Common rooms in shared dwellings without spousal and parent–child relationships

Abstract

We predict that acceleration of the individualization makes needs to live with some individuals, not with traditional family that includes spousal and parent–child relationship in the future. In this regard, this paper aims to know what kind of space we need. We surveyed 27 cases in Japan that individuals live with someone who is not in spousal or parent–child relationship. As a result, we could observe many variations about way of using common room from the case effectively used to the case hardly used, and we made consideration about factual background that leads these dwellings. The background is consisted of relationship between inhabitants, the way of life and the space they live. Concretely speaking, in the cases that inhabitants in relationship of equals, we could see that they shouldered their housework, deepened exchanges and used their common rooms well. However, in the cases that we could not see inhabitants used their common rooms, they also avoid to use them alone, and instead, they used their private rooms for doing something together.