263also capable of pulling together a multilimbed building as a
totality. As a rule, the peculiar gesture of the building culmi-
nates in the roof form; at times, a roof may even evoke physi-
ognomic associations with specific life-forms, with faces or
whimsical coiffures. In its peculiar design, it is reflected in the
building’s interior as well, i.e. when the roof’s form influences
internal spaces.
As a rule, when viewing a building from the outside, and
with the exception of the canopy shelter, open hall, or pavil-
ion, we do not see what is going on beneath the roof. It merely
suggests the protected space within, evoking expectations and
inviting us to enter. A large roof projection or exceptionally
low eaves already intimates the introversion of the interior. It
constitutes a preliminary stage in the sense that we have al-
ready reached an ‘interior’, or at least an > intermediate space,
when we step past the outer edge to stand beneath the pro-
tecting roof. Once inside, however, we normally see nothing
more of the roof. To be sure, we carry its design inside with
us in the form of an expectation, but in most cases, it is rep-
resented within only by the ceiling of the ground floor. Only
in special instances, such as vaulted spaces or those topped by
cupolas, holes or barns, does the experience of the interior co-
incide with the impression of the roof form we have received
outside. Then, the space is oriented, centred or subdivided by
the gesture of the roof form, expanding upwards or being
compressed, thereby suggesting specific figures of movement.
The difference between roof and ceiling, on the other
hand, reflects their divergent tasks as external building form
and inner spatial container. While outwardly, the roof suggests
mass, the ceiling represents the sky. In the interspace between
them, in the > poché of the cross-section, we find ourselves
‘inside’ the roof, not the roofed interior of the building, but
instead a secluded, barely illuminated zone that offers mini-
mal visual accessibility. Recognizable within the open truss or
roof structure is the rationality of a building’s construction;
in the twilight, at the same time, the dusty crisscrossing of the