Author(s): Azhani Abd. Manaf, Zaiton Abdul Rahim
Past literature had shown a lack of visual privacy in the design of terrace housing in Malaysia, especially for Malay Muslim families, due to the unique Islamic regulations regarding self-modesty, family, & house modesty. This study aimed to investigate the types of visual privacy regulation mechanisms utilised by Malay Muslim families living in terrace housing in Selangor to achieve an optimum Muslim Visual Privacy (MVP) level. Moreover, this study used a survey method with 441 respondents and 10 case studies. The findings indicated that due to the inadequacy of terrace housing design in providing visual privacy, the dependency on these visual privacy regulation mechanisms becomes more important to protect the modesty of Malay families in conducting their daily activities. In addition, the insensitivity of the original design in providing adequate MVP resulted in accepted norms contrasting with Islamic teachings. These norms include constant closing of doors and windows, which inhibit visual connection to nature and obstruct natural ventilation, hindering social interactions between neighbours, which was once an essential aspect of the Malay culture. Past literature had shown a lack of visual privacy in the design of terrace housing in Malaysia, especially for Malay Muslim families, due to the unique Islamic regulations regarding self-modesty, family, and house modesty. This study aimed to investigate the types of visual privacy regulation mechanisms utilised by Malay Muslim families living in terrace housing in Selangor to achieve an optimum Muslim visual privacy (MVP) level. The findings indicated that due to the inadequacy of terrace housing design in providing visual privacy, the dependency on these visual privacy regulation mechanisms becomes more important to protect the modesty of Malay families in conducting their daily activities. In addition, the insensitivity of the original design in providing adequate MVP resulted in accepted norms contrasting with Islamic teachings.