home not only plays a major role in creating such social relationships, but can also represent an image of residents to others.
values and meanings of the self could be reflected through the home (cooper marcus, 1995).
it is used as a symbol both for how people see themselves and how they want to present their personalities to others. these may be exhibited through decorations, furniture (lewin,2001:360) and even built form.
while the issue of social relations enables us to look beyond a shelter and remins us to consider the connection among residents in both the home and the community, the house as a symbol of self helps to analyse ways the residents express themselves through their domestic architecture, both in informal settlements and developing communities.