119already presupposes a gestalt-like conception of the elements
that combine to form the process of ascending an individ-
ual step, and which allows it to be repeated automatically.
The same is true of the act of stepping through a doorway
(> door), which involves the performance of a sequence of
stereotyped movements that could almost be performed with-
out sight. Faced with the respective constructive elements, the
body recalls the necessary repertoire of movement schema-
ta. Corresponding to the open form of a > field or the uniform
and dispersed distribution of supports in a hypostyle-type
hall is > roaming movement.
Among more formalized movements, linear routes are
relatively simple figures. Here, movement is synchronized by
a regular sequence of form elements, for example a succession
of supports. Or they acquire a rhythmical character through
the alternation of narrower and wider spatial sections, as in-
vestigated by August Schmarsow in the context of the peram-
bulation of a basilica (1915, 33–46).
An extension of the figure of a linear route is the oscil-
lating back and forth movement that encourages continuous
thought and meditation, or discussion and disputation. Its
form offers the security of directionality and a fixed rule for
gratuitous repetition, so that no decision concerning direction
is necessary, and the mind is free to engage in contemplation
or conversation. The repetitive movement of > circulation, for
example, in a cloister, is stabilized in a similar way. A move-
ment > sequence is composed of several figural components.
When leaving the house, for example, one takes a few steps
through the corridor, opens the door, turns to the left, de-
scends a couple of steps, makes a turn to the right, opens a
second door, and steps out onto the street. Soon, such every-
day sequences of movements congeal into figures that could
be easily mastered in one’s sleep. A figure of movement facili-
tates > orientation when it functions as an incisive configura-
tion of > access, for example in the characteristic figure of a
loop or another incisive configuration, thereby allowing the