Symbiotic spatiality in domestic interiors: A spatial model for human-animal cohabitation

Abstract

Domestic interiors have historically been organized through anthropocentric spatial logics in which architectural layouts, circulation systems, and spatial hierarchies are structured primarily around human needs and bodily experience. However, the increasing presence of animals as everyday companions within contemporary households has gradually transformed domestic environments into shared multispecies habitats. Despite this transformation, architectural responses often remain limited to functional adjustments rather than reconsidering interior spatial organization itself. Addressing this gap, the study proposes the Symbiotic Spatial Model as an analytical framework for examining how domestic interiors reorganize when animals are recognized as spatial actors rather than accommodated occupants. The model translates post-humanist spatial discourse into three operational layers: hierarchical reconfiguration, multi-species circulation, and negotiated boundaries. The framework is applied through a comparative spatial analysis of two contemporary residential projects that explicitly integrate human–animal cohabitation. The findings demonstrate that symbiotic coexistence emerges through different spatial mechanisms, including plan-based redistribution of hierarchy and sectional stratification of movement systems. By operationalizing multispecies theory through spatial parameters, the study contributes a methodological framework for interpreting human–animal coexistence within interior architecture.