Human & Socio-Cultural Factors in Design:

Privacy,
Personal
Space, &
Territoriality
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Our lives are complex; our
emotions are complex; our
intellectual desires are complex.
I believe that architecture …
needs to mirror that complexity
in every single space that we
have, in every intimacy that we
possess.

Daniel Libeskind
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PRIVACY:
Types of Privacy
Crowding

PERSONAL SPACE:
Privacy,
Proxemics Personal Space,
Sociopetal and Sociofugal

TERRITORIALITY:
& Territoriality
Types of Territories
Functions of Territories

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Privacy, Personal Space,
& Territoriality
Privacy, personal space, and territorial behavior affect the people’s perception of
environmental comfort and quality.

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PRIVACY

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PRIVACY
refers to the management of
information or the regulation of social
interaction with one’s surrounding

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PRIVACY is also an intentional retreat from
unwanted observation, audition, distraction
or interruption.
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Privacy is control of
visual, auditory, and
olfactory interactions
with others.

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Factors affecting
Privacy:
• Mechanism of the senses
• Individuality
• Space distance
• Architectural elements of a space
• Culture

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 All senses affect the way human beings perceive
their surroundings and the mechanism by which they
control privacy.
Factors Affecting Privacy:

KINESTHETIC (hands
& feet)
PROXIMITY Mechanism
SEEING (eyes) VISIBILITY
of the
Senses
HEARING (ears) ACOUSTICS

SMELLING (nose) OLFACTORY

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• Sense of individuality, self evaluation Factors Affecting Privacy:
& identity Individuality
• Selective & interpersonal
communication
• Level of interaction

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 Factors Affecting Privacy:
A set of distances (proxemics) that people use
to control their relationships with others.
Space
These distances change in different societies
Distance
and from a culture to another.

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Architectural elements act as regulators of
privacy both visually, acoustically and spatially.
These elements are: Factors Affecting Privacy:
• Furniture
Architectural
•

•
Walls
Fences
elements of a
• Doors
space
• Furnishings
• Tinted glass
• Windows
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Since all the surfaces of the building is transparent,
the privacy level is not high.

Architectural elements act as regulators of privacy both visually, acoustically and spatially. 11
 Architectural elements act as regulators of privacy both visually, acoustically and spatially.

Solid surfaces, minimum openings provide high

level of privacy to the user.
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Culture affects the boundary of what is regarded as
private.

Factors Affecting Privacy:

Culture

The level and degree of privacy is culturally

determined in different geographies of the world.
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 Factors Affecting Privacy:

Culture

Privacy was explained as mechanisms of control

interaction with others. Due to the culture North
Americans leave more space between each other
during interaction than the Arabic men.
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Types of Privacy:
There are several kinds of privacy, each of
which serves a different purpose. Alan Westin
(1970) identifies four types:
1. Solitude
2. Intimacy
3. Anonymity
4. Reserve

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 Types of Privacy:

Solitude

In this type of privacy, person is alone & free

from observation by others and, as such s/he is
in the most extreme condition of privacy.

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 Types of Privacy:

Intimacy

The second privacy state occurs when small group

–for example a couple separate themselves from
outsiders in order to be alone.

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 Types of Privacy:

Anonymity

This type of privacy occurs when a person act

freely without being recognized by the others in a
crowded, public place.

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 Types of Privacy:

Reserve

This type of privacy occurs when a person develops

psychological barrier against unwanted intrusions
while being engaged on an ongoing activity.

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CROWDING
Too much privacy leads to
feelings of social isolation,
and too little privacy leads
to subjective feelings of
crowding (Irwin Altman
1975).

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CROWDING
is a psychological state of a
person or group of persons which
indicates a feeling of too little
space or less space and less
privacy than desired.

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Certain factors play role in calling a
space by a person as ‘crowded’:
• Availability of space (how much space available
to the person)
• Accessibility of resources (like services)
• Social factors like competition, power struggles
• Personality and past experiences
• Intrusion
• Duration of contact with others

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Density vs. Crowding
• Density: is a term which is used to indicate the
physical idea of number of people per unit space
like no of people per square meter, or per
hectare, or per acre etc.
• Crowding: is a psychological concept indicating
a feeling of too little space, and a motivation
state directed toward the alleviation of related
limitations of space.

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PERSONAL
SPACE
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PERSONAL
SPACE
is a space that surrounds a person
in which they are made comfortable or
uncomfortable.

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Functions of
Personal Space
• It protects against possible
psychologically and physically
uncomfortable social encounters.

• It communicates information about

the relationship between the people in
interaction.

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While waiting at the bus
stop, people leave various
distance among each other
based on their relationship
and interaction.

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Proxemics
Proxemics is a term generated by
Edward T. Hall by combining the terms
"proximity" and "phonemics”.

The thesis of the book is that “each

animal group has its own physiological,
psychological, and sociological
proxemics needs and values, and these
can be traced to the earliest forms of
life on Earth…”

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Sociofugal + Sociopetal Spaces
In 1957 a doctor named Humphrey Osmond began observing the effects of environmental
change on the interactions of patients in a mental hospital in Saskatchewan.

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SOCIOFUGAL SPACES SOCIOPETAL SPACES

designed to minimize contact between designed to bring people together
people

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 SOCIOFUGAL SPACES SOCIOPETAL SPACES
designed to minimize contact between people designed to bring people together 34
TERRITORIALITY

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TERRITORIALITY
is ownership maintain certain spaces
on our own or control over them of a
geographical area by one or more
individuals.

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 According to Edward T. Hall:

“… behavior by which an organism

characteristically lays claim to an
area and defends it against
members of its own species…”

“Zone of Control”

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Functions of Territories
1. Control : having authority over a place

2. Establishment of Identity: is the need to know who

one is and what role one plays in society (is
associated with the needs for belonging, self-
esteem, and self actualization identified by Maslow)

3. Safety &Protection: to be free from censure, to be

free from outside attack, and to possess self-
confidence.

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 Defensible Space
Theory
The defensible space theory of architect and city
planner Oscar Newman encompasses ideas about
crime prevention and neighborhood safety.
Newman argues that architectural and
environmental design plays a crucial part in
increasing or reducing criminality.
Throughout his study, Newman focused on
explaining his ideas on social control, crime
prevention, and public health in relation to
community design.

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Types of Territories
Irwin Altman typology of Territoriality:

• PRIMARY: permanent ownership; The areas that you call “own” (home, bedroom,
office).
• SECONDARY: certain work and recreational environments , semi-permanent;
regularly used but not ‘owned’ areas (lockers, your desk in the class, occupied
parking lot, etc.)
• PUBLIC (TEMPORARY): open to all people (libraries, restaurants, phone booths,
etc.)

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Someone's personal ‘space bubble’.

Primary Territory

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Areas those that are likely to be
highly personalized

Primary Territory

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 Semi-permanent territories.

Secondary Territory

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Semi-private or Semi-public – In-between territories (e.g., swimming pools in
residential complexes).
Secondary Territory
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Public (Temporary) Territories are
areas that may be used by
individuals or a group but are not
possessed or personalized or
claimed by them.

Public Territory

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 Symbolic Territories are also
public territories. They represent
demarcation of identity & status

Public Territory

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Importance
of the topic
Architects must understand the structure
and flow within space that is critical for
crafting engaging experiences. Mirroring
the complexity of solving and designing
spaces for human interaction.

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Thank you!
QUIZ NEXT WEEK

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