NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES FOR
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT IN PLANNING AND
ARCHITECTURE
By: Ar.Neha Gupta
Deenbandhu Chhoturam University of Science and Technology, Sonipat, Haryana-131039
ABSTRACT
The research paper is to examines the Transition
spaces. One of the most crucial elements of
designing of a space in almost all the buildings
of today is: the transition space. 'Transition is
the movement, passage or change from one
position, state, stage, concept, experience etc. to
another. It is also the process by which the
change or modulation happens, it provides a
space to adjust from one experience to another.
There can be a complete transition of mental
state, mood, personality or lifestyle of an
individual by transferring from one space to
another.
Keywords: Transition Space, Movement,
Modulation, Mental state, Transferring
I. INTRODUCTION
When spaces are planned, one also has to deal
with exterior spaces and the connections
between the two. This creates a situation of
transition, for which a whole lot of in-between
elements found place. These in-between
elements and spaces can also be named as
transitional elements and transitional spaces.
They play a very important role in all
connections of the shelter to the outside
environment and from one functional zone to
another. Therefore, one is dealing with these
transitional elements and spaces as mentioned
above. The existence of these elements and
spaces manifested in different forms with
changing reasons as the reasons vary with time,
background, the prevailing political situation,
climate and one's religious belief.
Transition as generally found is either a linkage
or connection of the inside and the outside. It is
used in continuing the spirit of a place or
changing it in a definite sequence with a
particular expression. To understand, transition
should be seen with its relationship to the degree
of functions and the degree of scale changes
with a variety from domestic scale to the city
scale.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
Characteristics of interior transition space have
been introduced by former studies and
researches. In 1993, Harle presented the roles
and aspects of these spaces within a house in
European villages. (Harle, 1993) Later, transition
spaces has been Presented as an architectural
experience of transfer and been demonstrated by
Srivastava (Srivastava, 2007).
Some researchers confined on studying certain
aspects of transition spaces as orientation
(Synder, 1979) while jacky (jacky, 1990)
discussed the effect of users' behavior on
environmental performance of such spaces. Gary
(Gary, 1979) revealed that HETS (Higher
Education Transition Spaces) should have a
variety of functions and diversity of utilizations.
Unfortunately, evaluating the need of transition
spaces for psychological impact particularly in
Indian context, as a space of interacted
utilizations has been ignored and neglected
according to this literature review, which was
the initiative motive to tackle this area of
research.
NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES
III. METHODOLOGY
Having already established the basis of the
theoretical outlook of this research paper, which
is also pertinent to the lens to which the
evidence collected will be looked at, there are
numerous approaches to literary research on the
subject, but in endeavoring to explore and
answers the questions posed earlier, a systematic
understanding of the topic and its evolution is
vital.
Thus an extensive study of research papers,
books and interviews with architects is
important to understand
 Understanding transitional space
 Creating an understanding of the terms
transitional space by defining transition
in and around a built space.
 Considering the difference between an
open and an enclosed area decision
Observation of the changes in form and
experience through transition
 Studying the elements of transition in
enclosed spaces
 Understanding the components of a
transitional space inside a building
 Reaching a better understanding of the
design of a transitional space in
enclosed spaces by focusing on the
following elements; i.e. Threshold, sky
courts, Staircase and ramps, Lobbies and
corridors and study them in different
buildings
 Studying the Impact of different kinds
of transitional spaces in various
buildings
IV. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH
Due to the numerous views on the very need of a
designed transitional space, it is vital to study its
effects in various spaces. Is it just an ignored
and wasted space, these days, in contrast to the
times when transitional spaces, such as the
corridors were a sign of luxury, imitating the
domestic lifestyle of aristocrats? And if so, then
effort of enhancing the architectural quality of
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spaces with transitional space has become a
significant issue to consider.
V. HYPOTHESIS
Taking the aforementioned theories and data on
the transitional space, several hypotheses can be
formulated. In this study, the focus is on
answering the following questions,
 Should the transitional space be
designed or ignored?
 What is the need for a designed
transitional space?
 How to analyze and categorize it?
 What effect does a transitional space
have on the user of the space?
VI. OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH
The study aims to achieve validation of the need
of a designed transitional space. The challenge
of designing an efficient transitional space is
faced no matter where it's looked, from small
buildings to large public arenas. The objective is
to trace the components of transitional space
design in different designed spaces.
VII. SCOPE
The study of the various aspects on designed
transitional spaces and its effects on a user helps
in answering a vital query on the very need of
one. Consequently, one would understand that it
is not absolutely essential to have a designed
transitional space in a building.
Thus discussing whether a transitional space
really is wasted space or a designed space.
The research framework is, therefore, based on
the effort to achieve a better understanding of
the functionality of different elements of a
transitional space in different buildings, aiding
one to answer the questions posed in this
discussion.
VIII. CONCEPT OF TRANSITIONS
Transition, as such, is a change or movement
from situation to another whether it is a physical
change where a person travels physically or a
visual change where it establishes a visual
connection with the objects around.
NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES
A. PHYSICAL TRANSITION
The origin of physical form of transition lies in
the need of physical travel from a kind of space
to other kind. As a result of this, one can study
the relationship of two spaces, where a space can
be major subordinate to other or may act
compositely to integrate or disintegrate spaces.
The physical transition is called a transitional
space when two dimensions are added to the
transitional element, namely, length (depth) and
time taken for travel. Direction is also one of the
major factors, due to which transition is called
an element or a space. Transition between two
levels can be called as traveling through a
transition element or space.
B. VISUAL TRANSITION
Unlike physical form, visual form of transition
deals with visual accessibility and establishes a
visual connection with the objects and
environment around. It does not allow observer
to travel physically but extends out the space
from the building and takes out-door life within
the enclosed space, for example, Jharokhas,
balconies and seats are the elements which help
generate visual transition. (BHONSLE, 2010)
Fig.1 Visual Transition from Inside to Outside
Source: (BHONSLE, 2010)
IX. DEFINING TRANSITION
Transition in planning and architecture is the act
of modifying, regulating or adjusting according
to due measure and proportion. It is a term also
used for tempering or softening in passing from
one element, form or material to another. It
basically refers to the realm of actual physical
change that finds expression between two areas,
with distinct environmental qualities.
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The most significant of these is the transition
between the "outside" and the "inside' through
special in-between zones. It exists between
spaces, forms, materials, structures, levels, etc.
and extended area of transition carries through it
the feeling of box external as well as the internal
gradually merging one with the other.
As understood in architecture, transition is an
entity, which may act as a bridoe, bridging two
or more similar or dissimilar nature of spaces.
Here, the space may be labeled or may not be
labeled with functions. (GÖRGÜL, 2010)
Transition can also be interpreted as partial
continuity of one quality into another before the
two become totally different from the other. For
example, semi-closed places on the periphery of
a building where the outside and the inside, both
meet. Transition or transfer from one place to
another happens through a connecting space. A
connecting space offers an introduction to the
next space arrival.
It contains movement as one travels from one
spot to the next — passage/path. And it provides
a space to adjust from one experience to another
transition. (Ching, 1996)
Fig.2 Diagrammatic Representation of Arrival,
Passage, Transition.
Source: (Ching, 1996)
The different opportunities (or challenges)
presented by each new location must be bridged
by some form of connecting space, and that
space plays the aforementioned important roles:
arrival, passage, and transition. At the same
time, the space must have a moment to gather
NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES
thoughts enough of an identity of its own to
allow a real pause and belongings before moving
on.
A. What is a Good Transitional Space?
Experience of entering a building influences the
way one feels inside the building. If the
transition is too abrupt there is no feeling of
arrival. When the flow through different spaces
is smooth, the transition is gradual and the
thresholds are marked, a building slowly
unfolds, revealing more about itself as it is used.
Thus, as one goes from one place to another, one
must see these spaces. What is on the way? Is it
easy to go from one place to another? Are these
spaces pretty or are they too dark? Corridors,
elevators, lobbies, foyers, even buses or vans,
benches along the way, etc
B. Are Transitional Spaces needed?
Transition spaces, whether one likes it or not,
are necessary and exist in any facility. The
problem is planners don't always pay too much
attention in designing these spaces; the reason is
that they are transition areas. One may even use
these transition spaces to think about other
things, thus, not really paying too much attention
to where one is. This shouldn't be done, because
one comes to these places more often and more
regularly than any other space in a building.
Thus, to think about such a densely used space is
gone unnoticed in the design process is actually
baffling. (HARLE, 1993)
C. Does the designing of transitional spaces
vary in different buildings and spaces ?
Various cultures confronting diverse climate and
environmental situations have responded
differently when creating realms of transition in
their architecture. People from warmer climatic
regions needed greater flexibility in indoor-
outdoor living, have often created more
elaborate places to signify transition, and in
those cultures where inner spaces were
emphasized, the open courtyard became an
essential feature, and a special significance was
attached to the semi open transitional zone
around it. (GÖRGÜL, 2010)
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X. TYPES OF TRANSITION
There are 2 types of transitions that can occur:
 Exterior to Interior Transition
 Interstitial Transition
A. EXTERIOR TO INTERIOR TRANSITION
IN TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
In case of temple architecture, people need to be
able to adjust from the secluded and impersonal
world to the intimate world of worship. This
adjustment cannot be made abruptly. To make a
seamless emotional transition, the individual
needs a transition space in which to make it.
Fig.3 Hierarchy of Transition Spaces, Inside a
Temple Source: (Hewamadduma, 1999.)
Indian temples are one of the best places to
study transition spaces. The very first transition
happens when one enters in the temple through
giant Gopuram. Then one comes to
Sabhamandapa that is connected to Mandapa
through a colonnade acting as a transition space.
Then the space between the Mandapa and
Garbhgriha stands as another transition space.
Garbhgriha is again protected by Pradakshina
path one more form of transition space.
There is hierarchy of transition spaces here. This
transition is not only a physical transition but
also a psychological transition required to enter
in a god's abode. A person entering into a temple
mentally gets prepared for his actual
confrontation to almighty.
Thus, this arrangement has the central goal of
giving the person the opportunity to exchange
the public face he wore for an intimate face
appropriate for the inside of a sanctuary. The
key feature is that you are given a chance to
pause. (Hewamadduma, 1999.)
NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES
B. INTERSTITIAL TRANSITION
Architects refer to the "interstitial space," as
being neither inside any room nor outside the
building. Transition in this interstitial space
occurs from old to new, inside and outside,
architectural space to urban space, one room to
the other, one level to the other and vice versa.
The quality of transition points is based on their
connection, concentration and distribution
functions. Every point is unique by situation,
disposition, design, as well as, character and
volume of people flowing and types of
transportation modes.
Peter Eisenman describes 'Space' to be the
initiating condition, and produces from this a
series of spaces that can be called 'interstitial',
space that is neither the product of a framing
ground nor formed from the generation of a pre-
existent figure. He further elaborates, the
interstitial to be a between condition, between
figure and ground, between form and space. It is
a result of a process of spacing, which involves
the transformation and recording of vectors,
energy flows which have a mass, a density, and
energy. (Ching, 1996)
Fig.4 Courtyard Inside a place
Source: (HARLE, 1993)
XI. ELEMENTS OF TRASITION
A. The Entrance
B. Thresholds- Hindu Temples
C. Courtyards or sky courts- Havelis and
ancient Roman houses
D. Corridors- Hindu Temples
E. Staircases and ramps- Villa Savoy
F. Windows and Balconies
5
A. THE ENTRANCE
One of the most important transitional
relationships between two distinct realms is
expressed through entrances. Whether it is an
entrance to a city through a large gateway acting
as a threshold, or through a fort wall with
defense as a major consideration, or an entrance
to a humble dwelling incorporating symbolic as
well as functional values, this area of
transference from one defined ambience to
another is significant. The entrances create a
transition between the 'outside'- the public
world- and some less public inner world.
(Wilbur, 2013)
The reason for this is that when people are on
the street, they adopt a style of 'street behavior'.
When they come into a house, they naturally
want to get rid of the street behavior and settle
down completely into the more intimate spirit
appropriate for a house. This cannot be done if
there is an absence of a transition one to the
other, which helps them to lose the street
behavior.
Fig.5 Physical Transition from Outside To
Inside
Source: (Hewamadduma, 1999.)
What changes the experience of transition, in
designs, which focus of designing the entrance,
is the fact that transition exists, as an actual
physical place between the outside and the
inside. Moreover, the experience, in terms of
view, sounds, light and the surface on which one
walks, changes as one passes through this place.
It is a physical change, which creates a
psychological transition in our mind.
NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES
B. THRESHOLDS
A threshold is an area of liminality often
associated with the space that exists between
interior and exterior but is often too minute of a
space to make an impact in a traditional setting.
Expanded threshold is one that extends from the
depths of the interior to the openness of the
exterior and vice verse, in contrast to being a
single limited frame of space such as a room,
corridor, etc that is forced between these two
spaces.
Fig.6 Threshold At The Entrance Of A House
Source: (Wilbur, 2013)
Threshold addresses the use of space that is not
simply the haphazard combination of exterior
and interior, but the creation of a new space that
is born out of successfully utilizing and
complimenting elements of both. It is thus,
capable of creating an expanded enclosure,
instead of just an enclosure. Where, an encloser
is a space that do not have to remain strictly
physical, but rather address matters of spatial
quality. (Wilbur, 2013)
Fig.7 Diagram Depicting an Enclosure and A
Gradiated Enclosure
Source: Author
In the design of a threshold, a variety in the
inclusion of open porches, sun porches, sleeping
porches and entrance vestibules is desirable to
accommodate all the possible different
conditions in the way of demand and climate.
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C. COURTYARDS
Courtyards have been a hot favourite for
vernacular style. Even today courtyard planning
is used in India. Being a transition space,
courtyards also act as a very functional
interaction space.
If one compares building designs with wrapped
around circulation space, with internal corridor,
with courtyard, with wrapped around circulation
space with courtyard, one would find that the
last design with external circulation space and
courtyard is the most efficient design in terms of
energy saving and benefits the most from the
change in temperature. Design guidelines for all
times of climate suggest the importance of
transition spaces. For example, in warm and
humid climate the building spacing should be
such that the air flow is promoted. (BHONSLE,
2010)
Fig.8 Circulation Through a Courtyard
Source: (Unwin, 2006)
Sky Court as a transitional space: While Sky
courts undoubtedly provide certain socio -
economic and environmental benefits through
the provision of semi-public open space within
the private object; little has been done to
consider their circulatory potential through
quantifiable modeling of pedestrian behavior in
their current disguise. They are primarily
destinations for the very reasons demonstrated
above. Their function as a transitional space tend
to be the reserve of the super all building
typology (80 stories and over) whereby lift car
capacities, waiting times and floor plate
efficiencies necessitate the stacking of local lift
cores and the consequent incorporation of sky
NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES
lobbies for onward transition from one part of
tall building to another. (JACOBSON, 2002)
D. CORRIDORS
One of the most common architectural elements,
in almost all the buildings of today, is the
'corridor'. A corridor is defined as a long passage
in a building from which doors lead into rooms.
The separation of buildings into specific
functioning sets where the corridor assumes the
role of circulation has become so commonplace
that it can be considered a principle, a principle
that has neither been developed further nor put
to question. The function of the corridor as only
circulation space is a myth. (HARLE, 1993)
Fig.9 Corridor in Diwan-i-aam, Red Fort, Delhi
Source: Author
Arcades are covered or semi-covered corridors,
which run to the exterior of a building or around
a courtyard. These create an ambiguous territory
between the public world and the private world,
and so make buildings friendly. They play a vital
role in the way people interact with buildings.
(HARLE, 1993)
E. STAIRCASES AND RAMPS
Staircase is one of the strongest transition
elements in architecture. It establishes the
connection between two spaces, interior and
exterior, two different levels. A ramp, similar to
a staircase rises an individual from one level to
the other. But in case of a ramp, one rises
imperceptibly, having a completely different
sensation from going up a flight of stairs. A
staircase separates one floor from another, where
as a ramp connects.
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Fig.10 Ramp defining the entrance of
Contemporary Art museum By Niemey
Source: (MORRISSEY, 2009)
Fig.11 Entrance Marked by Staircase in Jama
Masjid, Delhi Source: Author
Moreover, there are numerous examples all over
the world, where a staircase, or a ramp can be
the total and only link between the inside and the
outside. However, the position of a staircase in a
building has been always irreplaceable.
F. WINDOWS AND BALCONIES
In addition to providing a visual link with the
entrance, the connection of the entire periphery
of a building with the outside is established
through windows, galleries, balconies and
verandahs. A glass periphery, as in many
contemporary situations, creates minimum
visual obstruction between the inside and the
outside. Elements like 'Jharokhas', in Rajasthan,
project out from the facade and become
prominent and three- dimensional. (BHONSLE,
2010)
NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES
Fig.12 A Balcony Providing Physical As
Well As Visual Transition.
Source: Author
Fig.13 Jharokha in a building at Jaipur
Source: Author
Sometimes, there is a need for windows, not to
connect the inside with the outside, but to
connect an indoor space with without indoor
space, for the purpose of visual transition. This
is most often true for corridors and passages.
These places can easily seem deserted. People
feel more connected to one another by interior
windows, and the passages in the building
becomes less deserted. When rooms and
passages are visibly connected to one another, it
is possible to grasp the overall arrangement of a
building far more clearly than in a building with
blank walls between all the rooms
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XII. CONCLUSION
The whole social life revolves around the two
distinct spheres, public sphere & private sphere.
The close relationship of these two spheres, be it
inside a building or outside a building, without
losing the meaning of individual and having
characteristic of its own; gives the building, a
form. Thus, there is a need of designed
transitional spaces.
A transitional space is usually distinguish from
the domains it connects by some type of
enclosure and has its own distinguished nature.
And, because it is primarily a way and is
subsidiary to the spaces it links, its nature is
often subdued and it prepares one mind for the
next space, linking everything.
One transits so frequently that he is not even
aware of the presence of the transition space.
These are experienced from macro to micro
levels, in all aspects of designing. Sometimes the
transition is not only between the inside and the
outside but also between inside and inside or
between the top and the bottom of the building
(curving dome vs. rectangular bases). Thus, the
design considerations must include this space as
a constraint.
The element of positivity should also be
incorporated while dealing with transition spaces
to use them more effectively. Positive open
space has architecture of its own, important
thing is how homogeneously this is integrated
with architecture of built spaces to make it a
designed space. When architects talk about
orientation of the building, design of the internal
spaces, built form, site organization, topography,
landscape, then they should consider "transition
spaces" as one of the aspects in building design.
In other words, architecture need not become a
self-enforced object simply placed into arbitrary
landscape. Architecture should be capable of
extending into its surroundings, becoming a part
of it, and not neglecting it. In turn, architecture
can become a phenomenon of continual flux and
exchange between the exterior and interior.
NEED OF TRANSITION SPACES
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