Abstract
At the multi-cultural society, research is needed to encourage a social atmosphere for enhanced understanding and respect for different cultures & countries. The purpose was to analyze the characteristics of spatial arrangement, space connection, Interior decoration and the relationship among these three features, which showed each country's unique housing form tradition. Three representative cases of historic residences from each country were selected on the basis of a recognized historic architecture directory. Total 18 residences from 6 countries - Korea, China, Japan, Rome, Egypt, and Italy - were comparatively analyzed. As results, aspects generally found in Eastern countries, were the fence as the semi-open boundary between the inside and the outside of the house, the flexibility of spatial opening and partitions between rooms, and finally simple and movable decoration features. On the other hands, aspects appeared in Western countries, were the outer wall of the building as the boundary to the outside, the closed and fixed properties of the room partitions, and finally complex and fixed decoration features. The research also showed that even within the same culture, the degree of openness varied. Each feature of space was related and could be explained within the same context. Housing, regardless of country and culture, tried to accommodate the exterior space inside the building as much as possible. The common pursuit was transformed to various visible forms and its reason might be due to different socio-cultural and environmental backgrounds that need to be continuously explored in academic area.
