Introduction

Private spaces hold a special potential for analysing the production of space with biographical references serving as resources and guidelines. The focus of my PhD-thesis is on identifying the processes of producing space and its underlying biographical implications by combining visual and narrative data.
Spaces for living are open to (a selected) public, confronting the inhabitant with the culturally embedded public-private divide: Personal attitudes and biographical references can be observed giving the impression of authenticity along with arrangements of stage-like foreground-spaces for distinction; functional and aesthetic arrangements serve as guidelines for potential visitors about “accepted” behaviour. Both are based on the reception of the visual arrangements in situ.
As a result of the analysis so far the duality between “private” and “public”" spaces gives way to applying different grades of “openness”, especially in students residences, where space is a (very) limited resource (cf. Stoetzer 2007).
Space is conceptualised as a relational model of simultaneous production by action and reception (of atmospheres, arrangements, people and social goods) according to the sociological basic concept Martina Löw (2001) developed.