Residential Space Syntax for Better Family Member's Interaction

Family welfare through humane communication as well as interactive opportunities among family members and relatives has always been integral to pertinent housing design. Due to different needs of family members at different age or social status, the residential spaces should be designed according to these real needs or it would result in an increasing individualism and unfavorable impacts to family structure. In the process of human psychological development, privacy and community are two essential needs, which have a special place in the hierarchy of human motivational needs. Every pattern of human behavior requires a desirable level and good balance of both types of communications. However, current housing policies in Iran mitigate the chance of providing spaces that increase residences interactions. This study introduces a special instruction and principles to design residential spatial territories and pursues spatial approaches in housing design that promotes family relationship and improves family interactions. This study's main question is the role of housing's spatial organization and its territories in the family member's mutual interaction. The aim of this research thus is to identify the role of spatial organization of housing and its territories in creating interaction and communication between family members and providing grounds for a suitable pattern and model for housing design. In fact, the design of spatial organization of housing as one of the most valuable physical and cultural pieces of each community plays an important role in flourishing and improving the society. In this regard, the design of individual as well as collective territories, communicative spaces, spatial linkages, and the position of territories to each other is taken for analysis. A qualitative research strategy based on questioners is used for the purpose of this study. In this regard, three different prototypes were proposed in the questionnaires. Subjects responses were summarized and coded represented in tables and matrixes. The resulting analytic information derived from these tables and matrixes, exhibit significant differences between residents of each prototype. After categorizing the responses and finding out satisfaction codes in the responses, these codes were counted to define which prototype was more satisfying. After this, the results were compared to the literature review and the final guidelines were developed. These guidelines will help to provide a space syntax, which is a modifying factor in design of individual as well as collective territories, communicative spaces and their spatial configuration. Designing residential spaces based on these guidelines helps to increase residences’ satisfaction and improve their interactions with their family members.