DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE

Abstract 

The culture of people determines and shapes the domestic space in their domestic
architecture. Subsequent modifications of the  idea have focused on more precise  revelations
of how the spatial  arrangements of material culture are culturally patterned.  Through a
topological analysis of house plans and patterns, collected from the City of Benin, this study
detects a  transformation  in the house-type  aspired and developed by people  during the last
five centuries.  A group of 1054 houses, located  in four residential zones  in Benin City, Nigeria, has been analysed by means of  frequency distribution,  Space Syntax categories  and factor analysis.
The research is determined  to find out how the use, organization and meaning of space in
Benin have changed and whether or not there are continuities over the years across the entire
City.   The Space Syntax approach is used to measure the varying degree of change at each
stage of the evolution. Here, the „space-activity‟ interaction is the main idea that enables us to
see what underlies the process. As the old  spaces  take different names and functions in the
new  design, they bring about the recombination of their activities, and when this occurs
repeatedly at each stage, it leaves behind „topological paths‟ from which the direction of the
evolution can be measured.  Further examinations reveal that the  space-activity interaction
arises both at each partitioned  space and at the collective  space that is closely  related. The
analysis of the attitudes and responses of the residents using factor analysis revealed that both
socio-economic and socio-cultural factors are responsible for the change and continuity in the
domestic space.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page ———-.——————————————————.
Declaration—————————————————————-.i
Certification————————————————————–…ii
Dedication—————————————————————-.iii
Acknowledgements——————————————————–.iv
Table of Content—————————————-vi
List of Tables —————-…——————————————…xi
List of Figures ——————–.————————————…..xiv
List of Plates—————-…—————————————-….xviii
Abstract——————————–..——————————–.xix

CHAPTER 1           INTRODUCTION 
1.1 Background to the Study———————————————-….1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ————————————————..6
1.3 Research Questions————————————..7
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study——————————————–.7
1.5 Scope of the Study ——————————————————.8
1.6 The Context of the Study ————————————————….9
1.6.1 The History and People of Benin City————————–9
1.6.2 Historical Background——————————–…..12
1.6.3 Benin and its Surrounding Villages————————–..18
1.6.4 Residential Zones in Benin City—————————-.20

CHAPTER 2           LITERATURE REVIEW 
2.1 Introduction————————————————————24
2.2 Domestic Architecture and Culture—————————————-..24
2.3 Social and Cultural Change———————————————-..32
2.4 Urbanization and Urban Change ——————————————.46
2.5 Summary—————————————-….56CHAPTER 3              THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK3.1 Introduction—————————————-58
3.2 Concept of Culture—————————————————-…58
3.3 House Form and Culture——————..—————————-….60
3.4 Traditional versus Modern Houses–.—————————-.——–….63
3.5 Classification of House-types ————————————–…..66
3.6 Organization, Use and Meaning of Space———————————-…68
3.7 Household——————————————————…72
3.8 Summary—————————————-…75CHAPTER 4               RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 Introduction————————————————————77
4.2 The Research Design————————————————–….78
4.3 Study Population——————————————————–79
4.4 Sampling Method/Procedure————————————–..80
4.5 Sample Size———————————————————-. 80
4.6 Data Collection——————————————————…..83 TABLE OF CONTENTS
4.6.1 Design of Questionnaire ———————————————-…84
4.6.2 Design of Interview Schedule ———————————-..85
4.6.3 Data Collection and Presentation—————————————-..86CHAPTER 5              SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS 
OF THE RESIDENTS IN BENIN 
5.1 Introduction———————————————————-..88
5.2 Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Residents—————————-…89
5.2.1 Household Income————————————————–….90
5.2.2 Occupational Structure————————————————–92
5.2.3 Age and Sex ——————————————————…93
5.2.4 Marital Status and Household Size————————————–…94
5.2.5 Ethnic Composition————————————————–…95
5.2.6 Educational Background of Respondents——————————–…..96
5.2.7 Tenure status of respondents——————————.97
5.3 Socio-Cultural Characteristics of Residents———————————-…98
5.3.1 Religion————————————————————…99
5.3.2 Number of household ———————————————-…..99
5.4 Summary—————————————-..100

CHAPTER 6           HOUSES IN BENIN: TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
6.1 Introduction———————————————————-..102
6.2 Classification of the Houses and their Characteristics————————…..103
6.3 Classification of the Houses ——————————————–103
6.3.1 Core Residential Zone————————————————.107 vii
6.3.2 Intermediate Residential Zone—————————————-…..120
6.3.3 Sub-urban Residential Zone——————————————….133

6.3.4 Planned Estate Residential Zone—————————————-.141
6.4 Characteristics of the Houses——————————————…..150
6.4.1 Tenure Composition————————————————….150
6.4.2. Number of Household in the House————————————–152
6.4.3. Length of Years of Stay in the House———————————-…153
6.4.4. Age of the House—————————————————-.154
6.4.5. Owner—————————————-..156
6.5 Synthesis——–..———————————————-158

CHAPTER 7      ORGANIZATION, USE AND MEANING OF SPACES IN BENIN
HOUSES 
7.1 Introduction——————————————————–..160
7.2 Approaches to the Study of Organization, Use and Meaning of Domestic Space—-…161
7.3 The Architectural Approach——————————————–…161
7.3.1 Organization and Use of Domestic Space———————————-.162
7.3.2 Meaning of Domestic Space——————————————….162
7.3.3 Socio-Spatial Analysis of Domestic Spaces in Benin———————-…..164
7.3.4 Socio-Spatial Analysis of the House-types across the Residential Zones———-.165
7.3.5 Houses types——————————————————–166
7.4 Analysis and Interpretation of Organization, Use and Meaning of Domestic
Space in Benin——————————————————.166
7.4.1 Cooking and Eating Spaces——————————————…..167
7.4.2 Storage Space for Household Goods————————————180 viii
7.4.3 Sleeping Arrangement———————————————-…..188
7.4.4 Space for Personal Hygiene——————————————….196
7.4.5 Outdoor Spaces (Communal, Private and Public), Receiving Guest ———-…..209
7.4.6 Space for Worship and Socializing, Ceremonies and Festival—————-..222
7.4.7 Summary and Interpretation——————————————….236
7.5 Data on Attitudes and Response of Respondents —————————-..237
7.5.1 Summary———————————————————-…244
7.6 Synthesis—————————————-..245

CHAPTER 8           SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
8.1 Introduction——————————————————–…246
8.2 Summaries of Findings ———————————————-…..247
8.3 Synthesis ———————————————————-…249
8.4 Syntheses of Continuity and Change————————–.251
8.5 Implications of Findings ———————————————-…251
8.6 Emerging Issues————————————————–.252
8.6.1 Public and Private Spaces——————————————–…252
8.6.2 Privacy————————————————————…253
8.6.3 Training for Local Builders——————————————–…253
8.6.4 Security———————————————————-….253
8.6.5 Building for Culture and Climate—————————————-254
8.7 Conclusions——————————————————–….254

BIBLIOGRAPHY—————————————————-…..256
APPENDIX———————————————————-….277  ix