. Lau, Fuk Ming Li, D.K.C. Leung, Grace W.K. Tang, Baharuddin, A.L. Ye, K.W. Chau and S.K. Wong

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance and relevance of social and habitual behaviours of home occupants to the building design process. It argues that…

2650

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance and relevance of social and habitual behaviours of home occupants to the building design process. It argues that introducing quantitative measures such as daylight level alone may not result in a “healthy and functional” kitchen without appreciating or factoring‐in the impacts of the social roles and user expectations of kitchens in high‐rise and compact urban situations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study investigated three common types of apartment buildings in Hong Kong. Case studies suggested that it is crucial to include in a design process proper considerations of human behaviours by way of preferred approaches and modes of living, space usage, and weightings of end‐user responses that would influence architectural design in a direct and crucial way.

Findings

The study noted that daylight quality of a kitchen is perceived by most families to be not as important as building control officials and designers thought it would. Instead, it is found that social and cultural factors are more important parameters for users. The study observed that designers rely on physical and quantitative approaches such as daylight factor, window size and window‐to‐room area ratio to qualify a design solution and ignore the socio‐cultural parameters.

Originality/value

The paper calls for designers and building control officials to incorporate the study of functionality and socio‐cultural preferences of users groups in the building design process. The study envisages that an integrated design methodology would enhance the living environment.

Details

Structural Survey, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-080X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2022

Asmaa AL-Mohannadi, Raffaello Furlan and Michael Grosvald

This research study aims to explore sociocultural factors such as privacy and gender segregation as they relate to the spatial perception of women's spaces within the vernacular…

Abstract

Purpose

This research study aims to explore sociocultural factors such as privacy and gender segregation as they relate to the spatial perception of women's spaces within the vernacular Qatari household, and the activities, habits and practiced culture of its inhabitants.

Design/methodology/approach

This analysis utilizes the Space Syntax methodology to examine a sample of vernacular courtyard houses with respect to space connectivity, conducting an analytical exploration of the role of women based on the system of activities.

Findings

The findings shed light on the spatial complexity and sensitivity of the Qatari household as it reflects the prevailing sociocultural imperatives in Qatari urbanities, including the country's capital, Doha.

Research limitations/implications

This research study thus reinforces the importance of traditional residential architecture in conserving Qatar's distinctive architectural identity, rooted in its sociocultural attributes.

Social implications

Sociocultural features such as privacy and gender segregation are among the most prominent factors influencing the spatial form of vernacular courtyard houses in the Arabian Gulf country of Qatar.

Originality/value

It is argued that within a typical vernacular Qatari household, women's spaces are the least connected (most segregated) areas, due mainly to the influence of privacy norms and gender segregation on the spatial configuration of the house.

Details

Open House International, vol. 48 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 October 2021

Karen P. Nicholson

The purpose of this paper is to use spatial thinking (space-time) as a lens through which to examine the ways in which the socio-economic conditions and values of the post-Fordist…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use spatial thinking (space-time) as a lens through which to examine the ways in which the socio-economic conditions and values of the post-Fordist academy work to diminish and even subsume the immaterial affective labour of librarians even as it serves to reproduce the academy.

Design/methodology/approach

The research question informing this paper asks, In what ways does spatial thinking help us to better understand the immaterial, invisible and gendered labour of academic librarians' public service work in the context of the post-Fordist university? This question is explored using a conceptual approach and a review of recent library information science (LIS) literature that situates the academic library in the post-Fordist knowledge economy.

Findings

The findings suggest that the feminized and gendered immaterial labour of public service work in academic libraries – a form of reproductive labour – remains invisible and undervalued in the post-Fordist university, and that academic libraries function as a procreative, feminized spaces.

Originality/value

Spatial thinking offers a corrective to the tendency in LIS to foreground time over space. It affords new insights into the spatial and temporal aspects of information work in the global neoliberal knowledge economy and suggests a new spatio-temporal imaginary of the post-Fordist academic library as a site of waged work.

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2011

Rana Sobh and Russell Belk

The purpose of this paper is to report findings of an ethnographic study of homes in the Arab Gulf country of Qatar. The authors' analysis and contribution focuses on resolving…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report findings of an ethnographic study of homes in the Arab Gulf country of Qatar. The authors' analysis and contribution focuses on resolving the tension between privacy and hospitality in Qatari homes in the context of identity threats posed by an influx of Western modernity and its implications to marketers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study involves observation and in‐depth interviews with 24 middle‐class male and female home‐owning Qataris living in Doha. The analysis followed the logic of hermeneutic research.

Findings

It was found that values of privacy and hospitality are notably emphasized in Qatari homes. The authors discuss how these values coexist despite their glaring contradiction and also show that in this context privacy is used to reveal consumption and display status rather than to hide it away from the public arena.

Practical implications

With Qatar's collectivist orientation and strong gendered protectionism, marketing and advertising in the Gulf needs to be sensitive to these cultural practices.

Originality/value

By developing an understanding of the privacy/hospitality dialectic in Qatar, the paper provides insights into how these values are incorporated or resisted in the design and use of family homes in a modern era of increasing globalism and suggests implications for marketers.

Details

Journal of Islamic Marketing, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0833

Keywords

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