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within, they are simply given; seen from without, they are
made by human hands.’ (Flusser 1993b) A wall simultane-
ously excludes and encloses, but we only ever stand on one
side of it. As a rule, the inner and outer side of the wall is not
even present within the same perceptual image. It is difficult
to identify the inner side of a wall as the back of a facade. In
an indefinite fashion, we nonetheless strive to imagine what is
going on beyond an enclosing inner wall, or conversely inside,
behind an outer wall. While we exploit our sense of fantasy
in order to project a virtual space that exists beyond the wall,
we project conceptions about our individual lives on the near
side of inner walls in the form of coverings and decoration; on
outer walls, we project our desired appearance in the world
through emblematic facade design.
The wall is a universal foil for both, as long as it re-
mains unobtrusively available for a variety of projections and
treatments. As a vertical > plane, it forms a self-evident back-
drop for such projections. If, however, it becomes independ-
ent through free formation or plastic articulation, it begins to
call attention to itself as sculpture. Originally an imperme-
able spatial boundary, the wall sacrifices this function with
increasing levels of perforation or dissolution by openings.
A house without walls sacrifices the enthralling interplay of
concealment and exposure. Of course, glass surfaces may be
regarded as transparent dividing walls, and when subdivided
by sashes, assume the appearance of a picture plane bearing a
network of coordinates; but they serve rather the function of
> filters. This is true as well for rows and columns, although
Leon Battista Alberti regarded them as being merely walls
with interruptions. For Louis I. Kahn, such interruptions can
serve as a decisive resource for facilitating the play of light
and darkness.- The individual wall renounces its independence as
soon as it joins together with multiple planes. By forming an
angle, two walls begin to enclose an interior. A field of spa-
tial tension results between the two when they face one an-