Domestic architecture of the modern-day elites : manifestations of periodic change in home environments

Abstract

Various aspects of elitism, elite life, culture, and their design traditions have all been undertaken and discerned largely by Western scholars over time. Hence, in addressing this seminal topic, such a body of knowledge becomes indispensable, although it is somewhat oblivious to an Eastern perspective. Since 15th century, these propagations have been ensued all over the modern world with the aid of wide-spread Iberian and Western European colonial practices as McGillivray (2006: 15-19) tells us. In the rapidly globalizing and predominantly capitalist modern world, elites are conveniently placed on top of the social hierarchy irrespective of their physical location. In this context, the paper attempts to explore the underlying reasons for this immutable condition. As its foremost contribution, the apparent sensitiveness of elites to periodic changes in society is to be investigated, while establishing what these are in actuality. In this exercise, how essential aspects of'high culture' and 'grand design tradition' are bound to the elite dwelling - with its contiguity to the complex notions of 'home' - is dealt with, identifying their inter-relations.