Functional Quality of private open/ semi-open spaces in residential units (Case Study: Bushehr city)

Abstract

The qualitative aspects of residential environments have been great interest in recent researches. Despite the need of access to private open space for each dwelling unit, today in the city of Bushehr, we observe the construction of apartments which, in their design, the private open / semi- open spaces, have no performance quality and in addition, due to aberrant use, have reduced the quality of housing units and destruction of the urban landscape. The purpose of this research is to improve the quality of private open/semi- open spaces in housing units of Bushehr city. This fieldwork research is performed in residential units of Bushehr city. 20 samples were selected from contemporary residential units and 10 samples from vernacular architecture houses, using stratified sampling with the aim to include diverse types of private open/semi-open spaces. Physical characteristics of private open/semi-open spaces, as the independent variable and the quality of these spaces, as the dependent variable were evaluated; the first by harvest field and the latter by using a Likert scale and a non-interventionist view. Firstly, the physical characteristics of these spaces in contemporary architecture and vernacular architecture were compared by Kruskal-Wallis test. In the second stage, the correlation of the physical characteristics of these spaces with their quality was measured by Spearman test and ETA test. Among the physical characteristics of space, depth of space, and the ratio of length / depth of space, had the highest correlation with performance of space, and the lack of visual privacy and security were the most important factors for Creating Extensions by residents. Based on the test results, the focus has been to provide recommendations in order to improve the quality of private open / semi- open spaces.