Fundamental Concepts of Architecture : The Vocabulary of Spatial Situations

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paratus. Opposing the possibility of allowing a detail to serve

various functions is a strategy that separates its various tasks

from one another, thereby clarifying them. A handrail, for ex-

ample, may be set off from a concrete balustrade in order to

distinguish clearly the functions of guarding against falls and

providing a handhold.

A special function is served by details that act as symbols

to convey meaning, as decorum. They ensure that the signifi-

cance (> meaning) of a building’s owner, function or social role

is accurately visible, mirror its symbolic content, or serve as

> ornaments (> ornamentation). An artistically coherent sys-

tem of details can also be regarded as a kind of language; a

building’s character is displayed in a specific selection of details

that correspond to the painstaking and effective selection of

words in literature. Through details, some architects have

given evidence of exceptional inspiration or special idiosyn-

crasies. There is, for example, the famous ‘Mies corner’, which

displays – in addition to a number of further specific details

• the architect’s handwriting; reused elsewhere, they have the
  effect of a personal signature.
  Literature: Kemp 2009; Weston 2003

> column, patina, postures, monument, ritual

> directionality, gaze, ingress and exit, movement, plane,

route, stairs, wall

Because spatial direction in architecture is perceived in dif-

ferent ways, a cubic room features no uniform relationship

between its sides. Since we are connected to the ground by the

force of gravity, and hold ourselves erect, the vertical axis is

of decisive importance for our footing. The longitudinal and

transverse directions, however, compete under the influence

of apertures, wall divisions, and lighting. We are constantly

exposed to directional impulses.

Dignity
Direction

Directionality