Unseen Traditions: How Traditional Bahraini Architecture Shapes Modern Residential Design Preferences
Alanood Alatwaan
Abstract
Alanood Alatwaan
Abstract
While contemporary Bahraini architecture is inspired globally, there remain inbuilt cultural habits—like inwardly planned layouts, privacy segregation, and the separation of spaces between guests and members of the family—that still propel spaces in houses, perhaps even unconsciously so for the inhabitants themselves. This study investigates into the unconscious influence of Bahraini spatial ideas in the past on the design preferences of present-day residential homeowners. The study employed a mixed-methods approach involving a survey completed by 20 Bahraini residents and follow-up semi-structured interviews with three of the participants. Quantitative results showed that, while overt acknowledgment of conventional design principles was relatively low, spatial activities approximating those same principles were present everywhere. Qualitative interviews demonstrated more clearly how everyday routines—such as staying away from open spaces, rearranging furniture to preserve privacy, or creating secluded guest spaces—reflect inherited cultural logic. The evidence indicates that traditional architectural behavior persists even in visually modern homes. Actors reproduce spatial values from heritage automatically as they proceed in their everyday life and adaptive behaviors. This means that traditions may not necessarily be imitated in form but continued by functions and behavior. The study concludes that it is essential for architects and planners to recognize these continuities so that they may create designs that are contemporary as well as culturally rooted.
Keywords:
Traditional architecture; Modern home design; Spatial preferences; Cultural continuity; Architectural identity, Bahrain.