Comparative Analysis of the Spatial Structure of Apartment Unit Plans in Asia- Apartments in Korea, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan -

Abstract

Though apartments are often criticized for their homogeneous nature, they are being actively adopted as an efficient method of providing houses for developing countries. In this paper, the authors argue whether such phenomenon can be seen simply as cultural identity giving in to internationalism. That is, apartments can indeed reflect locality within their spatial structure. To support this argument, apartment units from Korea, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan, three countries from dramatically different climate zones and cultural backgrounds, are analyzed. In doing so, Space Syntax, a quantitative analysis method widely used to interpret the cultural aspects embedded into a spatial structure is utilized. Each country′s apartment units had different functions at the topological center, which should not be seen as a mere coincidence since they were consistent with the spatial characteristic found in their respective traditional houses. Therefore, it can be said that apartments, in their unit plans, do reflect locality, a direct contradiction to the general belief.