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that are penetrated only by niches and slits. The solidity of
heavy, impenetrable solid masses can endow spaces with a con-
stricted feeling. Certainly, spatial density can also be achieved
through the arrangement of thin supports or wall panels. Den-
sity is minimal where a space expands (> expansiveness and
constriction) outward without interruption or articulation.
Density increases when the space is filled with elements; at
the same time, its segmentation into > depth becomes palpa-
ble to the senses. Density may be heightened further through
the close placement and staggered arrangement of elements.
According to Jürgen Joedicke (1985), density is a feature
of architectural space that occupies a position between the
extremes of emptiness and solidity. He refers to a space that
is endowed only with an external (peripheral) density of spa-
tial limitations as a ‘container’; one that is entirely densified
within, on the other hand, is a ‘body’; while a spatial field set
only between corner demarcations is said to possess neither
outer nor inner density. Depending on the type of structural
density, our > personal space has a tendency in extension to
thrust its way, so to speak, between obstacles. Spaces of high
density convey an impression of solidity and stability. Within
them, one feels almost embedded in a mesh; in extreme cases,
one feels immobilized. In unfavourable instances, such effects
can even engender feelings of oppressiveness or loss of orien-
tation. By contrast, rooms with minimal density seem clear
and straightforward. When they become too large and bare,
one may feel lost in them; on the other hand, they present
no obstacles to expanding movement, and by virtue of their
unarticulated unity, are characterized by decisiveness.
Clearly going beyond spatial density in significance,
however, is that which one might term experiential density;
here an aesthetic densification on various sensory levels is as-
sociated with a wealth of additional emotional, bodily and
intellectual connections. In the context of urban planning,
density is decisive for the experience of urbanity in the sense
of being eventful, one that is achieved less through structural