Redefining the Value of Privacy at the Entrances of Qajar Houses in Shiraz and Extracting Spatial Principles for Contemporary Housing

Abstract

Privacy is one of the important qualities in the spatial organization of Iranian houses and has faced challenges in contemporary architecture as a result of changing patterns of residence and transformations in spatial relationships. In this context, the house entrance, as an intermediary space between the public and private realms, plays an important role in regulating visibility, access, and movement and, consequently, in shaping the value of privacy. The present study aims to identify the spatial components affecting the value of privacy at the entrances of Qajar houses in Shiraz and to extract principles applicable to contemporary housing design. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method, and was conducted through documentary studies, physical-spatial analysis of selected cases, and an examination of contemporary residents’ perceptions. In the analysis of historical cases, components such as intermediary space, entry hierarchy, changes in the direction of movement, visual control, and gradual separation of public and private realms were examined. The results showed that the value of privacy at the entrances of historical houses is not produced by a single element, but by the interaction of a set of spatial components and the way in which the relationship between outside and inside is organized. Findings concerning contemporary perceptions also indicated that some of these components—particularly intermediary space, gradual entry, visual control, and territorial separation—remain important in contemporary experiences of privacy. Accordingly, the study concludes that the spatial values of historical architecture can be incorporated into contemporary housing not through formal imitation of historical elements, but through the extraction and reinterpretation of their spatial logic. Finally, principles such as creating an intermediary between territories, organizing entry gradually, controlling views, and spatial separation are proposed as bases for strengthening the value of privacy in contemporary housing design.