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Paper short abstract

This research argues that 'servant quarters' in urban India are not neutral spaces but deliberate architectural instruments of social division. Analysing case studies, it shows how design features (materials, separate entries) actively enforce segregation, dependency, & inequality.

Paper long abstract

In contemporary urban India, the culture of servitude, a complex interplay of class, caste, and economic disparity, is directly manifested in the built environment. While social science has explored servitude's social dynamics, it often overlooks architecture's agency. Similarly, architectural discourse glosses over the ubiquitous, yet unexamined, typology of the ‘servant quarter’. This proposal addresses this gap, arguing the servant quarter is not ancillary space but a deliberately configured architectural instrument that actively produces and reinforces social relations of subordination, and segregation.

Drawing on a comparative spatial analysis of case studies from Bangalore, this research questions how architectural design becomes a method of social division. The methodology contrasts the main dwelling with its attached servant's room across parameters like access, area, ventilation, and materials. This reveals a clear pattern of exclusion, correlated with building regulations and socio-historical literature to trace the typology’s lineage from colonial bungalows to its contemporary form in the gated enclaves of high-rise apartments, revealing a consistent logic of spatial ‘othering’.

The analysis demonstrates that servant quarter design, characterised by separate entries, diminished scale, and relegation to service zones, is an intentional manifestation of social segregation. These spaces physically enact marginalisation, eroding the dignity of inhabitation. The physical proximity enables a culture of constant availability, blurring work-life boundaries, undermining the dignity of labour, and exacerbating exploitation.

By focusing on this non-dominant form of inhabitation, defined by extreme proximity yet profound separation, this research exposes how architecture, far from being a neutral container, perpetuates the very inequalities it houses.