Doors, privacy and the public sphere: a conceptual discussion on the spatial structure of early modern Istanbul

Abstract The aim of this article is to offer a new conceptual framework for the study various spaces in Istanbul during seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. I contend that rather than sharp distinction manifested with public–private dichotomy, we need focus on gradations privacy. qāpū bāb as two concepts borrowed from period's own repertoire representing macro micro ends spatial gradation. Theoretically, draw George Simmel's definition doors interfaces formation.