Published in the Indonesian Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR), the study introduces a new architectural concept called the Sociopetal-Sociofugal Architectural Conflict (SSAC). The term describes a spatial paradox in which restaurant design creates comfort and privacy for diners while simultaneously generating obstacles for service staff.
The research examined Gurih 7 Restaurant in Bogor, West Java, one of Indonesia’s best-known Sundanese restaurants featuring traditional saung pavilions built above fishponds. Operating since 1992, the restaurant accommodates up to 800 guests and can receive approximately 1,500 visitors during peak weekends.
According to the researchers from Universitas Kristen Indonesia, saung structures have traditionally been understood as sociable and culturally meaningful dining spaces. Yet the same architectural features that make customers feel comfortable may also disrupt communication, movement, and service efficiency.
This contradiction forms the basis of SSAC.
In simple terms, the concept describes how one architectural element can produce opposite experiences for different groups of users. Diners experience intimacy, acoustic comfort, and privacy inside the saung, while restaurant workers outside face visual barriers, fragmented circulation, and limited communication.
The study emerged amid Indonesia’s rapidly growing culinary industry, where vernacular architecture increasingly serves as a competitive attraction. Sundanese restaurants using lesehan seating and saung pavilions are especially popular because they combine cultural identity with emotional comfort.
However, most previous studies focused primarily on customer satisfaction and overlooked the operational realities experienced by staff.
To investigate the issue, the research team conducted qualitative field observations at Gurih 7 Restaurant during peak operating hours on weekends between 12:00 and 14:00 across four observation sessions.
Researchers tracked movement patterns, mapped activities, and documented the restaurant’s architectural conditions to understand how spatial design shaped human behavior in real-world conditions.
The study identified three major conflict zones.
The first conflict appeared in the waiting area.
Researchers found that waiting chairs faced directly toward occupied saung units. Although the physical distance exceeded standard personal boundaries, the visual connection created a psychological intrusion into diners’ sense of privacy.
As a result, many waiting guests avoided the official seating area and instead gathered near the fishpond, creating an informal self-organized waiting zone.
The second conflict involved the restaurant’s live music stage and children’s playground.
The study documented a clash between movement-based and sound-based activities. Children required dynamic, open movement spaces, while musical performances required acoustically stable environments.
The combined noise spread into nearby saung units, undermining the quiet atmosphere that customers expected when selecting enclosed traditional dining spaces.
The third and most significant conflict concerned staff circulation.
Researchers observed that service staff traveled long and irregular routes between the kitchen and saung units. Elevated platforms, enclosed structures, and uneven terrain blocked direct sightlines.
Unlike open-layout restaurants where waiters can monitor several tables visually, Gurih 7’s enclosed saung configuration prevented proactive observation.
To compensate, the restaurant installed electronic call bells inside each saung.
Yet the study argues that this solution functions only as a “technology patch.” While call bells restore communication, they do not address the architectural cause of the problem.
Each bell creates a dedicated service trip for a single request, increasing physical workload and forcing staff into a reactive rather than proactive service model.
Muhamad Sugeng Riyadi and colleagues emphasize that this conflict should not be viewed as a simple design flaw.
Instead, the paradox is structurally embedded within the enclosed pavilion typology itself. The greater the privacy and enclosure designed for guests, the more difficult service visibility becomes for workers.
The implications extend beyond restaurant design.
The SSAC framework suggests that spatial classifications such as sociopetal and sociofugal are not fixed characteristics but perspective-dependent experiences shaped by user roles.
This insight may prove relevant for hospitals, hotels, airports, and educational facilities where different user groups occupy the same built environment with conflicting spatial needs.
The researchers recommend that large vernacular restaurants conduct SSAC analysis during early design stages. Waiting areas should incorporate visual buffers, entertainment zones should be separated from playgrounds, and service circulation should include observation points that restore staff visibility without sacrificing customer privacy.
Author Profile
Muhamad Sugeng Riyadi is a Graduate Architecture student at Universitas Kristen Indonesia whose research focuses on vernacular architecture, spatial behavior, and commercial environmental design.
Prof. James ED Rilatupa is an academic and researcher at Universitas Kristen Indonesia specializing in architecture, built environments, and spatial studies.
Dr. Yophie Septiady is a lecturer and researcher at Universitas Kristen Indonesia with expertise in architectural design and environmental studies.
Research Source
Riyadi, Muhamad Sugeng; Rilatupa, James ED; Septiady, Yophie. 2026. Analysis of the Sociopetal-Sociofugal Architectural Conflict (SSAC) in High-Density Vernacular Sundanese Restaurants. Indonesian Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR), Vol. 5 No. 5, pp. 631–646. DOI: 10.55927/ijar.v5i5.16548.
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