Socio-cultural factors and house form

People from different places, races and cultures respond differently to their varied environment and thus have a unique habitat and way of living. These differences may be because of cultural, social, ritual, economic and social factors. These factors and responses may vary over a period of time, affecting their living style, which in turn would affect their house form, or, they may remain consistent, and be known as the vernacular and primitive dwellings of their particular region. The house is basically influenced by the 'genre de vie' (social, cultural, material and religious aspects of the society to which it belongs). The way of living of the people decides the spatial organization of their house. It may also be dominated by the cultural taboos and traditional ways of what might not be accepted and what should be practiced. The house, the village, and the town express the fact that societies share certain generally accepted goals and life values. The climatic conditions also play a part in modifying the form of a house, so do the methods of construction, available materials and technology in the area. Religion and culture has always played a very important part in the creation of the environment for habitation since it dictates the way of life of the people. For example, in the Dogon civilization the villages are built in pairs to represent heaven and the earth, and their fields are cleared in spirals because they believe the world has been created spirally. Early Chinese and Japanese houses were planned in such a way so that the entrance, kitchen, or the toilet must never be placed on a north-east or south-west axis. Because of this, superb views would be ignored and faced by a toilet. The important aspects of ‘genre de vie' which affect the built form are the basic needs (how and where eating and cooking are done, desired light levels in the house, need of fresh air in some cultures and the fear of ‘night air’ in some, etc.), family (type of family structure, extended family group should be separate, monogamous and polygamous families, etc.), position of women (houses owned by wives, and husband visiting them, windows, doors and roofs designed for their privacy), privacy and social behavior.