231structure, in contrast, public squares or buildings create inner
focal points or enter into dialogue with prominent counter-
parts, an instance of this being Rafael Moneo’s Town Hall in
Murcia in relation to the cathedral.
A conscious or intuitive picture of our current position
in relation to place is the basis for our > orientation in space;
it is continuously modified and updated during movement. A
sense of uncertainty about where one is produces feelings of
general insecurity, while the architectural articulation of the
identity of the place guarantees recognizability. Even a life-
style that is characterized by mobility requires local anchor-
ing points. For those who remain somewhere for a long time,
conversely, a place’s architectural reshaping contributes to the
familiarity that is the foundation for a personal spatial devel-
opment. The extreme of a spatial and life praxis that is inter-
ested only in ephemeral happenings is opposed by a yearning
for stabilitas loci, for life processes that are safeguarded, or
even given an enhanced significance, through a sense of stabil-
ity in relation to place.
Literature: Augé 2009; Bloomer/Moore 1977; Norberg-
Schulz 1991; Valena 1994Through the forces of gravity, our movements are tied to the
horizontal plane of the floor (> ground) and screened upwards
by the parallel plane of the > ceiling. As corresponding planes,
floor and ceiling, ground and roof, form an intervening space
for movement that is interrupted by the vertical planes of the
walls. A spatiality organized primarily by means of planes
that slice into space and expose it, rather than enclosing and
shutting it out, contrasts with the clear framing of a straight-
forward container. Herman Hertzberger (2000) claims that
in the first instance, the room remains intact, and is in fact
generated, while in the second, it is used or consumed.
Houses can be assembled entirely of plane surfaces, of
(horizontal) panels and (vertical) slabs. The walls, in turn,Plane