Islamic Review of Rapoport's Environmental Behavior Study (EBS) for Home Space Design Model and Analyzing its Efficacy in Design

Home as a dwelling of family is highly effective on the behavior and family members’ relationship with together. In this case, designing the home’s interior space interactions, on the basis of separated private, semi-private and non-private space zones that is called “Home Space Design”, can highly affect the relationship between family members. Home space design model has faced a rapid change through the period of modern evolution. The changing culture of this design model is noticed through the current changes of relations between family members in comparison with the past. This case has been highly effective on home design and its education. Understanding home space design according to family members’ relationship parameters in Islam is so important that can affect the improvement of content in student’s design. Undergraduate students are usually facing with a conflict in spatial relations of today’s residential space design and the previous one, and therefore, offer their design ideas on the grounds of personal creativity and aesthetic cognition of their design tutors. This turns the design process into an independent, individually oriented process. This study aims to present a model for teaching residential design, and to create relationship between content and design based on this model, with regards to the differentiations of private, semi-private and non-private space zones in residential interior spaces (Home Space Design Model), and this will be carried out on the basis of family relations in Islam. This model can connect the content of family relationship in Islam with home interior space design. To achieve the study’s aim, environmental behavior study (EBS) of Amos Rapoport was adapted with family relations from Islamic viewpoint. Although Islamic viewpoint is basis of this study for presented home space design, however, use of environmental behavior study (EBS) of Amos Rapoport created possibility for adapting this model for a different cultures. Environmental behavior study of Amos Rapoport has noticed the importance of cultural differences for designing and content of it. In this paper, a suggested model was designed with regards to the Islamic content in the boundaries of Islamic-Iranian concept according to Rapoport’s model. The research results were then confirmed by residential design experts, through interviews and questionnaires, and by use of Delphi Method. In the next step, proficiency examination of this model, introduced as an educational tool for home space design model, in the first design studio, was carried out for two undergraduate student groups of analysis and control. Finally, the selected static samples of both groups were examined and confirmed by five residential design experts to validate this analysis. Results show that the analysis group designed their home space system with regard to Islamic thought about family relationship by high percentage, whereas no much difference is noticed in creativity and aesthetic aspects of both examined groups. This shows that although aesthetic aspect of a residence is not independent from its home space design model, the realization of a fine comprehensive design education is achievable through a detailed compliance with the suggested model’s priorities.