163They are not only contraries, but also complementary in rela-
tion to one another. In order to enter, one must be outside;
conversely, one must have entered in order to leave. The gen-
erally conflictive nature of such movement, with its double
directionality, is represented by the two-faced Roman god Ja-
nus, who was not only regarded as the god of entrances and
exits, but also of beginnings and ends, arrivals and departures,
past and future. In architecture, ingress and exit as transitions
between inside and outside are simultaneously passages be-
tween surroundings that contrast with one another in terms
of noise, warmth, lighting, dimensions and materiality, as well
as regarding divergent levels of > accessibility. Openings en-
join us to pass between these environments, but also signal
limitations to these operations through physical constrictions
or by virtue of the fact that the threshold can be secured.
With regard to structural appearances as well, entrance and
exit show a double face. Upon entering the building, we per-
ceive the entrance as a key element in relation to the facade
as a whole, while this is not the case from the inside. An exit
lacks the significance of an entrance. In emphatically open
structures, however, the tension inherent in this passage be-
tween zones is virtually dissolved, for example in Mies van
der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. Individual wall slabs only hint
at the separation of inside from outside, and upon entering,
we already find ourselves exiting again.
As we enter a building, it is already capable of convey-
ing a foretaste of the character of the > inside; it may either
attract or intimidate. Certain architectural elements and pro-
cesses are especially characteristic of an entrance. In medi-
eval church portals, for example, the funnel form functions
as a guiding element for those who enter, and announces the
procession route that continues inside, while in commercial
architecture it pulls customers into shop interiors through
subliminal compulsion. The columned portico is primarily a
widely visible receptive gesture for those entering, but at the
same time it signals a building’s dignity and status. By moni-