Thesis Abstract

<p>                <b>ABSTRACT&nbsp;</b><br></p><p> An Investigation into the Concept of Privacy in Contemporary Saudi Houses A Design Tool This research investigates the concept of privacy in the context of Eastern region houses of Saudi Arabia. This concept had been explored in numerous fields in literature, such as psychology and internet security, where literature referred back to individual’s personal preferences that translated social and cultural needs. As a concept, privacy is one of the social elements that needed to be considered within the scope of spatial design, an element that filled some of the gap between architects and clients’ needs as expressed by literature. This research investigated the factors that shaped privacy inside the environment of the ‘house’ from the perspective of female users. Also, it looks at female perspective because of their role inside the house, interior spatial patterns in the house that reflect social patterns. For that, a qualitative ethnographic methodology was employed to help in the investigation process of the concept of privacy. Observation and interviews were the methods selected to communicate with a selected sample to get an insight of what privacy means to female users and the way they represented that meaning in the house design and patterns of use. The investigation was to study and analyse designs from traditional and contemporary houses supported with ethnographic data to document privacy interpretation inside the Saudi house. From that, spatial design elements were addressed in both traditional and contemporary houses that led to the developed design tool. The design tool, functional and spatial relationship guide, aimed to assist interior architects and interior designers in their design process of houses that respect social needs of privacy. That tool was evaluated by multiple focus groups taken by professionals from the field. The research contribution lies in identifying the meaning and boundaries of privacy in the perspective of Saudi female users of contemporary houses in the Eastern region. Moreover, the development of the design tool which helps produce house designs that are socially acceptable and respect privacy needs of users. <br></p>

Thesis Overview

<p><b>1.1 Introduction&nbsp;</b></p><p>A fascination with rapid technological and architectural development has led the researcher’s interest in exploring the factors which have assisted those developments. Also the effect of globalisation on the status of architecture in the Arabian Gulf countries, in Saudi Arabia in particular, has been an influential factor for this research. The fascination with architecture followed its role in recording history, reminding people of what happened (Al Naim 2013). Yet, interior spaces reminded people of lifestyle and represented values of the time of the creation of the space. That and the fact of the researcher being a female interior architect in Saudi Arabia, the researcher has experienced the built environment as a designer and an end user and this has fostered an interest in the design of contemporary Saudi houses and the impact of those designs on the lifestyle of users. Saudi Arabia has gone through a number of different historical and economic phases that have shaped its evolution. One of the main factors was the discovery of oil. People translated this evolution into their everyday lives; for example in education, communication and architecture. This was similar to the translation of the industrial revolution into the lives of Europeans. People had to migrate, leaving their original habitats, to where new jobs were being created and new opportunities were available. They wanted to live in their own houses, a place they could call home, conceptually as well as physically, because a house and its elements hold a symbolic meaning to its users; “[the meaning] is a piece of home” (Rapoport 1979, p. 52). Tradition, history, socio-economy, values and ideology were among the inherited factors that influenced and affected the resulting architecture (Ragette 2003). Their lives and principles are reflected in their houses, and currently they are in a state of flux, between traditional lifestyle and the move away from extended compound living - one influencing the other (Antoniou 1982). Traditional surviving structures in most Gulf countries are now memorials to an age that changed dramatically after the discovery of oil. Furthermore, traditional houses were environmentally considerate, before the presence of airconditioning, and provided their users with climatic comfort (Kay and Zandi 1991). The past century has witnessed development throughout the kingdom of Saudi Arabia from various perspectives, due to multiple inputs, political and economic.&nbsp;</p><p>These inputs followed the discovery of oil and the formation of the current Saudi Aramco oil company. The influence this company had on Saudi Arabia was dramatic and presented the country with on-going opportunities in different fields such as technology, politics and economy. On one hand, literature has focused on the visual effect of globalisation on architecture, and on the other the process of the creation of traditional visual elements in old architectural buildings. Architects had viewed traditional architecture with various approaches related to the way they utilised its existing knowledge; copying the past into contemporary creations, understanding the past and modifying it to suit the present, and lastly, acknowledging the past’s existence yet starting with new ideas. <br></p><p> Some scholars have referred to the work of Rapoport (Bahammam 1987, AbuGhazzeh 1997, Al Naim 1998a) who discussed conceptual terms within the built environment such as non-verbal communication and user-based designs (1979, 1982, 2000, 2005). Rapoport refers to the built environment as being affected by not only one factor, but by a group of factors that shape it and result in its final form. Consequently, there are differences between the meaning that the designer has and the meaning that users have for a concept that is affected and shaped by factors such as: religion, site, materials and some cultural and social aspects. Also, Rapoport (2001, 2005) pointed out that architects need to have a deeper understanding of users’ lifestyles and the factors that shape their built environment. However, Schefold (1997) categorised Rapoport’s analysis as factor-analysis, stating that his style lacked consideration of other important factors and focused on others, whereas the work of Lawrence (2001) supports Rapoport’s conceptualisation of the analysis of houses, that a house cannot be analysed in two-dimensional aspects alone for that does not involve the users and their input. <br></p><p> The work of Rapoport was influential for this research and gave the researcher different perspectives in which interior design can be viewed from. The understanding of the end user before analysing the build environment they are living in was discussed in his book (Rapoport 2005). The discussion represented answers for the questions the researcher had related to methods of approaching the research question. Also, Rapoport’s theories helped formulate the questions touching areas that were briefly approached by other scholars involved in similar topic. <br></p><p> Much research has been conducted in this area, focusing on the design of urban dwellings, yet there is a rich and increasing literature base, produced by architects and scholars, which is interested in traditional architecture and the crisis of identity (Akbar 1998, Al Naim 1998a, Al-Dossary 2000, AlEnazy 2007). Also, some studies focused on architectural aspects of controlling the communication between outside and inside of the house in Saudi Arabia, their focus targeted architectural elements such as windows, doors and properties’ fencings (Bahammam 1987, AlHemaidi 1996). This research explores the interior spaces of traditional houses and contemporary houses in Saudi Arabia in general, in particular within its Eastern region. The location of the area of interest shares similar characteristics with other Arabian Gulf countries such as Bahrain, the Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar (Vaziritabar 1990). Therefore, some traditional houses, which are considered in the study, may be drawn from those Arabian Gulf countries. <br></p><p> This research starts with exploring traditional house interior architecture by investigating the factors that most affect the resulting design decisions, which shape these houses. Traditional houses present a physical record of needs representation created by master-builders upon users preferences to meet environmental influences (Kries and Vegesack 2003). As mentioned earlier, environment-influencing factors are a result of studying users and their environment. From these factors - culture, society, norms, environment and traditions - will lead to an understanding of the traditional architecture of the location. These factors were inherited generation after generation, yet were modified by technological advancement, which affected the life style of users such as: cooking, cleaning, heating and cooling, lighting and ventilation. These inherited factors are vast, each has its own field of study, and they will here be explored in relation to the concept of privacy (Kazerooni 2009). The outcome of this research aims to influence the process of designing contemporary Saudi houses with respect to the influencing environmental factors. <br></p><p> <b>1.1. Aims and objectives&nbsp;</b></p><p>This research looks at Saudi contemporary houses; with Saudi Arabia’s considerably large area that provided diverse examples to study, which presented an obstacle at the same time. This vast area has diverse cultural background. Therefore, the Eastern region was selected to gain depth into the issue within a particular part of Saudi Arabia. The Eastern region was selected due to its geographic location, close to other Arabian Gulf countries and sharing common economical, historical and socio-cultural influences. Also the Eastern region was selected due to the researcher’s familiarity. The research focuses even more on the cities of Dammam, Khobar and Dhahran, for the same mentioned reason. The research focuses on the house interiors from the perspective of Saudi female users in relation to the concern of privacy and privacy levels. Female users were selected, as they are the primary users of the house who are affected by social requirements and needs. Also, to get deeper insight to how this concern of privacy affected the way they feel about contemporary houses (Al‐Kodmany 1999). The researcher being a female member of this society raised bias concerns related to personal and socio-cultural knowledge of traditional and contemporary needs. Therefore, the first aim of the research was to learn about the concept of privacy and then to explore its continuity in the houses of today. The research aims to create a design tool that respects privacy boundaries and expresses them in a way that suits contemporary female Saudi users, by benefiting from the experiences of the past and combining them into the context of contemporary house design. This tool aims to aid interior architects and interior designers, who have limited knowledge of Saudi house needs, also design students in their learning journey. The tool is intended for early design stages. Its aim is to guide the designer through the functional-spatial design of different spaces of the house, specifically inexperienced and new designers in Saudi Arabia. The tool is derived from contemporary house designs obtained from interview participants. The objectives were designed to support the mentioned research aims. They are: 1) to formulate a robust research base from a literature review; 2) to collect primary data which would reflect the concept of privacy (its meaning, boundaries and importance) by communicating with users of contemporary house; and 3) to examine designers’ existing base of knowledge about clients’ needs. In parallel, traditional Saudi and Arabian Gulf houses are examined to formulate a justifiable basis for responding to the symbolic and functional meaning of some interior spatial elements, such as courtyards, liwans (interior wall niche) and dehlez (broken entrance).&nbsp;</p><p><b>&nbsp; 1.2. Research question&nbsp;</b></p><p>The research question relates to the concept of privacy within the contemporary Saudi house, a question that touches users’ personal lives and might be of some sensitivity to some if not most. For some, having privacy is common sense within private and public spaces; domestic and commercial spaces. This non-verbal gesture was modified by social norms to serve religious and cultural needs. The research questions revolve around the concern of privacy and its representation in contemporary Saudi houses from the perspective of Saudi females.&nbsp;</p><p>1. What does privacy mean to the users and how important is it to them? This question will be explored with regard to both traditional and contemporary houses.&nbsp;</p><p>2. Is there communication between the designers and clients to establish clients’ spatial and interior design preferences with relation to the concept of privacy and its interpretation inside the house?&nbsp;</p><p>3. How does the design of contemporary houses in Saudi Arabia deal with the issue of privacy and to what extent do clients make spatial interventions to improve privacy at home? 4. What factors are taken into account when designing the spatial layout of both traditional and contemporary house interiors? These research questions built the research path.&nbsp;</p><p>Therefore, the research focuses on exploring the meaning, importance and interpretation of the concept of privacy in contemporary Saudi houses. As mentioned earlier, the influence of social requirements and needs on female users inspired the researcher to explore this concept from their perspective. <br></p><p> <b>1.3. Location significance&nbsp;</b></p><p>Historically, Saudi Arabia is a religious place, being the birth place of the prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) and of Islam(Talib 1984). Due to its importance, Muslim people from all over the world have visited the holy cities on pilgrimage and have then either returned to their own countries or stayed in the&nbsp; Arabian Peninsula. There is evidence of their influence on the culture and social norms of the area, hence the variation in architectural styles throughout the kingdom, which are further affected by climatic factors. According to King (1998) there are five acknowledged house styles in Saudi Arabia, while Ragette (2003) mentions that there are only three distinct house styles: central, western and south-western mountainous, not mentioning the northern and eastern regions that were influenced by the Ottoman Empire and the Far East. Geographically, Saudi Arabia has thirteen provinces (see Figure 1). These thirteen provinces were classified under three; five and four architectural styles according to different scholars (King 1998, Ragette 2003, Shoup and Maisel 2009) (see Figure 2). Each style has its unique influences and characteristics, reflecting their climatic and social needs. Three of these regions are currently centred upon major economic cities: Jeddah that has the western port, Dammam with the eastern port and major oil company, and Riyadh the capital of Saudi Arabia. The following is a brief overview of Saudi Arabia’s three economic growth areas. &nbsp;&nbsp;<br></p>