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The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context : Case

Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses

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 The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :
Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses

The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :

Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses
Simon Chih-Feng Shu
Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture, Tunghai University
cfshu@thu.edu.tw

Abstract

Taiwanese traditional dwellings have been mostly explored and identified with fundamental principles of Chinese
courtyard houses based on social norms and cosmological ideology in that the central axis defining the symmetrical
development of spatial layout and architectural form and layers of courtyards as well as the visual focus of the
major altar hall, etc. are notable in physical form. However, the above perceptions of the socio-spatial function of
traditional dwellings both for the Taiwanese and Chinese contexts only reflect the top-down ideologies of “discursive
spatial structure based on physical order” derived from the Chinese architectural paradigm. This research proposes
to re-interpret the socio-spatial logic of those traditional dwellings in the Taiwan context through the analysis of
non-discursive knowledge, which may help to provide a better understanding on the “embedded spatial structure
regardless of physical order” from the bottom-up viewpoint.

For disentangling the non-discursive attributes of the generic functions of traditional dwellings, this research deploys
the Space Syntax approach to study a settlement characterised by traditional Chinese courtyard farm houses in central
Taiwan. Results of this research show that distinctive non-discursive spatial properties can be identified from various
types of traditonal dwellings in terms of degrees of “accessibility” that effectively underpin the mechanism of social
interactions in daily life. The exterior arcade turns out to be highly accessible both for global and local levels within
the spatial structure of the “One Dragon Row” type, which correlates to the frequent use of this space for social
interactions either among all family members or a group of family members. However, the central courtyard is globally

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more highly accessible for strategic functions of integrating all members of multi-families, whereas the kitchen-
dining has turned out to be locally important for the domestic group of family members when the spatial structure
develops to form the L-shape of the “Single Outstretched Arm” type. The tendency of the splitting of the globally
strategic central courtyard against the locally sub-centred unit of the kitchen-dining space has turned out to be more
pronounced when traditional dwellings develop into the U-shape of the “Three-side Courtyard” type. Moreover, the
visually focused altar hall on the central axis is mostly situated on the less accessible location within the spatial system
exhibiting the nature of the space to be an intangible function of social norm reminder rather than the common
shared physical use of a tangible function.

Key words
Traditional dwellings, Space syntax, Non-discursive spatial configuration, Accessibility, Generic socio-spatial logic

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1. Introduction
Derived from the Chinese architectural paradigm based
on social hierarchy of ethical norms and cosmological
ideology, discursive spatial structure as well as physical
order can be identified in traditional dwellings in Taiwan.
The most notable features of these traditional dwellings
would be “a central axis” defining the symmetrical
development of spatial layout and physical form as
well as “the central altar hall” situated on the visual
focus of the central axis and facing directly towards
a void courtyard space embraced by parallel rows of
rooms defined by the social norms of spatial hierarchy.
The farther a room is distanced from the central altar
hall the lower the social position of its dwellers would
be whereas the closer to the altar a room is situated
the higher the status of its dwellers will be. Moreover,
the spaces sitting on the left of the altar hall would be
considered of higher social status than those on the
right. The physical height of each room also corresponds
to the distance from the central altar hall to indicate the
social status of its dwellers so that the farther a room is
located from the altar hall the lower in height it would
be. It is believed that the above stereotype of courtyard
houses would create cohesive social interactions among
members of each dwelling.
On top of the above stereotype of socio-spatial
functions in relations to spatial layout and physical
form, most researches on traditional dwellings in the
Taiwan context have focused on classification and
induction of patterns and/or typology on the spatial
layout, façade composition, material tectonic, etc.,
however few research projects have explored the
abstract syntactic configuration of those traditional
dwellings and its relation to space use patterns. Yet,
one finds that a typological study often provides a
top-down approach featuring mostly a semantic and
pragmatic interpretation on how the dwellings have
The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :
Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses
been planned and contructed in accordance with certain
discursive rules, which mostly relate to either Chinese
cosmological ideologies or Feng-Shui concepts defined
by geomancers, rather than a bottom-up one based on
inhabitants’ daily living patterns per se. For instance,
theoretical positions on the link between architectural
form and cognition, such as cultural perception of
cosmo-human body analogy in spatial layout and
form (Chiou & Fang 2004), Feng-Shui concepts and
taboos in tectonic construction (Chang & Hsu 2001a,
2001b) of traditional dwellings, etc., may provide an
in-depth understanding on what specific types should
be following traditional building forms and tectonic
details. On the other hand they hardly can generate a
comprehensive spatial knowledge that explains how the
generic functions of socio-spatial mechanism of those
traditional dwellings have been naturally embedded
in the non-discursive spatial configuration of abstract
syntactic denotation rather than the discursive physical
forms and order. Thus, the former typological approach
often represents the viewpoints of theoreticians’ and/
or designers’ ideal form whereas the latter syntactic
configurational study seems to focus more on the
fundamental phenomena of inhabitants’ socio-spatial
mechanism that recurs throughout their daily life.
In order to tease out the generic functions of the socio-
spatial logic of those traditional dwellings in the Taiwan
context, this research proposes to study the syntactic
properties of spatial configuration on those traditional
dwellings to reveal the non-discursive knowledge of
the “embedded structure regardless of physical order,”
which could be crucial in discussion of the phenomena
of inhabitants’ socio-spatial mechanisms. Case studies
in this research project cover traditional courtyard
farm houses in Wai Pu in northern Taichung, Taiwan.
Spatial analysis of these traditional dwellings mainly
deploys the Space Syntax Analysis, developed by Bill
Hillier at University College London with its specific
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mode of analytical software, which helps to extract
those hidden configurational properties of spatial
structure, such as the degree of global accessibility (i.e.
global integration value) or of local accessibility (i.e.
local integration value), etc. of each space unit within
the dwelling system. The above abstract and neutral
syntactic parameters are non-discursive and teased out
of mathematic quantification on relative depth among
all units within the whole spatial system regardless
of discursive terminology on each unit’s space use
definition, such as “central altar hall,” “kitchen-dining,”
etc. Furthermore, inhabitants’ daily living patterns will
be recorded through on-site observation and interviews
with local inhabitants. Therefore the correlation
between the configurational syntactic parameters of
space units and the inhabitants’ daily space use patterns
can be further examined. It is believed that through
this research the generic functions of the socio-spatial
mechanism could be proposed to contribute to a
comprehensive spatial knowledge on the socio-spatial
logic of traditional dwellings both for the Taiwanese and
Chinese contexts under concern.
2. Literature review
Most research on traditional architecture in the
Taiwan context has focused on major issues related
to spatial layout and physical form, which were often
adapted from semantic and/or pragmatic positions.
There are substantial research projects on typology
and classification of traditional architecture and cities
(Lee, 1979), on analysis of specific meaning denotation
in relation to spatial layout, physical forms, and
construction details, etc. of traditional Chinese and/
or Taiwanese architecture (Suen & Chen 1989; Lin
1990; Kwan 1992; Suen & Wang 1995), and on cultural
perception of cosmo-human body analogy in spatial
layout and form (Chiou & Fang, 2004) mentioned
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earlier, etc. However, different from previous positions
focusing on commonly shared ideologies and principles,
several research projects tended to stress the distinctive
difference in spatial layout and physical forms through
comparison on different study areas. In his study on
Feng-Shui concepts and taboos in tectonic construction
of traditional dwellings in Kin-men versus Peng-hu
(Chang & Hsu 2001a, 2001b), the authors discovered
notable differences on the above issue between the
two islands and argued for the important contribution
of “local nature and socio-cultural environment.” In
comparative studies on traditional court houses in
Taiwan and Fujian, China, W.J. Wang reported that
there was a clear distinction of the dwelling typologies
between those traditional court houses in Taiwan
and those of Fujian (Wang 2006). He concluded that
typological evolution due to influences of major forces
of local environmental conditions has been confirmed
from his research of the comparison between the
migration societies in Taiwan and their original ancestral
settlements in China. Regardless of focusing on the
commonly shared ideologies or on the distictive local
environmental conditions, the above research projects
based on semiotic approaches mostly follow Amos
Rapoport’s ideas and focus on tracing back the cognitive
schemata embedded in the layout and the construction
detail of dwellings conceived as appropriate design
strategies for the local inhabitants (Rapoport 1980).
Moreover, different from the above semantic and
pragmatic studies a few research studies have looked
at the syntactic morphology of traditional dwellings
in Taiwan (Chiou & Krishnamurti 1995; Chiou &
Krishnamurti 1996; Lee 1996). These morphological
analyses have illustrated how a three-side U-shaped
courtyard house can be generated from the key brick
point designated by a geomancer to develop into an
appropriate layout plan as well as three dimensional
building forms for the senior dwellers through sets

of grammar rules. Again, these compositional rules
upon spatial structure and physical form often were
generated from the Chinese cosmological ideologies
and/or Feng-Shui concepts and taboos in that the local
environmental conditions, siting orientation, modes of
layout plan growth, building height, types of façade,
detailed tectonic construction, etc. all have been
systematically analyzed and classified as ideal paradigms
of building principles for traditional dwellings in the
Taiwan contexts.
Clearly the discussions on the semantic, pragmatic, and
syntactic issues upon traditional dwellings in Taiwan
and China mentioned above were mostly based on
linguistic analyses as ways of discursive interpretation
on the relations between dwellings’ physical forms and
structures and their philosophical origions. However,
the exact interactions between different inhabitants’
dwelling styles of daily living patterns and their spatial
arrangement have hardly been scrutinized due to
the constraint of ethical norms based on Confucius’s
ideology of an ideal static social hierarchy within a
society that has been long term translated and exhibited
in the hierarchical space units in reflection of social
status of each dweller rather than that of how they
interact and communicate with each other. On the other
hand, lacking a proper method to study the phenomena
of non-discursive interaction patterns between family
members has also made it difficult to tease out the
mechanism of socio-spatial interrelationship embedded
in the physical environment of those traditional
dwellings. Therefore, generative and top-down building
concepts and rules, either focusing on commonly shared
principles (such as the central axis and the visual focus
of central altar hall, the Yi-Jing Tai-Chi cosmological dual
combination of physical dark room of the central altar
hall versus the void bright courtyard space, etc.) or on
distictive local conditions (such as the key brick point
and orientation of the central altar hall, etc.), defined
The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :
Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses
by geomancers for elder masters in the traditional
dwelling environment mentioned above, would prevail
over the non-discursive bottom-up correlational study
on the socio-spatial logic of those traditional dwelling
environments. In short, the current study suggests to
examine the correlations between various different
major dwellers, such as male masters and female
masters, etc., and their daily usage of space units as
well as locations of frequent interaction between them,
thus a comprehensive spatial knowledge on the socio-
spatial mechanism of traditional dwellings in different
yet similar cultural contexts could be proposed to
include both discursive and non-discursive discourses
for current research issues under concern. Furthermore,
the proposed comprehensive socio-spatial mechanism
would be a generic scheme per se that exemplifies
the ever lasting logic of spatial functions generated
from needs of socio-economic and cutural interactions
regardless of constraints of time or era from earlier
past till present and to the future under concern. It
is suggested that there might exist generic cognitive
schemata, which can only be fully accomplished through
studying both the discursive as well as non-discursive
aspects due to the embedded nature in space that
makes them less easily notable, yet it may function as
an interface facilitating natural contacts and encounters
between members of the family in their daily lives
regardless of temporal difference throughout history.
3. Research methodology
Non-discursive syntactic parameters based on
mathematic quantification on relative depth are neutral
per se and without any personal discursive preference
as can be noted from the semiotic viewpoints on spatial
structure and physical forms. Therefore, Space Syntax
analysis, developed by Professor Bill Hillier and his team
over a period of thirty years, allows researchers to
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analyze the relationship between non-discursive spatial
properties of traditional dwellings in terms of syntactic
parameters and the relevant socio-spatial phenomena
of inhabitants’ daily interaction. Non-discursive syntactic
parameters of the degrees of accessibility (either in
global or in local measure) that each space possesses
within the spatial structure, can be extracted from
configurational analysis of relative depth either in a
domestic or an urban system through the Space Syntax
software named “Depthmap.” These non-discursive
spatial properties are to be represented in a quantitative
way (in numerical order) and can then in a further step
be correlated with the patterns of inhabitants’ daily
encounters. Generic functions of the socio-spatial
logic of traditional dwellings can thus be detected to
represent the persistent cognitive schemata mentioned
above. In this section, the theoretical positions of the
Space Syntax methodology and the adapted modes of
spatial analysis will first be introduced and the forms of
qualitative and quantitative studies deployed will then
be further illustrated.
3.1 Theoretical Positions
In his article “Specifically Architectural Theory - A
Partial Account of The Ascent from Building as Cultural
Transmission to Architecture as Theoretical Concretion,”
Hillier based his Space Syntax method on two major
concepts, which are “relative depth” and “relative
choice” respectively (Hillier 1993). He illustrated that
one can configure the relative depth between two
spaces within a spatial system by a justified graph based
on a selected space as the starting point. For instance,
when examining the plan in figure 1-1, the relative depth
between the exterior space and the inner central space
is eight, which can be easily detected in the justified
graph of figure 1-3. Figure 1-2 shows the convex break-
up of the plan in figure 1-1. A convex cell is defined as
a space in which two persons can see each other at all
times. That means an L-shaped room will be divided
104
into two convex spaces, as people in different corners
of that room are unable to see each other at all times.
The convex break-up of a building allows researchers
to convert the plan more easily into a justified graph.
A justified graph can be established for every convex
space within a system, but usually it is done from the
outdoor space as basis (see figure 1-3). The justified
graph shows that the space immediately adjacent to the
outdoor space has a depth value of 1, whereas spaces
further away receive a higher depth value based on the
number of steps they are removed from the base space.
Compared with the plan of figure 1-1, the plan of figure
2-1 demonstrates a rather shallow spatial configuration
as the relative depth between the exterior space and the
inner central space in this system only reaches four (see
figure 2-3) which is half of the previous one (see figure
1-3). Thus, one can conclude that the plan of figure 1-1
represents a “deep” spatial configuration whereas the
plan of figure 2-1 exhibits a relatively “shallow” one.
Furthermore, from the viewpoint of relative choice, the
plan of figure 3-1 displays a “ringy” structure (see figure
3-3) whereas the previous two plans both demonstrate
a “tree” type spatial configuration (see figure 1-3 &
figure 2-3). Relative choice represents the control a
spatial pattern exerts over possible routes. In a ringy
system more different routes are possible than in a
deep tree pattern where those dead-end spaces are
controlled by limited access possibilities.
Based on the above two concepts, Hillier argues that
the inner compositional logic embedded within any
spatial system can be first decoded by a justified graph
(see figure 1-3, 2-3, & 3-3) in which the relative depth
and relative choice of any selected two spaces can be
measured by steps of depth and number of circulation
loops (Hillier & Hanson 1984). Moreover, the degree
of “accessibility” of each space within the whole
spatial system can be further quantified, which will be
explained in 3.2 below. In his second book titled Space Is

the Machine, Hillier further elaborates his Space Syntax
theory to present his position of spatial configuration as
an important driving force, i.e. a mechanism of natural
encounter interface, for facilitating the inhabitants’ daily
interaction (Hillier 1996).
In this research, the neutral non-discursive convex
breakup will be subjected to the discursive definition of
space use function rather than the simplified convex cell
defined purely by the walls as what has been stated in
the Space Syntax theory. That shows modes of spatial
analysis will be further adapted for the convex breakup
stage. For instance, an initial pure convex space defined
by building walls will be divided into two convex spaces
once there is a level change by a flight of stairs appears
within that space. The reason for this adaptation on
convex breakup is to cope with the concept of discursive
space use function that often emerges in inhabitants’
cognitive mind in their daily life.
3.2 Forms of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
The qualitative analysis of the space syntax approach
proceeds by studying the justified graph, in which the
spatial structure of both the interior and the exterior
spaces will be represented by a network graph that
is subjected to the ladder of relative depth counting
from the selected base space. From the justified graph
analysis, one can detect movement patterns related to
gender by tracing the various trajectories of inhabitants,
such as the daily movement patterns of the male
master and that of the female master. It is possible to
decode the potential of mutual interaction between
the family members by simply checking whether there
are overlapping circulation loops for each inhabitant
of different gender in the justified graph. It is believed
that the interconnecting situation of the male’s and the
female’s movement trajectories should have substantial
influence on their daily interaction patterns, i.e. the
social-spatial functions and mechanism embedded
The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :
Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses
within the spatial layout. If there are intersections
between the different movement routes, then the
chance for natural encounters between people in
those intersected spaces would be higher. On the other
hand, if there are no or few intersections between
the inhabitants routes of different gender, then
the chance for natural encounters and subsequent
interactions between them would be minimal. Clearly,
the above qualitative analysis on the socio-spatial
mechanism through justified graph is in fact a discursive
interpretation of the socio-spatial logic of those
traditional dwellings under concern as inhabitants’
movement trajectories as well as gender difference
together with functions of space useage are all under
discursive scope of verbal discussion domain commonly
shared by local inhabitants without little discrepancy.
There are a few non-discursive and neutral parameters
deployed in the quantitative analysis of the Space
Syntax method. In a first step, the plan of a dwelling
is converted into a justified graph, which then will
be analyzed to show its discursive configurational
properties in terms of deep vs. shallow or tree vs. ringy
through studying the types of compositions among
convex cells mentioned above. In the next step, based
on concepts of relative depth & relative choice, most
of the parameters, such as the syntactic variables of
integration, which represent the degree of accessibility
to the whole (or to the local) spatial system of each
space, are to be generated through topological
calculation on the justified graph, of which measures of
global integration Rn (accessibility to the global system)
and local integration R3 (accessibility to the local
system) of each space are two major non-discursive
variables of the quantitative analysis for the present
research. Syntactic parameter of accessibility represents
purely the nature of location within the spatial system,
which could work as interface for facilitating social
encounters and subsequent interactions naturally
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without any personal preoccupation of discursive
functions perceived both in verbal and cognitive way
as can be noted in the qualitative analysis mentioned
above. Information on how to calculate Rn and R3
values for each designated space unit can be consulted
in “The analysis of settlement layouts”, chapter three in
Hillier’s first book titled The Social Logic of Space (Hillier
& Hanson 1984: 105-113). The Space Syntax theory has
concluded that higher integration (reddish colour on the
analytical map) for a particular convex space indicates
the accessibility of that space is higher, thus the number
of people appearing in this space is naturally higher than
that of the others. On the other hand, convex spaces
with a lower integration value (bluish colour on the
analytical map) are spaces where the number of people
naturally visiting these convex spaces is more limited
(Hillier 1996).
In this research, the qualitative trajectory network of
inhabitants of different gender in relation to discursive
perception of space use function together with
quantitative denotation of “global integration Rn” or
“local integration R3” teased out from non-discursive
topological calculation on “degrees of accessibility”
within the justified graph of convex configuration of
those traditional dwellings selected for this study.
4. Case studies
The study area is located in Wai Pu Village, which is
located in northern Taichung, Taiwan. There are 29
courtyard houses selected from the study area, which
have been further divided in five different spatial types
as per scale size and complexity of spatial structure.
They are “one dragon row”; “single outstretched arm”;
“three-side courtyard house”; “a central courtyard with
a minor side courtyard”; “a main central courtyard with
a smaller courtyard at either side”. The first spatial type
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of one dragon row consists of one row of rooms in the
dwelling, which include a central altar hall, bedrooms,
a kitchen and dining room, a bathroom, and some
storage rooms, etc. (see figure 4-1). A second type has
one horizontal line of rooms with one column of rooms
attached to the one dragon row as if there is an arm
extending from the main body, usually to the right when
facing the building as a whole (see figure 5-1) although
it is also possible for the arm to be located at the left
side. This second spatial type is therefore called single
outstretched arm. The third type of courtyard house
has a central horizontal line of rooms (one dragon row)
with sets of rooms arranged in outstretched columns
(two arms) symmetrically attached at both ends of it
(see figure 6-1). This third type is commonly hereafter
referred to as the three-side courtyard house. The next
fourth and fifth types of courtyard houses exhibit a
much larger scale and complexity of spatial layout in
that more arms of outstretched columns are attached to
the central horizontal one dragon row to accommodate
multiple families of the same clan.
Due to the length limit, this research will focus on
those first three basic types of traditonal dwellings.
For each spatial type, different figures of house plan
and analytical graphs of convex configuration are to be
illustrated in the following order, including a plan of the
house (figures ending in -1), a convex break-up of the
house (figures ending in -2), a global integration Rn map
of the convex spaces (figures ending in -3), and finally
a justified graph (figures ending in -4) combined with
information of non-discursive syntactic parameters of
global and local accessibility, of discursive functions of
space use, as well as daily life patterns of movement
trajectories (especially the male and female masters
of the household) obtained through observation on
and interviews with inhabitants. As mentioned earlier,
non-discursive convex breakup units will be subjected
to the discursive definition of space use function, thus

more convex units would be created than that of what
would be literally generated from the concept of “fewest
and fattest” defined by the Space Syntax theory. For
instance, the convex unit of exterior corridor will be
split from the front yard convex in the following three
case studies due to the distinctive cognition on space
use function, which differs from the standardized
convex breakup definition that these two spaces would
become one convex unit confined by surrounding walls.
Moreover, in the justfied graph analysis, discursive space
use functions of convex units will be labelled with four
different major catagories, namely Altar hall, Production
spaces, Transition spaces, and Kitchen, Service, Private
spaces, etc. In this way, both the discursive and non-
discursive spatial properties of each convex units could
be cross-examined with the patterns of movement
trajectories in relations to different inhabitants’
daily living phenomena under concern. Thus, the
comprehensive socio-spatial logic of those traditional
dwellings could be clarified.
4.1 Spatial type A - One dragon row
The house of the first spatial type of One dragon row has
three generations living together. The first generation
consists of the grandmother and grandfather; the
second generation contains the male and female master,
while the third generation is made up of two sons.
As were most cases of this type, the male and female
master are responsible for the financial support of the
family and both have to work in the fields nearby the
house.
When firstly examining the observed movement
trajectories on the justified graph, it is noted that there
are overlapping trajectory routes of the female and
male master activity patterns where social interactions
between the two key inhabitants take place mainly in
the front yard, the exterior corridor, and the kitchen-
dining room (see figure 4-4). Moreover, the highest
The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :
Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses
global accessible group of spaces in this house is
comprised of (in descending order of integration Rn)
the exterior corridor, followed by kitchen-dining room,
the central altar hall, the living room, and the front yard
(see figure 4-3 for convex global integration map). The
exterior corridor turned out to be the highest accessible
space both globally and locally within the spatial system
followed up by the kitchen-dining room. It seems that
in this type of family structure exterior corridor as well
as kitchen-dining room play a central role of integrating
those two major dwellers, the male and the female
masters. This socio-spatial phenomenon reflects the
dwelling style of the family in that both the male and
female masters have to work in the fields and they could
effectively interact with each other when necessary in
those two highly accessible spaces mentioned above so
that the progress of daily production work and family
living can be easily entwined and mixed. The living room
and the front yard turned out to be less accessible than
the previous two spaces which reveals that they may
only serve for a particular minor group of inhabitants,
such as the first and/or the third generations but not
for the whole of the dwellers. Finally, the visual focus of
the central altar hall located on the relatively globally
higher accessible position (3rd place on eighteen)
indicates that the strategic venue of this spiritual activity
still functions for most members of the whole family
regardless of generations. It is intriguing to note that
the above findings are very close to those of Bill Hillier
on traditional French countryside houses where the
globally most integrated space, i.e. highly accessible
to the whole system, is the kitchen and dining (salle
commune) followed by the exterior space (Hillier 1993:
12-15). Despite the cultural differences, for example the
fact that the central altar hall does not exist in French
countryside houses, the two different dwelling cultures
(the French countryside houses and the traditional
courtyard houses in Taiwan) seem in fact to share
an underlying socio-spatial logic or common generic
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functions which may reflect the same social status of
the farming production activities within their respective
societies.
4.2 Spatial type B - Single outstretched arm
In the case of the second spatial type of Single
outstretched arm (i.e. one dragon row with one
outstretched column of rooms), there are four
generations living together. The first generation
comprises the great grandmother. The second
generation includes her two sons, one of which is
married while the other is single. The son and his wife
are the male and female master of the house. The third
generation consists of 4 sons, of which one is married
and has 3 sons who make up the fourth generation.
Looking at figure 5-4 (the justified graph), it is noted
that the front yard, the exterior corridor, the kitchen-
dining room are the three spaces where the trajectories
of the male and female master overlap, as was the
case for the dwelling of spatial type A discussed above.
The globally most integrated space (see figure 5-3 for
convex global integration) is the front yard, followed by
the exterior corridor and then the kitchen-dining room.
Different from spatial type A, the front yard has replaced
the exterior corridor and the kitchen-dining room to
become the highest globally integrated (accessible)
space of all. It seems that the outstretched column
of rooms attached to the one dragon row has further
defined the front yard to obtain a more pronounced
territory compared to the case of spatial type A. Hence,
the front yard has turned out to be globally highest
accessible to all members, which exactly reflects
and depicts the phenomena of social interactions
observed from the cases of this second spatial type B of
traditional dwellings. The front yard has literally played
the central role of integrating the multiple families of
four generations, which is not really pronounced in
the case of spatial type A mentioned above. However,
the locally highest accessible venues remain located at
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the exterior corridor and the kitchen-dining room as
was the case of spatial type A. That shows these two
spaces have downgraded to become locally important
only from the both globally as well as locally strategic
position detected in the case of spatial type A. Clearly,
the situation when more generations are living together,
such as in the case of spatial type B, seems to require a
more sophisticated socio-spatial logic compared to that
of spatial type A, in order to facilitate the complexity
of socio-spatial interactions in that non-discursive
syntactic parameters of global against local integration
(accessibility) have turned out to be more powerful in
relation to different level of social interactions than the
discursive definition of space use functions.
Contrary to the upgrading tendency of the front
yard, the central altar hall of spatial type B has been
drastically downgraded to the mid range level (11th on
thirty) of global accessibility compared to the case of
the spatial type A (ranked on top 3rd of all mentioned
above). It seems that the visual focus of the central altar
hall functions more as a spiritual venue of ethical symbol
rather than a daily gathering ritual place shared by most
members of the four generations multiple families in
the case of spatial type B, which is a bit different from
the common shared nature of the altar hall presented in
spatial type A. Noticeably, the socio-spatial mechanism
exhibits a rather distinctive inner logic between the
traditional dwellings of spatial types A and B in that
discursive definitions of space use functions may not
be effective enough for distinguishing the difference of
socio-spatial phenomena between the two spatial types
mentioned above, which can be better clarified through
the non-discursive syntactic variables.
4.3 Spatial type C - Three-side courtyard house
Traditional dwellings of the third spatial type, the
three-sided courtyard houses, are the most popular
ones in Taiwan. The case of the third type dwelling,

characterized with the fact that the kitchen area and
the dining area were separated into two different rooms
(see figure 6-1), has been occupied by two generations
and the first generation is in control of household
production in a nearby rice field. Two daughters of the
second generation have married and moved out. The
master couple also have two sons who are still single
and do no longer work on the fields but hold jobs in
town though live together with their parents. The daily
trajectories of the male and female masters intersect
mainly in the front yard, the central exterior corridor,
the dining room, the kitchen, and the exterior side
corridor as can be seen in the justified graph (see figure
6-4). The convex global integration map (see figure 6-3)
shows that the most integrated (i.e., highest accessible)
space is the front yard, followed by the dining room, the
central exterior corridor and the exterior side corridors
on both sides. However, the global integration value of
the kitchen has downgraded to midrange ranking (15th
place on 38 spaces) and the local accessibility of this
cooking space also dropped to midrange level, which
demonstrates limitation of social function in this space
and exhibits a controversial result compared to those
cases of spatial types of A and B. On site observation
revealed the fact that the female master does not
engage much with the cultivation and production in
the rice fields as the male master has done. This type
of production phenomenon does reflect the socio-
spatial function of the kitchen space in that it eventually
has been separated from the dining space, which is
not the case for the previous two types of traditional
dwellings. Thus in this third spatial type, the splitting of
the globally highest accessible space of the front yard
and the locally highest accessible area of the dining
space has become more pronounced than that of those
previous two types. It seems that not only the higher
number of generations, such as the four generations
multiple families of second spatial type B, but the way
of household production, such as the concentration of
The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :
Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses
household production on the male master solely, may
contribute to the phenomena of a more sophisticated
socio-spatial logic of those traditional dwellings under
discussion. Moreover, the limited socio-spatial function
of the central altar hall (17th place) detected in this third
spatial type C, again illustrates the nature of this spiritual
venue as ethical symbol noticeable in the second spatial
type discussed earlier.
Despite the discrepancy on space units of the kitchen
as well as the central altar hall in relations to global
and/or local accessiblity among the three spatial types
mentioned above, a similar tendency to be noted from
the discussion of these three types of houses is that
the front yard is usually more integrated and highly
accessible globally when the space is marked with clear
territory. It is evident that the more well defined the
front yard is, the more integrated it becomes and the
higher accessible it turns out to be. The front yard thus
becomes a major social interface where all inhabitants
encounter naturally and interact to each other when
necessary. Whereas the dining space, either combined
with or independent from the kitchen space, seems
to play as a local interface facilitating interactions
among different generations and particularly between
inhabitants of the male and female masters. Finally, the
exterior corridor regardless of different spatial types,
seems to be a sustainable area that serves to integrate
mutual interactions between inhabitants either globally
or locally and becomes a supporting element both for
globally more integrated front yard and locally higher
accessible dining space.
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5. Discussion
From evidence of the three major types of courtyard
houses presented in this paper, a number of findings
can be drawn for discussion. First of all, it is of interest
to reveal the insufficiency of discursive interpretation
solely in relation to the issue of spatial cognitive study
on those traditional dwellings as most spaces would
be defined in the same way in terms of function as
per discursive semiotic analysis yet it is evident that
many of the spaces, such as the front yard, the kitchen,
and the central altar hall, etc. would play distinctive
roles for facilitating social interactions among different
generations and between inhabitants of different
genders in different spatial types. For example, for the
spatial type of “one dragon row,” the kitchen-dining
space exhibits as a major interface of integrating all
generations globally and household masters locally,
whereas this global integrating role shifts to the front
yard space when the spatial configuration develops into
a more sophisticated system of the “single outstretched
arm” type and the “three-side courtyard house.”
Moreover, in the latter two spatial types, the kitchen
space becomes effective in serving as a local interface
for facilitating interactions between major inhabitants
of male as well as female masters when it is integrated
with the dining space. Thus, to clarify the intricate socio-
spatial logic of those traditional courtyard dwellings, it
is necessary to include the discursive semiotic spatial
interpretation and the non-discursive abstract syntactic
parameters of global and/or local accessibilty for teasing
out the complicated socio-spatial mechanism of the
traditional courtyard houses under discussion.
A second finding of this research lies in the fact that
there is a sustainable interface of the “exterior corridor,”
which could effectively help to support the globally
highest accessible and important space of the front
yard to facilitate natural encounters among all different
110
generations. On the other hand, this sustainable
element also acts as an associate interface to work
together with the kitchen-dining space for facilitating
the local interactions between major inhabitants of male
and female masters. Therefore, in most cases of this
research regardless of different spatial types of A, B, C,
it is noticeable that overlapped movement trajectories
between the male and female masters mostly intersect
on those venues of the globally highest accessible front
yard, the globally and locally higher accessible exterior
corridor, and the locally highest accessible kitchen-
dining space.
The most intriguing finding is the clarification of the
“central altar hall” in that though it is the space of visual
focus, it mostly turns out to be both globally and locally
less integrated hence less accessible within the spatial
system. This phenomenon illustrates the fact that this
ritual symbolic venue literally become virtually the
spiritual reminder for all inhabitants and hence visual
attention would be prior to the level of accessibility.
Purely looking at the discursive semiotic expression of
the central altar hall, one might consider it as the most
strategic and important space due to its location on the
key brick point upon the central axis defined by most
geomancers for the senior masters of those traditional
courtyard dwellings. This top-down metaphoric
ideology has long term influenced the way of socio-
spatial interpretation as the ethics-cultural identities
embedded in the spatial structure and physical form as
such recogized by Amos Rapoport (Rapoport 1980) and
those followers mentioned above. However, through
the non-discursive syntactic analysis, it is noted that this
spiritual venue seems to be set aside from the central
location of accessibility and becomes less accessible
to all inhabitants, which depicts its nature of being
hidden from daily trajectories to increase its mystical
status on the one hand, and exhibits its pronounced
visual focus for all on the other hand to enhance its

spiritual function of “seeing from distance without being
disturbed.” It is only when both the discursive verbal
interpretation as well as the non-discursive knowledge
of abstract syntactic representation included for in-
depth analysis on those traditional courtyard houses
are considered that the generic socio-spatial logic be
clarified for discussion from the bottom-up scenario
for those traditional dwellings either in Taiwan or in the
Chinese context.
Figure 1-1 Figure 1-2
Figure 2-1 Figure 2-2
Figure 3-1 Figure 3-2
Source: Adopted from graphs illustrated in Hillier, 1993.
The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :
Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses
Findings from the above three major spatial types
of “one dragon row,” “single outstretched arm,” and
“three-side courtyard house” though have been further
confirmed by those even more elaborated spatial types
of “a central courtyard with a minor side courtyard”
and “a main central courtyard with a smaller courtyard
at either side” clearly more studies are required for
disentangling the complicated socio-spatial mechanism
of those traditional courtyard dwellings under concern.
Figure 1-3
Figure 2-3
Figure 3-3
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Figure 4-1: House plan of the spatial type A Figure 4-2: Convex break-up

Legend:
a. Altar hall g. Bathroom
b. Kitchen & dining h. Storage
c. Interior corridor i. Garage
d. Exterior corridor j. Rear yard
e. Front yard k. Rice field
f. Bedroom l. Living room

Figure 4-3: Global integration of convex spaces

Legend:

Altar
Production
Transition
Kitchen, Service. Priviate
the highest Rn
the highest R3

Male Master’s trajectories

Figure 4-4: Justified graph of convex spaces Female Master’s trajectories

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 The Socio-spatial Logic of Traditional Dwellings in the Taiwan Context :
Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses

Figure 5-1: House plan of the spatial type B Figure 5-2: Convex break-up

Legend:
a. Altar hall g. Bathroom
b. Kitchen & dining h. Storage
c. Interior corridor i. Garage
d. Exterior corridor j. Rear yard
e. Front yard k. Rice field
f. Bedroom l. Living room

Figure 5-3: Global integration of convex spaces

Legend:

Altar hall
Production spaces
Transition
Kitchen, Service. Priviate spaces
the highest Rn
the highest R3

Male Master’s trajectories

Figure 5-4: Justified graph of convex spaces Female Master’s trajectories

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Figure 6-2: Convex break-up

Figure 6-1: House Plan of the spatial type C

Legend:
a. Altar hall g. Bathroom
b. Kitchen & dining h. Storage
c. Interior corridor i. Garage
d. Exterior corridor j. Rear yard
e. Front yard k. Rice field
f. Bedroom

Figure 6-3: Global integration of convex spaces

Legend:

Altar hall
Production spaces
Transition
Kitchen, Service. Priviate spaces
the highest Rn
the highest R3

Male Master’s trajectories

Figure 6-4: Justified graph of convex spaces Female Master’s trajectories

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Case Studies of Wai Pu Farmers’ Houses

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