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
