House Design Preferred by Malay Wives

Abstract

Previous studies suggest that home activities affect house design significantly. This paper aims at identifying roles and household activities of Malay wives and their relationship with house design preferences. A study was carried out on selected working and non-working Malay wives of Bandar Tenggara, Johor, Malaysia, using a combination of structured and semi-structured questionnaire survey. The results suggest that activities such as cooking and other day-to-day operations have some correlation with their sense of space. The results suggest that patterns of housewives’ home activities affect their house design preferences.