Socio-cultural values -mainly privacy- had a significant role of forming traditional housing in Palestine, but they may not have the same role in designing contemporary housing, which is usually translated as high-rise apartment buildings. Discarding these values may result in a reluctance from Palestinian families for living in such buildings. Inside Nablus city, that acknowledged as an example, the fact that there is a high percentage of apartment units that are still vacant in a high percentage. This paper aims at understanding the impact of socio-cultural values on housing design in Nablus city, and then presents a survey on people’s experiences with such designs. The main conclusion of the investigation sustains that socio cultural values still have a strong impact on contemporary spatial design of apartment units, but less influence on the spacing articulation between such units together. As a result, people can be satisfied on the interior design of their apartments more than the outdoor environment. This fact may play a major role on people's attitude for living in these buildings. Articulation of apartment units with better spacing relations is the most important factor that must be considered in any future design. This conclusion was translated into a set of recommendations to improve the qualities of contemporary housing design, based on the paper findings.

Conference Title

CCSH15 Climate Change and Sustainable Heritage

Conference Country

Austria

Conference Date

Feb. 18, 2015 - Feb. 20, 2015

Conference Sponsor

"CCSH15 Climate Change and Sustainable Heritage 2015, Graz- Austria