Usporedba tradicionalne i suvremene kulture stanovanja u jednoobiteljskom boravištu na osnovi odnosa kuća — vrt

Increasing changes of economy and dwelling habits are more and more reflected also in the relationship between the house and the garden, as well in towns as in the countryside. Single-family house both in town and in the country is nowadays characterized by a high level of structural and social alienation from its immediate environment. On the one hand, these changes generate gradual disappearance of the traditional countryside house which largely contributes to the loss of identity as well as of diversity of rural settlements and to the diminished residential quality of urban houses on the other. This paper is based on a study that has explored structure and relationships in organisation of the single-family house. In particular, an effort was made to find out how structural differences influence the dwelling quality of the garden space. At the same time a research in public opinion was carried out to reveal societal preferences in this area. The responses in questionnaires have shown that people's ideas and actual practice are essentially different. Theoretically, the respondents prefer physical integration of the house with the garden which would presuppose that interior of the house and the garden were built at the same level. However, investigations in housing areas have shown an opposite picture. In most cases, the living room is situated in the second floor thus making the living space in the house physically separated from the garden. Consequently, the connection between these two realms is blocked which usually results in an absence of residential use of the garden.