Design for the Public-Private Threshold

Abstract

This research aims to make interpretations of how we define the public and private in contemporary domestic spaces. It will address how due to the age of modernization, the age of industrialism and consumerism, we have extremely transformed the way we create, and use domestic space. The actions of public and private are never static because they are results of specific social ction. These social actions are produced in physical space, which exists independent from the social action, however, social action is also shaped by material and non material things humans have transformed. This brings into question what does it mean to be in public and private space if social action is the sole provider of a definition, and if social action is never produced in isolation? But then also paradoxically, how can architectural space inform how social actions are produced and inform and what types are produced? The domestic space is difficult to define, but can be observed through multiple perspectives which Juan A. Barcelo defines as: one being a container of people and actions, two it could also be observed as a socially produced thing or social tool, and finally as a mathematical object. This thesis intends to study definitions of public and private space, its multidimensionality and history, its transformations, and its dynamics. A house is a physical representation of social- cultural influences, and is a space where personality and individualism can be projected. This dynamic of projection of self to the fabric and spatial arrangements of the house, can reveal when a house becomes a home. The structure of this thesis provides an understanding of the shift of focus in architecture, case studies of early development of smarter cities that aimed to design at a human scale and designed for the inhibitors, and the change of definitions of public and private in regards to owneship,zoing, communication technologies, and our extreme growth of access to knowledge. The research will also address the dynamics of social activity and probability of social action at a household level, and will compare and contrast examples of dwelling through time. Images and art studies show how visual communication has the capability of expressing a narrative of time and domestic space. Furthermore, this thesis conducts research on how probability of social action can be mapped and modeled, and have used my own home and domestic experience and others surveyed as examples. Results can be analyzed and used to make connections of culture, social aspects, and architectural factors that aid in defining public and private space within contemporary domestic space. The path to understanding the concept and action of contemporary living, is not a well defined one, but analyzing our reliance on technology and the decline of self sufficiency in relationship to how we respect and use our domestic space, can allow us to be proactive in designing and imagining the flexibility, spacial arrangements, and functional adaptivity within public and private space.