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individual rooms, which were either raised or lowered and
reached by small numbers of steps rather than convention-
ally through level transitions. This resulted in more complex
> spatial structures and a multitude of new perspectives be-
tween individual rooms. Levels that are staggered in relation
to one another allow a nuanced coordination of division and
connection.
To fine-tune a room in relation to length and breadth in
such a way that its proportions are optimized for its respec-
tive purpose and intended effect would mean that its height
could be chosen accordingly in relation to the given surface
area. This is impossible, however, if ceilings are continuous in
each storey. If one allows the ceilings to leap in height from
room to room, then a refined interleaving – which assigns
each room its optimal height – allows the total external vol-
ume to be utilized optimally.
In principle, a > gallery allows spaces to be linked verti-
cally. The activation of space in all directions can be carried
even further where spatial units and links between them are
distributed freely in a large volume, as in the design by OMA
for the Bibliothèque de France.
Through the Raumplan, it becomes possible to seek out
optional positions in space, moving not only on the surface,
but in three dimensions as well. A decisive role is necessarily
played by steps and > staircases. When they are not accommo-
dated in external and inhospitable staircases that link storeys,
but instead integrated along the edges of inhabited spaces and
subdivided into short sections that shift in direction respec-
tive to one another, the casual act of > ascent becomes a var-
ied spatial experience rather than a burden. Larger staircase
landings are well suited to pausing and for taking in views.
Where landings also provide access to various room levels,
transitions between rooms are simultaneously shifts between
elevations. In principle, such varied staircase configurations
and stratification of levels makes it possible to ascend in all
directions within a house that, seen from the outside, is quite