Representations Of Change In Traditional Ortigia Houses

摘要

This study aims to determine the functional quality of a dwelling type with anopen space, notably the transitional spaces both outside, i.e. open space andinside the dwelling, /'. e. the front room facing the open space. To reduce the scopeof the investigation to a manageable size, the work was confined to the Island ofOrtigia on the south coast of Siracusa in Sicily. Two different vernacular housetypes built in the late 1800s form the pattern of organisation in the Island ofOrtigia and the main difference between the two comes with the open space. Inthis study the blocks with an open space named casa corte which are either singlefamily houses or houses with multi-family dwelling-units consisting of one ormore open spaces surrounded (partially or completely) by living areas are considered.The transitional spaces of the house type casa corte are the places ofcontact between family and outsiders, between the private domain of the houseand the public domain of the street. They clearly show the distinction betweenthe two realms, regulate the access of people and define how far an outsider canenter into the private domain. Therefore much attention has been given to theway in which these transitional spaces are organised, and people interact witheach other and within them. On this basis, the visual aspect of privacy which isviewed here as a process rather than as a static condition is emphasised, as it dealswith the privacy of the family from outsiders