Fundamental Concepts of Architecture : The Vocabulary of Spatial Situations

168

experience interior spaces as cavities that have no exteriors.

Only the inner sides of the walls of one’s own apartment are

perceived, as though the dwelling were a cave that was enter-

able only through the front door. The interior becomes au-

tonomous as a detached, independent world. That which lies

outside of its walls seems unattainable, almost non-existent

• although we may live a mere 20 cm away from a neighbour.
  A counterpart to such exclusively interior reality would be an
  architecture that turned the outside inward in ways compara-
  ble to a reversible coat, so that through > inversion, an intro-
  version of the exterior occurs, an example being the building
  type known as an arcade.
  Literature: Bollnow 1963

> furnishing, interior

> courtyard

The ‘in between’ that occupies the transition from one room

to the next, yet which belongs to neither, or to both simul-

taneously, is an elementary phenomenon in architecture. It

appears in numerous variants. Intermediate spaces emerge in

particular where the > threshold is expanded from a bound-

ary line to a threshold space, not only between > inside and

outside, but also along transitions between various interior

spaces. Every space-containing > facade with niches, em-

brasures, bay windows, or other ‘spatial pockets’ represent

a space that is intermediate between building and town. In-

dividual structural elements, including the > arcade, > gal-

lery, loggia, veranda, terrace and balcony, form special types

of intermediate spaces. The roof terrace may be regarded as

an intermediate space that forms a transition between build-

ing and sky; likewise, the basement can be interpreted as a

transition to the earth. Created by means of > inversion are

‘interior’ intermediate spaces such as the courtyard, the rue

Interior architecture
Interior courtyard

Intermediate space