Despite architecture’s focus on housing, the domestic realm (interiors, experiences and occupancies) is a neglected area of study. Yet, domestic spaces embed important issues of gender, class, taste, and identity. They have fluid boundaries, vastly enlarged beyond those of the individual home.

This elective resituates domesticity in architecture. It examines domesticity’s interdisciplinary discourses, and repositions these findings within the discipline. Using a series of key contemporary texts and projects drawn from within and outside architecture, it gives a broad overview of the emerging definitions, relationships and implications of domesticity as a critical term. The import of domesticity in relation to more established architectural terms such as ‘housing’ and ‘home’, will be emphasized.

The main emphasis is to provide critical history and theory on the subject of domesticity, and the related concept of home. The elective offers in-depth knowledge on the subject, as well as focusing on the domestic interior, an aspect not widely covered in the architecture curriculum. Additionally, as the domestic interior is emerging as an important area of research in Anglo-American academia with dedicated research clusters, monographs and refereed journals, this elective will provide a platform to engage discussions from a situated Asian perspective.