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whole remains palpable. In orientation, access and functional
arrangement, these peripheral rooms are related in various
ways to the centre. They either radiate outward centrifugally
from a central interior space, or surround it concentrically.
Accordingly, it is approached either via a radial or circulating
movement.
The relationship of the central to the peripheral rooms
may be based on an extension outward in a graded hierar-
chy that emerges from the centre in the form of far-flung and
ramified spaces; or the surrounding spaces may be limited to
a ring of subordinated peripheral zones, even reduced to the
status of wall niches. Such ‘ancillary’ spaces heighten the in-
troversion of the dominant space functionally. They may also
serve as > space-containing walls or > resonance spaces, or as
> intermediate spaces allowing a delayed transition, or even
assume the mere task of a lining. If the subordinate spatial
layer takes the form of a surrounding walkway, for exam-
ple the colonnade of a peristyle, the act of stepping from it
into the main space is accompanied by the feeling of being
palpably enclosed by the surrounding layer. This sensation
diminishes progressively during our inward trajectory, and
the insecurity that emerges at the centre occasions the above-
mentioned oscillation.
In the form of a staircase with main circulation hall, or
simply a foyer, a central hall has the straightforward function
of providing > access. But it also plays a role that is decisive
for > orientation and communication within the building,
one that is underscored further when it is emphasized by the
design as a central courtyard with glazed roof. In a central
atrium that is open to the sky, on the other hand, external
space is transported into the centre of the building, which
alternates in character between central inner and outer space
(> courtyard). As an access courtyard, it is the nodal point of
internal, intersecting or circulating streams of traffic, while as
a garden courtyard, it forms the tranquil heart of the building,
or a place of contemplation such as a cloister.