139that allow relationships between buildings and spaces to ap-
pear graspable. Martin Heidegger (1953/1993) understood
the cohesion of river and surrounding landscape when he
wrote: ‘The bridge gathers the earth as landscape around the
stream.’ In a different way, a dining table gathers together
family members or guests as a community around the cen-
tre of the home. Using architectural means, the form of the
gathering is articulated. Radial streets or entrances represent
a > figure of movement of summoning together. A concentric
form of spatial containment or furnishing generates a figure
of togetherness around the centre, a place of an activity, of an
event, of a performance. A large, heavy table that is singled
out by the lamp above it as an island of light in a dark room
enhances intimacy, while an arena ensures that ‘the people
show themselves to their best advantage’ (Goethe 1786/1988).
Other forms of congregation find expression in their re-
spective positionings: when two people come together, they
like to sit facing in a corner, and at a long table people prefer
to sit facing others. In the figures of his various ‘plans’, which
outline forms of the gathering of congregations at religious
services, Rudolf Schwarz (1947) has proposed in addition
to the centralized layout (‘ring’, ‘chalice’), among others, the
ranked and aligned order (‘holy journey’), as well as the re-
ceiving, open, hollow form (‘sacred trajectory’).
Literature: Schwarz 1947Among the senses, vision is primary. The gaze seems to grasp
spatial reality more completely and more reliably than the
other senses. Limited to vision, nonetheless, our perceptions
of architecture remain restricted.
While > sound and > odour are always perceived simul-
taneously from all directions, our visual field is oriented for-
ward, and is restricted to a visual angle of 180°; both eyes
in concert are able to encompass a field measuring 110°. In
order to receive more than a flattened visual impression ofGaze