Abstract
While the study of building types is a well-known and relatively active research field, the topic of room types is less explored. This article takes a broad approach to spatial categorization, enabling the examination of different types of spaces over longer periods. How do different room types evolve and die? How do the different residential room types relate to each other? Do they act alone or do they follow each other over time? The article looks at the particular evolution and development of Swedish residential room types and is based on the study of plans of 2,340 Swedish buildings from about 1750 to 2010. Six themes emerged from this study: thresholds of birth and extinction, abruptive change, the relation between absent and present room types, contagious types, different temporal scales and the stabilization of prototypical sets.
Highlights
Spatial entities can be classified into different types of rooms
When we look at transformations, there is always a change both in form and use
It seems that there are quite often thresholds where series of new spaces evolve or die. This has been made clear in studies of building types that show, for example, that industrial society came with a series of new building types concerned with production (Markus 1993), but these thresholds seem less studied when it comes to room types
Summary
While the study of building types is a well-known and relatively active research field, the topic of room types is less explored. This article takes a broad approach to spatial categorization, enabling the examination of different types of spaces over longer periods. How do different room types evolve and die? How do the different residential room types relate to each other? Do they act alone or do they follow each other over time? The article looks at the particular evolution and development of Swedish residential room types and is based on the study of plans of 2,340 Swedish buildings from about 1750 to 2010. Six themes emerged from this study: thresholds of birth and extinction, abruptive change, the relation between absent and present room types, contagious types, different temporal scales and the stabilization of prototypical sets
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
