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este. As forecourts in relation to the city, they are significant
as > intermediate spaces in ways analogous to the lobby of a
building. Further on, sequences of squares and streets form
units that interpenetrate or are separated from one another, to
some extent, forming > joints, and determining the > drama-
turgy of the urbanistic spatial structure through contrast of
size, form and character. Separations and transitions between
spaces are formed either by narrow passages between the
edges of buildings that are comparable to gates, or by more or
less flowing connections. Through > gesture, squares with ir-
regular shapes suggest a particular mode of traversal. In some
cases, the buildings lining the square do not form a distinct
spatial container, but block the gaze only temporarily, guid-
ing it in a new direction through skewed positioning as soon
as it is reached, thereby leading movement towards the next
spatial unit. In other cases, routes lead into and out of the
square in a continuous flow along a facade front, or streets
allow a square to flow out at the corners, thereby embedding
it into the continuing street network. Streets, in turn, are di-
vided into closed spatial segments when building alignments
curve or bend, when they create narrowing, or are staggered
in relation to one another. The art of arriving at lively spatial
articulations via such resources was mastered in particular
by Theodor Fischer, whose town planning for Munich was
intended to achieve a specific ‘movement form’ (1934).
Squares and streets are the spaces of public life within
a city, and at the same time public thoroughfares. They must
therefore be designed in such a way as to accommodate a
range of functions and activities, and in particular to be fit
for incidental encounters through movement. To be sure, the
segregation of zones for motorized traffic and for pedestrians
respectively facilitates the unhindered movement of both; in
shared spaces, by contrast, laws and conventions are replaced
by eye contact and mutual consideration. Instead of the sepa-
rations of areas through kerbstones and the channelling of
traffic along standardized lanes, appropriate behaviour is fa-