Art
Seyede Fereshteh Ehsani Oskouei; Jamal- E-Din Mahdinejad
Abstract
With women's increased presence at home, they are disproportionately affected by unfavorable living conditions. This situation makes it essential to consider their lifestyle, needs, and preferences when designing housing. This study employed an exploratory approach, using qualitative research methods ...
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With women's increased presence at home, they are disproportionately affected by unfavorable living conditions. This situation makes it essential to consider their lifestyle, needs, and preferences when designing housing. This study employed an exploratory approach, using qualitative research methods such as semi-structured interviews and observations to collect data. The sample consisted of twenty purposefully selected women aged 20 to 40 residing in Tehran province. The data collected from interviews was coded using MAX QDA software, resulting in the identification of key themes and patterns. Besides that, behavior-oriented and spatial-oriented diagrams were drawn based on field observations of residential units. The findings highlight the pivotal role of rooms within residential spaces in women's lives, and it revealed that the contemporary social, economic, and cultural conditions of Iran have shaped a distinct lifestyle among women in this age, significantly impacting their housing preferences. Key design components for rooms in residential apartment units, based on the perspectives of young women, include perceived environmental characteristics such as “efficiency and functionality, beauty and order, privacy, flexibility and adaptability, cleanliness, and hygiene”. Additionally, physical attributes such as “the number of closets and storage spaces, lighting, room size and its other proportions, spatial configuration, noise pollution, interior furniture and its arrangement, texture, and color of materials, window views and their exposure, ventilation conditions, heating and cooling, the number of bedrooms, and form and geometry “.To accommodate the lifestyle of young women, it is important to consider suitable spaces for sleeping, working, and leisure, as well as ensuring personal solitude and incorporating individual tastes and cultural sensitivities in room design. These findings have practical implications for architects, interior designers, and developers involved in housing design. By incorporating the identified design components, housing can be tailored to meet the multifaceted requirements of young women, promoting their comfort and satisfaction.
