1

Sense of Place in a Traditional Dwelling

1. INTRODUCTION
Sense of place is the sixth, an internal compass and map made by memory and spatial
perception together.
-

Rebecca Solnit

A space is a three dimensional concept that has no qualitative value associated with it. A
space cannot be a clearly defined and requires an environment to define it. A space becomes a
place when it is defined by a built environment.
A place is a composition of elements that are desired or necessary for the human
experience in a given space. The quality of human experience in a given place is called as sense
of place. It plays a pivotal role in determining the quality of the built environment. It defines the
character of a given space and is the line of demarcation between a space and a place. The
quality of a place is a conglomerate of various factors that are cultural, political, biological,
spiritual, sensory and much more. It is important to consider all aspects of place making into
designing a given space.
It is important to have a character to a built environment that humans can harmonize with
and this character can be affected by several parameters that are: visual such as aesthetics,
lighting, proportion & scale, color and texture, form; socio- economic such as culture &
tradition, lifestyle, economy, locally available materials; qualitative such as proper lighting and
ventilation, location that satisfies their needs, volume, availability of resources and so on.

2. SENSE OF PLACE
From a perspective gained through researching on journals and books and by means of
surveys and personal interviews, I would define sense of place as the character of the built
environment. Those who find the character of a given space as desirable can connect with it in
what seems apparently like a spiritual level and thus a sense of belonging is perceived.
Sense of Place is the feeling of belonging to a particular space or landscape and plays a
very important role in the mental well-being of a person. A place is distinguished from a space
with the relationship that humans tend to associate with it and the feelings of belongingness to
the space in consideration.
Maria Lorena Lehman, Founder of Sensing Architecture, closely associates the Sense of
Place with memory. Her study says that both memory and sense of place prominently involve the
same part of the brain.
Our memory of events may depend upon a strong sense of place, and by extension, our
sense of place may be influenced by the integrity of the memories formed there.
She links the sense of place with other factors such as a strong sense of orientation and
suggests that human interaction with the space plays a pivotal role in of feeling of belongingness
to a particular environment instead of just passing through it, and distinguishes a space from
place.
A strong sense of place is developed only when humans can relate to a built environment
and this is influenced by several aspects such as the human experience in it, the scale and
proportions of the built environment and its psychological impact on the human mind, the visual
perception, the acoustic and thermal comfort, the impact it has on human life and vice versa,

3
being able to identify with the given space politically, culturally or ideologically, the level of
satisfaction and so on.

2.1. SIGNIFICANCE OF SENSE OF PLACE

A strong sense of place is synonymous with the improved quality of living. A sense of
place, if viewed as the character of a built environment, must be highly prioritized as a key factor
in designing spaces. This dissertation aims at gaining a better understanding to how a sense of
place maybe achieved in place making.
When there is a lack of character perceived by the end user, a sense of Placelessness or a
feeling of having been displaced is created. Placelessness is an undesirable trait since it may lead
to depression in several cases.
A survey was conducted to understand the perspective of inhabitants of houses in several
typologies of housing and the results proved that only 20% were completely satisfied with their
homes and displayed a strong sense of rootedness. Over 40% were moderately satisfied but
desired one or more of the following: to rebuild it to suit their needs, to improvise on their
existing homes, for a home to be situated in a different locality or a more aesthetically appealing
place. Approximately 40% were dissatisfied with their house and felt little or no connection with
it. 95% of the participants felt that it was very important to feel the sense of belonging to a place
for a happy and healthy lifestyle.
The participants were people who lived in well-built, spacious homes and had a strong
economy and are based in major urban hotspots such as Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Kolkata, London, Dubai, Singapore, and New York City. Most of the houses were built in an

4
urban context with most homes having been construction after 1990. However satisfied they
were with the city in which they lived, several lacked the sense of belonging to their homes.
Those who were completely satisfied with their homes could connect to it owing to one
or more of the following reasons: They had strong memories associated with the place; they
could connect to it on a spiritual level; they found it comfortable; it satisfied their needs; and the
most common of all being they found a sense of belonging, a place they could call home.
A sense of place is in institutional environments and workspaces have shown a drastic
increase in performance and productivity. Several
offices are catching up with the trend of informal
work environments. Offices of google, Facebook
and several startups use this to maximize output.
Figure 2.1.1. Interiors of Google office showing an
informal working environment

5
Sense of place is a very important parameter in urban design. Insensitivity to the local
cultural preferences made Chandigarh a failure despite its efficient planning techniques. It has
been widely criticized for its sense of placelessness
that it instills in people. The huge public spaces and
brutalist buildings might have been best suited for
anywhere but a state like Punjab where people love
colors and live a very social life in close clusters.
The design principles of Le Corbusier, aimed at
making it a Utopian city for a different kind of end

Figure 2.1.3. An image of a public space in

users since Indians have a tendency to strongly embraceChandigarh

their traditions
and cultures
irrespective
showing
lack of local
regard
of the changes in technology or global preferences.
The character of a given space, thus plays a very important role in the relevance of any
design. It m

2.2. ASPECTS OF SENSE OF PLACE

Sense of Place can be considered as a composition of two aspects that are entirely
different. The first aspect, relationship to place, consists of the ways that people relate to places,
or the types of bonds we have with places and this involves several factors such as functionality,
location, context, comfort, sensory aspects & sensation, but by no means limited to these. The
second aspect, community attachment, consists of the depth and types of attachments to one
particular place on the basis of cultural grounds or the value they associate with the people
around them. A more meaningful and understanding of peoples attachment to places can be
formed by thinking about relationships to place and community attachments as two separate but
related aspects of sense of place.

Sense of place

Attachment to Place

Communtiy Attachment

Biographical

Rootedness

Spiritual

Place Alienation

Ideological

Relativity

Narrative

Uncommitted
Placelessness

Commodified

Dependent

Chart 2.2.1: Chart discussing the various aspects of sense of place

2.1.1. Relationship to Place

Jennifer E. Cross, Department of Sociology, Colorado State University classifies the
relationship people have with a place into six categories that are as follows: Biographical,
Spiritual, Ideological, Narrative, Commodified, and Dependent.
Relationship

Type of Bond

Process

7
Biographical

Historical, Familial

Spiritual

Emotional, Intangible

Ideological

Moral, Ethical

Narrative

Mythical

Commodified

Cognitive

Dependent

Material

Being born in and living in a place,

develops over time
Feeling a sense of belonging, simply felt
rather than created
Living according moral guidelines for
human responsibility to place, guidelines
may be religious or secular
Learning about a place through stories,
including: creation myths, family
histories, political accounts,
And fictional accounts
Choosing a place based a list of
desirable traits and lifestyle preferences,
comparison of actual places with ideal
Constrained by lack of choice,
dependency on another person or
economic opportunity

Table 2: Table showing different types of relationships that are made by people with the
places, the type of bonding associated with them and the process of bonding.

The relationship between people and places can be identified with at least one of the
above bonds, but by no means limited to only one.
2.1.1.1. Biographical Relationships
The strongest and most enduring relationships are attachments based on personal history
with a place. They are characterized by a strong sense of identification with place and a relatively
long residence. In these relationships, place is an integral part of personal history. As such,
biographical relationships require time to develop, and are strongest in communities in which
one has spent more time. These relationships are often described in terms of cognitive, physical,
and emotional connections.

8
2.1.1.2. Spiritual Relationships
The second type of relationships is a spiritual connection. In contrast to biographical
relationships, these have significant relationships to places based on something much less
tangible than personal history. The people relate to place in a profound way, of having a deep
sense of belonging or resonance that is difficult to describe and is often unexpected. These are
termed as spiritual relations as they seem to be more of an intuitive connection than an
emotional, cognitive, or material connection.
2.1.1.3. Ideological Relationships
The third type of relationships is ideological which contrast to spiritual relationships that
just happen, are not chosen. Ideological relationships are founded on conscious values and
beliefs about how humans should relate to physical places. The defining characteristic of
ideological relationships is a well-articulated ideology about how to live in a place. For some this
comes in the form of religious or spiritual teachings. For others, it is secular ethic of
responsibility. Societies based on traditions that form an integral part of their lifestyle develop an
ideological relationship with the places they have inhabited over a prolonged period of time.
2.1.1.4. Narrative Relationships
The fourth type of relationship is the Narrative Relationship which is based on the
bonding or fondness developed for a particular place through narratives such as stories, myths,
family tales, fictional accounts, local lore, moral tales, national myths, and political accounts.
This attachment is not as strong as the other types of bonds. They are often associated with a
larger component such as a neighborhood, city or even a nation on the whole.

9
2.1.1.5. Commodified Relationships
. The fifth type of relationship to place is a commodified relationship. The defining
characteristic of the commodified relationship is choice, the ability to choose a place with the
best possible combination of desirable features. Commodified relationships have little or nothing
to do with personal history. Since they are founded on choice and a list of desirable traits,
commodified relationships typically result from dissatisfaction with one community and the
quest to find a more desirable place. This relationship is based on the match between the
attributes of a place and what a person thinks is an ideal place. An example of this may be
considered as people from large cities choosing more tranquil rural settings to retire into, since
they can find their desired traits in it.
2.1.1.6. Dependent Relationships
The defining characteristic of dependent relationships is the aspect of choice. Typically
these relationships are the result of having either no choice or severe limitations on choice. Some
examples are: children who are dependent on their parents and dont have a choice about where
they live; elderly who have moved to be near caretakers either in their own home or in some kind
of retirement facility; and people who have moved for a job or to be with a romantic partner.
People, who have a dependent relationship to the place, may have made a conscious choice to
move, but it is typically not their first choice.
Dependent relationships are primarily physical relationships. The relationship with place
is typically based on the need to be near a job or another person. These relationships are
noticeable lacking a positive emotional or mental connection. People in dependent relationships
are often highly conscious of the differences between communities in which they have lived in
the past and their current community.

10

2.1.2. Community Attachment

A persons community attachment consists of their experience in a particular setting as
well as their feelings about that place. David Hummon describes five types of sense of place or
community attachment: ideological rootedness, taken for granted Rootedness, Place relativity,
Place Alienation, and Placelessness.
Sense of
Place
Rootednesscohesive
Rootednessdivided
Place
Alienation
Place
Relativity
Uncommitted
Placelessness

Satisfaction
High

Local
Identity
Strong

Type of Attachment

Future Desires

Variable

Split

Low

Weak

Biographical, Spiritual,
Ideological
Biographical, Spiritual
Dependent
Dependent

Continued Residence

Variable

Moderate

Commodified

Moderate

Split

None

Variable
Desire for a better quality
of living or social status
To live in an ideal place,
whatever that may be
No specific expectations
of place

Table 3: Table showing different types of relationships that are made by people with the places,
the type of bonding associated with them and the process of bonding.

Each type can be described by a persons level of attachment, identification and

involvement with the community, past experiences and future expectations, and their assessment
of the place. The level of satisfaction in this is highly variable and can be found at its strongest
with people who could relate to their place more than in people who felt alienated.

2.1.2.1. Rootedness
The strongest type of Community Attachment is the Rootedness, which can be further
classified as Rooted Cohesiveness or Rooted Dividedness.

11
People with a sense of cohesive rootedness have a strong sense of attachment,
identification, and involvement in one community. They generally have a positive assessment of
the place and expect to continue living there.
People with a divided rootedness think of themselves in terms of two communities. They
have strong attachments to two places and often have distinct identities associated with each
place. Typically these people have a strong attachment to the community in which they were
raised and to the community they have lived in as an adult.

2.1.2.2. Place Alienation

People who are alienated often have a negative assessment of the place, do not identify
with the place and are not highly satisfied with the place. Some people are alienated from a place
because they have been forced to move from a place in which they were rooted to a place in
which they are not, such as: children whose parents move; elderly who move to be near
caretakers; and adults who move for a job or to be with a significant other. Other people may be
dissatisfied because the place they love and feel rooted in has changed around them. This
category is characterized by the loss of a deep sense of rootedness.

2.1.2.3. Place Relativity

The fourth type of community attachment is relativity. Many people who fit into this
category have lived in so many places in their life that they are not strongly rooted to any
particular community. They are more likely to identify their sense of home with either their
house or the world more generally than any particular community. They are also likely to
identify with more than one place, such as people who are bi-coastal. They differ from people

12
with a sense of rootedness in two ways. They feel at home anywhere instead of in a specific
place, and their identity is not strongly tied to their community of residence.

2.1.2.4. Placelessness
The final category of community attachment is placelessness. Placelessness is
characterized by a lack of place-based identification and a lack of emotional attachments to
particular places. The main difference between relativity and placelessness is that in relativity
people have a mobile sense of home and can cultivate a sense of home wherever they are, in
placelessness people do not have an articulated or place-based sense of home.

3. AGRAHARAMS
A completely different model of study was chosen in a semi- urban context and a survey
showed that more people could find a sense of place in their homes despite the model of housing
had become significantly irrelevant with time to the outside world in terms of technology,
materials used or the planning principles. The reason for this was that their homes suited best
their lifestyle and was built incorporating every aspect of their daily life. The model of housing
chosen for this was the Agraharams of Tamil Nadu.
An Agraharam refers to the settlements of Brahmins, a community of Hindus that was
majorly engaged in priesthood, teaching and medicine. Agraharam is the name associated with
the Brahmin quarters of a heterogeneous village or any village inhabited by Brahmins. The
name, owing to their distinctive architectural style, which is row houses on either sides of the
thoroughfare leading to the Temple, literally translates as A garland of houses. They are found
in several parts of South India in the present day states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh.

13
Agraharams have a unique architectural language that distinguishes them from other
models of housing. They maintained homogeneity in their design. Since the Brahmins were a

community of priesthood,
most of their
life activities were
based on the
temple and they lived at the closest
proximity to the temple. They are the age old version of gated communities, since they restricted
access to others with only a few exceptions. The Agraharams were built to suit the spatial
requirements of the Brahmins in the most efficient and economic manner, articulated at the bare
minimum, avoiding splendor, thus glorifying the significance and grandeur of the temple.
Figure 3.1 An Agraharam house

Several Agraharams exist even today, however since Brahmins started choosing other
jobs, Agraharams have lost out on their intended purposes and have been modified to keep up
with the growing requirements. A lot of Agraharams have been demolished and reconstructed
recently, thus the streetscape has been disturbed.

14
Agraharams have a strong character associated with them. In an attempt to understand
how a sense of place was formed in a model that has been in relevance for over two millennia
now until very recently, a detailed study of the factors that are involved in the process of place
making in an Agraharam was made and has been documented in this dissertation.

3.1. HISTORY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

The earliest existing reference of Agraharams dates back to as early as the 3rd century
AD in a Sangam Age piece of Tamil Literature called Perumpanarrupatai which describes the
Agraharams as below.
The houses had in front of them, a shed with short legs to which were tied fat calves; the
houses were washed with cow dung and hadidols (inside them). Domestic fowl and dogs did not
approach them. It was the village of the guardians of the Veda who teach its sounds to the
parrots with the bent mouth. If you (bard) reach (the place), fair faced bangled ladies who are as
chaste as Arundhathi) the little star which shines in the north of the bright, broad sky, will after
sunset feed you on the well-cooked rice named after the bird (explained by the commentator as
the rice called irasanam) along with slices of citron boiled in butter taken, from the buttermilk
derived from red cows and scented with the leaves of the karuvembu, and mixed with pepperpowder, and the sweet-smelling tender fruit plucked from the tall mango tree and pickled.
The Brahmins are believed to be Aryans and they were not just priests, but they were
doctors, teachers and in a few regions rulers as well. They moved into India a few millennia ago
as immigrants, carrying the knowledge of Vedas, Politics, Medicine and much more with them.

15
As a community which handled the Vedas and religious texts, the Brahmins wielded
power and influence in the social hierarchy. Their knowledge of Vedas gained them the royal
patronage and respect from the rulers and all the other communities.
Agraharams were often made and donated to these families by the rulers. This was then
distributed on the basis of social hierarchy among themselves. The highly regarded families, the
priests and the scholars acquired the position near the temple and the palace complex and the
others occupied the outer fringes. Wherever they went, the Brahmins made their settlements
around temples, around which their everyday life revolved.

3.1.2. Social Structure

Even though these migrant Brahmins wielded power in the caste ridden society, they
were always a minority when compared to the local indigenous population. Moreover, when they
moved into a new place and made their settlements, there was always a tendency amongst the
members of the communities to settle together to ensure safety.
Another reason behind this was that in most cases the early migrants to a particular place
may be the members of a same family, and thus when they settle down in an alien land, they
automatically evolved into a close knit community, whose principles were based on strict
religious norms.
The Agraharams were introvert settlements, often open to the members of the particular
caste group, however within the introvert settlement there were designed built and open spaces
that well catered to the needs of the settlers.
The ownership of the property belonged to the temples, however the dwellings were
passed down from one generation to another and continued to be maintained by the temple until

16
the Colonial rule in India, during which with their influence and patronage in the British
government, the Brahmins were gifted these lands as their own property.
A lot of Vedic rituals included intensive use of water and hence the Brahmins settled
along the banks of rivers or at close proximity to sources of fresh water.
3.1.2.1. Role of Women in the society and its influence in the Planning Principles
The head of the house was mostly the male or the eldest female in the family. The daily
activities of a Brahmin Woman were as follows. She wakes up early in the morning before
sunrise and bathes. She draws up a kolam in front of the house and continues with her daily
chores such as cleaning the house, cooking and so on. She visits the temple after cooking and
returns to the house to continue her chores, most of which are involved around the kitchen or the
backyard. The Brahmin women were reserved by all means and extremely conservative, which
meant that for most parts of the day, they did not leave their houses at all. They assisted the men
in performing Vedic rituals and tending to the children during the day. Apart from this, they dried
grains for preparation of food either in their courtyards or on the Agraharam streets. They spent
very little time talking to others in general.
3.1.2.2. Thinndapad
Thinndapad or untouchability was practiced by the Brahmin community until late into
the 20th century. The reason for this was cited as lack of personal hygiene among the members of
the other classes. This entitled the Brahmins access to inner spaces of temples, a privilege that
was denied to the members of the socially oppressed castes. Additionally, the Brahmins restricted
the access of the members of socially oppressed classes from entering the streets of Agraharams
or into their houses.

17

3.2. EVOLUTION
Their dwellings were planned to suit their daily life, which involved a lot of religious
rituals and discourses and their homes were designed to accommodate these along with other
basic needs to the barest minimum. Their planning hasnt evolved much over the ages except for
the change in materials used for their construction.
However in the recent times, since the early 20th century, a lot of Brahmins migrated out
of their towns to either up north or out of the country and newer occupants came in disrupting
their social setup. The changing ways of life too have led to several modifications in these
Agraharams. In an attempt to keep with the current day architectural trends, many have tried to
remodel their houses using modern day materials like RCC and Bricks.
Agraharams today, are a vanishing part of architectural heritage. The few surviving
examples are either owned by the temple trusts or by individuals who haven't had the heart
and/or the finances to raze them down. Some are restored and made use of as apartments.

3.3. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED THE DESIGN OF AGRAHARAMS