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> space-containing walls which not only effect the overlap-
ping of inside and outside, but also of body and space. Transi-
tions through thick walls, which themselves contain cavities,
niches and storage compartments often form passages hav-
ing their own sizable intermediate or connecting spaces. And
when they are traversed, a shift is clearly noticeable.
As a ‘lock’, an intermediate space has the character of a
third, enclosed unit that mediates between contrasting condi-
tions in two adjacent rooms. The elevator cabin, on the other
hand, is a movable type of intermediate space with quite inde-
pendent spatial properties; within it, one is briefly left entirely
to oneself, or else exposed to a state of extreme social densifi-
cation, albeit one that is dissolved almost immediately.
Acts of > ingress and exit in particular are articulated by
means of sequences of intermediate spaces, which prevent one
from ‘barging’ directly through the door and into the build-
ing: in approaching a house, for example, the act of entry is
contained by a segment of external space through a change of
direction and ‘collected’ in front of the building, perhaps in
conjunction with the sweeping gesture of an accompanying
wall. Forecourts, front yards, and front gardens, sometimes
separated by fences or garden gates, provide initial stopping
off places. Through a spatial extension that is set before the
building, a portion of the interior space is shifted outward.
Porches, canopies and arcades, in turn, form spatial layers
that still lie outside, yet whose projecting roofs provide shel-
ter from rain, and through sparing lateral containments, wind
as well. If the front building is set on a pedestal, it offers pro-
tection from the dangers of the street. One enters the house
when still outside, so to speak, one has already arrived, and
perhaps takes a seat on a bench. When leaving the building,
this pulpit offers an outward and overview, facilitating ori-
entation. The building – or individual apartment – is already
entered when we step onto the doormat. This not only serves
to clean shoes and to separate a sanitary from a dirty sphere;
on it, the arrival already steps onto a piece of interior flooring.