Negotiating Cultural, Social and Spatial Differences in Cross-Cultural Domestic Interiors: The Case of Saudi Women Migrants in Glasgow

Context Currently, many and diverse groups of migrating people are swept up in global movement and mobility. There is a continuous flux of mobility and chronic temporary migration. International students, trainees and workers are categorized in temporary migration as professional migrants. One’s existing identity within this context – whether cultural, ethnic, religious or even political – can be challenged and redefined by, or layered with, new and acquired identities. New forms of social structures and cultural understandings are created as a result. Within the phenomenon of temporary migration, domestic space – the home – plays a significant role in maintaining and expressing identity. This thesis examines temporary migrants and the question of maintaining identity in this context. Considering both the domestic space with its social and cultural elements and global movement and mobility, this study aims to explore and investigate, through the social interactions and cultural practices of occupants in their homes, expression of the cultural identity of Arab Muslim migrants within their domestic spaces in a Western society, specifically Glasgow. Approach and Methods This socio-cultural study adopts a qualitative approach. The researcher uses ethnographic tools – semi-structured interviews, participant observation and photography – to collect data and generate meaning by using thematic analysis. In addition, the researcher uses visual techniques in collecting data and in the analysis. Since the researcher, a Saudi woman, shares and lives the reality of the study’s participants, the practice of reflection throughout the process is observed by the researcher. Participants Since women are considered the heart of the home in Islamic culture and house design, the research was embedded in the domestic interiors of 27 Arab Muslim women, mostly Saudi (due to the researcher being a Saudi Muslim), living in Glasgow. These women are professional skilled migrants living temporarily in Scotland to pursue a higher education degree or for training or work, for a specific duration of time. They have experienced one or more transnational moves, but they all share the intention to return to their home country, where they will finally settle. Research Design The research is designed in two main stages. Stage 1 aims to investigate how are Islamic housing principles and living values changing as a result of living outside Saudi Arabia, through a detailed thematic analysis of the choreography of everyday domestic objects and spaces, using oral, visual and material analysis. Stage 2 aims to focus on how the Saudi temporary migrants express their cultural identity in a new domestic space. Also explored is what the researcher can bring to the collecting and analysis of the data, being a Saudi Muslim female herself, and an indigenous researcher and professionally trained interior designer. Results The results show that factors associated with ‘secular modernity’, such as a career, an education and shopping, have higher importance in the choice of housing than ease of religious observance. Moreover, users created a feeling of home through daily interaction with the movable material culture of the home, and the dynamics of everyday living. In addition, results show that, as a way to create a sense of familiarity with a place where users create the conditions to feel ‘at home’, they depended heavily on their ‘sensory identity’ inside their domestic spaces; one or more senses were used to maintain their cultural identity through their daily practices. Looking deeper into the cultural relocation of the Saudi household, the women’s perception of their domestic spaces is seen as a process of homemaking which starts with leaving their home countries and which facilitates the transformation of their chosen domestic space into a home. This process is characterized by separation of religious values and what is considered tradition and customs. Also, with smaller dwellings, women’s sense of home was distributed within some aspects of their neighbourhood, outside their interior parameters. They attempted to integrate some particularities about the spatial layout in their native environment of Saudi Arabia within their new domestic interior, through physical and behavioural modifications. The core values of Islamic domestic living of privacy, modesty and hospitality were not changed; however, they were negotiated between the users’ new domestic interiors and the modifications they made. Original Contribution This research presents a unique contribution through listening to the voices of Saudi women living in the UK under temporary conditions. Also, this research presents a novel study regarding the Saudi home environment outside Saudi Arabia and conducted by a Saudi Muslim female designer. Furthermore, insights are given into the homemaking process and being ‘at home’. Through the inhabitants’ views, the study aims to broaden the knowledge of architects and designers beyond their specialist expertise. It also aims to contribute more widely to architects’ and designers’ understanding of the home design needs of the Muslim population and the complex yet dynamic process of establishing a sense of home during temporary relocation which is able to reflect particular cultural principles