Tracing the Notions of Privacy in the Architectural Styles of Pondicherry: A Case of French, Tamil and Franco-Tamil Residences

Abstract

Pondicherry has always been known for the prominent colonial architecture in addition to its cross cultural history. The old town of Pondicherry comprises two recognizable architectural styles - French and Tamil and the hybrid Franco-Tamil. The culture of a society is identified through its manifestation in architecture. Therefore, the role of the French and Tamil culture is vital in promoting the cultural identity of the city. The culture will be analyzed with the help of theories by Bill Hillier and Amos Rapoport. The study will compare the above-mentioned architectural styles centered on the notions of privacy. Based on his approach towards architectural privacy, Michael Georgiou’s dissertation will also support understanding the spatial factors according to a desired degree of privacy in a particular socio-cultural context. The work intends to research the case studies from French, Tamil, and Franco-Tamil residential premises by observing the spatial configurations with the use of existing data on the city. The data using these methodologies will be collected through visual and audio recordings as well as note-taking. The collected data will be studied concerning the factors mentioned above using the architectural analysis as the primary method and a supportive analysis for interpreting human activity patterns on the spatial layouts. At the end of the research, the thesis will interpret the architectural manifestations related to Privacy by comparing the three different architectural styles present in Pondicherry