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010 Publishers
l[550N5 fOt SIUOlN!S IN lRCHIIICfUU

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·
HERMAN
HERTZBERGER
LESSONS
FOR STUDENTS
IN ARCHITECTURE

O I O PUBLISHERS. ROTJEROAM
This book reRects lhe materiol discus�d in Hertzberger's
lectvres on orchitecture ot Dellt Technico/ Universily from
1973 on, and contains eloborated versio11s ol the leclure
notes previously pvblished os 'Het openbare rijk'
/Public DomainJ 1982, 'Rvimle maken, ruimte foten'
(Moking Space, Leoving Spoce/ 1984, and
'Uitnodigende vorm' /lnviting Form} 1988.

C<!fflpilaíi<>n by loi lo Ghoõl, Morieke vc• VI ij...en

T,onslotion from 1M Du1ch by lno Rike
Co..., design by P,01 G..ror ds, Hffrlen
llook do1Í9n by Reinour Melrze,, Rorterdom
Printtd by G.J. Thitmt o<, Niimegtn

e 1991
Herfflon Hertzbe<ger / O l O Pub lisher,, Wot�lorenweg 180,
l0ó3 HA Rouerdom, 11,e Nethtrlends (www.OlOpublod1•11.n ll
1993 SKcnd rovisod edi�on
1998 Th!1d ,..,.;,.cl
edíh.on
2001 Fo,rih revised edílion

ISBN 90 6450 A6A 4

autor
f OREWORD
' •• choses ne �ont pos dif icil à foi •� ce qui e$t
diffi iles, e '&st de nous mettre e éto de les foire. J
(8ronc sil
Jt [$ ine itable that t e wor you do as 011 orchitKt shoufd
jerve as tne point of deparlure or your t�ching, ond
obviouily e be,, ay lo explain w ai you hov lo soy
is lo doso on he hosiJ of proctícol expenence: t ot,
indeed, i1 the common thread ol t is boc . 1ns eod of
pre�n ·ng eoch indJ iduol worl separo /y and Ppk-in,ng
ofl their diitinclive faata,res in turn, t e d;fferent e tual
compot1et11J hove been or9oni2ed in sve o oy thot, os
whole; e offer 50 elhin9 in the woy of a theory; it
is the way thê 41/ements are orgonízed tha ,ans ormi.
proc,ce ;nelf into theory.
i
en rov disc:uu yovr own wori yo hov to o, yOJJr�ff
what you ocqufred from whom. 8ecou5e e erylhing ou
find comes from somew ere. The source wa, not r own
mind, but wos jupplied by the cul re ou belong o. And
tha is hy l wor: of oth r: i so manifeJtly pre nf
by woy of o context. You co ld 1ay t ot in !O fat os thü
boo con ains I uon.s, thety or t e leJJonJ of Bramante,
Cerdó, Chorea , Le Corbv,ier, Duike, · Bijvoet, Von
f e , Gaud; & Jujol, Horto, lobrou5t , Pollodi<:>, �eruzzit
Ríetvetd, Von der VI gt & Brinkman, ond o oJI he others
wfto nt me tltt?ir e,ye.l so lhat J coufd Jff ond lect
precisely wha needed to co ry y own wort step
I
further. Archife, s ond not only theyJ ore i me
hobit o(
e
concali ng lheir rources of üup;ra ·on and even of trying
fo svblfmoi nem • os ;f hol would ver be posiible. But
in so doing the d•�ign--prO(es, ge :s ,lovd.d, whilt b
d,sclo ing whot moved and llàmv.fa ed o in he lir,t
pface you may w•" succeed in e plainin9 yo1Jrself and
motivotlng your dedsjons.
Th• e ornpl•s ond ;nHt1enc•s which abound in thi, book
co , itule e culhirol conti ,d within which e •Orc�itecl
wor $, anel .an ,mpreis;on ;s 9iven of the ra 9• of con•
cepr_s cnd mer1 ai imoges thot mv,t $9rve os hiJ tools (con
a pe,son t s ovtp"' ol ideas ever be greoter hon lhe ,nput11.
Everythin9 thot rs abso d and registered ir,• ou, mind
adds to he ,ollect on of ,deo$ J Oíed 1n the memory: o
se of libro,y you co consul whenever o pro m arises.
So, es-s.n,iolly,. the mOfe you have sHn" e�erienced ond
obsorbed, the more points of rele,.. nc• you wilt hove to
belp you d ide w ich d;rection o ta.t,e; our Frame· of
ralerer,ce expond$.
lhe capoci to 'nd o fundamentollr differen sofution to
o.problem, i.e. to creote o djffeten 'mechomJm , eper,ds
enJirely on he e<,j ol your e �âenc�, jus oi e �r­
so 's e pressi e potential in ter s of Jon uoge con o
lronscend ot ich is expressible ith hii votabuíory.
ecipeJ lor de,ign ar� impoJsibie o give, os eve one
nOW$. I ho e ot oH mpted to do so i and t e question
whethe, i i, possible at ali o feorn o to · esig - is no
reafly a issue ere.
The ai of my 'l•,sons' ho$ olwoys bHn o si, vlo e s.tv·
dents, to evo,e ;n fite on architec rat fro of mind ai
wnl enoble· em to do their own W01 ; my o;m ;n I is boo
·$ the m,.
Herman H ,t berger
Pre ace to e four e it1on
ln · e len yeor.s since this boo wos fi,st publis ed a hos
of new uilt wo s b others ond y yJelf o�e 5 n , e
e J,g of doy. ·hese pro ;d, mony ne m eis lor rther
e,cponding pon the emes fi1$ Sf 1 for h in 199 T e r.
boo· cotJld welJ hove
, been compler J r. newed os a
1e,vJ. Thot t ís as not been the cale, temp�ing thovgh
hat propo,ition m,ghl , ho1 to do wi ,n
fact t ol' in
e meonlime lesso s os o $(Kfvef, e ti ed S po ce on lhe
Atehitect.
ort two is co pie en ry #o po o e. More hon ÍU$ o
Jopplement, ;, , . lo,eJ th• eorli r publicotion in a new
light. ln lhis f;,,, porl the cenrral no ·on of 'spoc,e' as
mainly e do it interprering spotiol ntilies o, ploces in
1i ua ion� ,oncernin9 people. fn porl o th, accent sh;lt,
o spoce in o more general $&n , os o pot ntiol ond
med;um for incUing a, nd $USfo;n,ng e condi ionis for
S'JC ín,erpreration� the woy a lor19 a9 doe , to e
appli�d ogoin and ogoin. Thtu he two par s relote in
uc ,� some oy thot ploc and spoce relote, os
'performon,e' ond 'compelen, '.
ftJ e,, o greol deol ho, chon9ed in lho� fen ears in t. e
oppreda,;on o( th• public domoin. There is /;ttle left o the
vpsur e, norably in t · e si�ti $ and ievent;es, of personol
inRuence on publk spa e here a .sense o aliena ion hos
o en ove, wi h afarming Fou:e. A$ a re1ul, o n••'"•�r of
t1xamples in his boo may � outm � or ol t e very
least noive. Yet frey ate still relevont, ;f on os re in rs
, we arch; K $ mus eep eeking ways o combo in9
e oloo ne$S ol o pvbUc domoin io jn xorobi declint!.
He,mon He 2ber9et, ove be, 2001
 CONTENTS A Pvbllc Domoin

1 P11blic aod Private t2

2 Territorial (loiros 14

3 Terrltorial Differeotíatioo 20

4 Terrltoríol Zoning 22

5 EramUser la Dweller 28

6 The 'lo-betweea' 32

7 Privote Cloims on Public Spoce 40

8 Public Worlcs Concept 44

9 Ibe Street 48

1O
The Public Dnmaio ó4
•

11 Public Spoce os Constructed En11iromnenl 68

12 Public Accessibility ol Privote Spoce 74

Matenal com d1•e1tos autor�..,

1 Maklng Spoce1 Leavlng Spate e lnvltlns Form

1 Structure ond lnlerprelolion 92 1 The Hobitoble Spoce batween Things 176

2 form ond lnterpretolíon 94 2 Place ond Artjculatioo 190

3 Stucture os o Generotlve Splne: Worp ond Weft l08 3 View 1 202

4 Gridlcoo 122 4 Yiewli2fó

5 Bulldíng Order 126 5 YíewIli226

6 functionolity, Flexibllity ond Polyvolence 146 6 Equivolerice 246 •

7 Form ond Users: lhe Spoce of Fo1m 150

8 Moking Spoce, leoving Spoce 152

9 loceolivcs ló4

1O Forro A$ ao io,trument 170 Bíogrophy ond Projects 268

Relecsoce• 220

Matenal com di•e1tos autor� !:l

A PUBLIC OMAIN

10 ltSSO S FO! SHt í S 1 .nc HHU i

1 Public and Private i 2
2 Territorial Claims 14
Streets ond Dwellings, Bali
Public Buildings
Villoge of Mõrbisch, Auslrio
Bibliotheque Notionale, Paris/ H. Lobrouste
Centroal Beheer Office Building, Apeldoorn
3 Territorial Olfferentiation 20
4 Territorial Zoning 2'2
Centrool Beheer Office Building, Apeldoorn
foculty of Architecture M.l,T., Cambridge, U.S.A.
Monlessori School, Dellt
Vredenburg Music Centre, Ulrecht
s from User to Dweller 28
Montessori School, Delfl
Apollo Schools, Amsterdom
6 The 'ln·betweet1' 32
Montessori School. Oellt
Oe Overloop, Home for the Elderly, Almere
Oe Orie Hoven, Home for the Elderly, Amsterdom
Documento Urbano Owellings, Kossel, Germony
Cilé Nopolêon, Paris / M.H. Veugny
7 Privote Claims on Public Space 40
Oe Drie Hoven, Home for the Elderly. Amslerdom
Oiagoon Dweflings. Oelfl
liMo Housing, Berlin
8 Public Works Con<ept 44
Vroesenlaon Housing, Rotlerdom/ J.H.van den 8roelt
De Orie Hoven, Home for the Elderly, Amsterdom
9 The 5tffft 48
Hoarlemmer Houltuinen Housing, Amsterdam
Spongen Housing, RoHerdom/ M. Brinkmon
Weesperslrool Student Accommodotion, Amsterdom
Siling Principies
Royal Crescenrs, Both, England/ J. Wood, J. Nash
Rõmersladt, Frankfurt, Germany/ E. May
Het Gein, Housing, Amersloort
Accessibility of ffots
Familistere, Guise, fronce
De Drie Hoven, Home for lhe Elderly, Amsterdam
Montessori School, Oelft
Kosbah, Hengelo/ P. Blom
1O 11to Public Domain 64
Palais Royal, Paris
Public Squore, Vence, Fronce
Rockefeller Ploza, New York
Piozza dei Campo, Siena, ltoly
Plozo Moyor. Chinchon, Spoin
Dionne Spring, Tonnerre, Fronce
1 l Public Sp0<e as Constructed Enviranmfflt 68
Vichy, Fronce
les Holtes, Paris/ V, Baltard
Community Centres/ F. van Klingeren
The Eillel Tower, Paris/ G. Eiffel
Exhibition Povilions
Depoctmenl Stores, Paris
Railway Slotions
Underground lloílwoy Stations
12 Publk Accessibillty of Private Spa<e 74
Possage du Caire, Paris
Shopping Arcadas
Ministery of Educolion ond Heohh, Rio de Janeiro
/ Le Corbusier
Centraal Beheer Office Building, Apeldoorn
Vredenburg Music Centre, Utrecht
Cineoc Cinema, Amslerdam/ J. Duiker
Hotel Solvoy, Brussels / V. Horto
Possoge Pommeroye, Nantes, france
'lhe LeHer'. Pieter de Hoogh
/0111( :OIHt� li
s autor"
1 PUBLIC ANO PRIVATE
The conceph 'pvblk' and 'privcrte' cen be lnr.rpretM a,
the translcrtion into spotial t.rms of 'collective' anel
'lndividuof'.
ln a mont absolvte •- you could ICIYl
public: an areo that 1, acceulble to everyone at ali
rimes; responst'bility fof upkHp is held collectively.
private: an - whose occesslblllty i, detennined by a
,mon group or one person, with re1ponsibinty for
upkeep.
This extreme opposition between privale and public • like
lhe opposiHon between collective ond individuo! • hos
resulted in o cliché, ond is os unsubrle ond lolse os the
supposed opposition between general ond specific,
objective ond subjedive. Such oppositions ore symptoms
of the disintegrotion ol primory humon relotions.
Everyone wonts lo be accepted, wants to belang, wanls 10
have o ploce of hls or her own. Ali behoviour in saciety ol
Jorge is indeed role-induced. in which the personolity of
eoch individual is offirmed by whot others see in him. ln
our world we experience o polorizorion between
exaggerated indlviduality on lhe one hand ond
exaggeroted collectivity on the other. Too much emphosis
is ploced on these two poles, while there is not o single
humon reloHonshlp with whích we os orchitecrs ore
concerned thor locuses exdusively on one individual or on
one group, nor indeed exclusively on everyone else, ar
'lhe outside world'. li is olwoys o quesrion of people ond
groups in theír interrelotionship ond mutuo! commifment,
í.e. it is olways o queslion ol collective and individuo! vis
à vís eoch other.
'Wenn ober der lndividvolismus nu, einen Teil des
Menschen erfout so erfosst der Ke/le�livismus nur den
Menschen eis Teíl: zur Gonzheil des Menschen, zvm
Menschen ais Gonzes dríngen beide nicht vor. Der
lndividvoUsmus sieht den Menschen nvr in der
Bezogenheit ouf sich selbst, ober der Kolleklivismus sieht
den Menschen iiberhoupt nicht, er sieht nur die
•Gesellscho�•, Beide lebensonschouungen sind
frgebnisse oder Aeusserungen des gleichen menschlichen
lustonds.
Dill$ef lustond ist dvrch dos Zusammerulrõmen von
kesmiKher und sezíoler Heimlosigkeit, von Weltangst vnd
Lebensongst, zu eine, Doseinsverfossvng der finsamkeil
gekennzeichnet, wie es sie in diesem Ausmoss V/Jfmutlich
noch níe zvvo, gegeben hot. Um sích vor der
Verzweiflvng zu retlen, mil der ihn siene Vereinsomvng
bedroht, ergreift der Mensch den Ausweg, diese zv
glorifizieren. Der moderna lndividuolismus hot im
wesentlichen eine imoginõre Grvndloge. Àn diesem
Chorokter scheitert er, denn die lmoginotion reicht nicht
zv, die g�ebene Situofion loktisch zu bewãltigen.
De, moderne Kellektivismus ist die letzte Schronke, die der
Mensch ver der Begegnvng mil sich selbst oufgerichtet hot
...; im Kollektivismus gibl sie, mil dem Verzícht ouf die
UnmiHelborkeil persõnlicher Entscheidvng und
Verontwortung, sich selber ouf. ln belden Fõllen íst sie
unfóhig, den Dvrchbrvch zvm Anderen zv vo/lziehen: nur
zwíschen echten Perwnen gíbt es echte Beziehvng.
Hier gibl es keinen onderen Avsweg ais den Avfslond der
Person vm der Befreiung der Beziehvng willen. /eh sehe
om Horfzont, mil der Longsomkeil o/Iler Vorgõnge der
wohren Menscheogeschichte , eine grasse Unzvfriedenheil
herovflcommen.
Mon wird sich nicht mehr bloss wie bisher gegen eine
bestimmte herrschende Tendenz um anderer Tendenz
wi//en empõren, sendern gegen die folsche Reolisieruog
eínes gressen Strebens, des Strebens zur Gemeinschah,
um der echlen Reolisierung willen.
Mon wird gegen die Verzerrvng vnd lür die reine Gesto//
lõmpfen. 1hr euter Schrilt muss die Zerschlogung einer
folschen Alternotive sein, der Alternolive "lndíviduolismus
oder Kolleklivismvs•.'
!Momn e..ber, Dos Problem <ks Me..clM!n, Heidelb«g 1948, oito
publi$htd ln f0tvro 7,1959, pp 2A91
autor
 '/{ however individuafism comprehends anly port o( Tha contepts 'public' and 'private' may f:te saen ond
mankind, so collectivism only comprehends mankind os o undarstoocl in ...lative terms as a serifl of apatia!
whole of man, or mon os o whole. lndividvolism perceives quolitiet which, differing graduolly, rmr to
mon on/y in his se/f-arientation, but colfeclivism does not a<cessibility, responsibitity, the relalion befween
perceive man ai o/1, it relotes only lo 'society'. Both life­ private property and supervlslon of s,,-clflc spaliol
views ore the products or expressions of the some humon units.
conditians.
This slote of affairs is characterized by the conlluence of
cosmic and social homelessness, of o world--onxiety ond o
life-onxiety which hove probobly never existed to this
degree belore. ln on otlempl lo eicope from the insecurily
brought on by his feelíngs of isolotion, mon seelcs refuge
in their glorification of individvolism. Modern
individuolísm hos on imoginory bosis. This is why il is
doomed, for the imaginolion is vnoble to deol factually
with o given situation.
Modern col/ectivism is the los/ barrier thal man has
erecled lo prateei him Iram his encounter with himself... in
colleclivism it surrenders because il woives the cloim lo
immediocy of personol decision and responsibilily. ln
neither case is it capab(e of elfecting o breokthrovgh to
the other; only between real people con o real
re/otionship exist.
There is no oiher ofternolive here lhon the rebetlion of the
individuo/ for lhe soke of lhe liberotion of the relotionship.
1 con see looming on lhe horizon, slowly like o// prcx;es�es
of lhe lrue humon history, o greot discontent.
People wif/ no longe, ríse up os they did in the post
ogoinst a cerloin prevailing lrend in favour of a different
trend, but ogoinst the folse reolizotion of o greot slriving,
the striving aher communolily, for the sake of lhe true
reolizolion.
People wil/ fighl ogoinst dis/orfion ond for purily. The lirsf
step mvsf be the destruclion of o folse olternolive, of the
alternotive: 'individvolism or collectivism '.'

autor"
 2 TERRITORIAL CLAIMS

An open oreo, room or spoce moy be conceived either

os a more or less private place or os o public areo,
depending on the degree of occessibility, lhe form of
supervision, who uses it, who takes core of it, ond
their respectlve re1ponsibilltles.
Your own room is privote vis à vis the living room ond
e.g. lhe kitchen of the house you live ln. You hove o
key to your own roam, which you look ofter yourself.
Core ond mointenonce of the living room ond kitchen is
bosicolly o re1ponsibility shored by those living in the
house, oll of whom hove o key to the front doar.
ln o school eoch clo1s-room ls prlvote vis à vis the
communol holl. This holl is in turn llke the school os o
whole, privote vis à vls the street outside.

STREETS AND DWELUNGS, BAU 11

lhe rooms of mony dwellings on Boi, ore olten seporolely
conslructed little houses, grouped oround o sort ol lnner
courl or yord which moy be entered through o gole Once
you hove possed this gole you do not hove the feeling thol
you ore entering lhe octuol dwe1ling, ohhough this is ln
locl the cose. lhe seporole dwelfing unils: kitchen oreo,
sleep,ng quorters, ond sometimes o deolh-house ond birth­
house, hove o for greoter ,nhmocy ond they ore less
eosily occeuible, c:ertoinly 10 o stronger, ln this woy the
ocluol home comprises o sequence of dlstinct grodolions
ol occessibiliiy.
Mony srreets on Bali constílule the 1erritory ol one
extended lomily. On this street ore situoted the homes of

?
• D,C □ ººº
D
□□..
l 4

□
•
• •
•

• •

1 mi
•
-t
•
'. D 8
• •
•
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fUEJ'N'lo.,,ut!'EfllSfOAP.UV.TS !t l!lfa.::D.I
J M.'TAA • •rTOEl'4
3 •-YTll""L( 7 �-Rtt
• li•r.GAl'JEA � • �r.F1D'Jn

14 lESSO•S fOI SISl!WIS IW U(ijll((IUI!

 the different fomi ly units which together moke up the
extended lomily. These streels hove on entrance gote,
which is olten filled wilh o low bomboo lence lo keep
smoll children ond onimols ínside, ond ohhough they ore
bosically accessible to everyone you still lend lo feel like
on lntruder or ot best o visitar
Apart from lhe differenl nuances in terriloriol cloims, the
Bolinese distinguish within lhe public spoce, lemple
9round1 comprisíng o series ol successive enclosures with
deorly morked entrances, lence•openings or lhe divided
slone galewoys fknown os tjandi benlorJ. This temple oreo
serves os both slreel ond ployground for the children. Also
'ior lha visilor il is occessible º"' o slreet . ai leost when
there ore no octive religious monifestotion. s golng on • but
even then the visitar feels some relU(tance. As a stronger
lo lhe ploce you feel honoured to be ollowed to ente,,
Ali cmtr the world you encounter gradations of
territorial daims w\tfl the attendant fffling of
acnuibility. Sometime1 tfle degr.e of acce11ibilhy is a
maNer of legi1lation, bvt often it is uclusiftly a
question of convention, which i s re.speded by all.
Puauc Bu LDINGS Ctar,o/ Sto1,a•
HIIO�'", Hol/oad
S0<olled public buildings such os lhe holl of the
central post oflice or roilwoy slonon moy (ol leost
durlng lhe hours lhol they ore open) be regorded os
street-spoce in tne territorial sense. Other examples ol
differentiated degrees ol occess to the general public
ore glven below, but the lisl con ol course be extended 1
to include other personol experiences:
• college quodrongles in England, os in Oxford ond
Cambridge; lhe woy they ore occessible for everyone
through the porches, forming a sorl of sub-system ai
pedestrian routes trovening the entire city centre.
• public buildings, e.g. the holl of o post office,
roilwoy sloflon, etc.
• lhe courtyards ol housing blocks in Paris, where o
concierge usually reigns supreme.
• 'closed' streets, to be found in grea1 variety oll over
the world, sometimes potrolled by privole securlly
guqrds.
,u111c oo•ui 1s
,
 ,,.11,., •
1 ,·
,.,••••••• 111111 '
-- • ,. • •
--
---- ,�,' ,• l•it1\\1\1\t'I\\\!'
... . . ..... ,�.•·
..\�\�.., ·" ' .
,.
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-·- ' ' • ' '.L
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•
..

VUlAGf OF MOiBISC:H, AUSIRIA (i.f)
The streels in the Austrion villoge of Mõrbisch neor the
Hungorion border lpublisheô in forum 9-1959) conloin lorge
doou such os those giving occess lo forms - but here they
gíve occess to side,streels olong which dwellings, stobles,
borns ond gordens ore situoled.
The1e eJ1amples show how inadequate the temu public
and privote are, while the so-called semi·private or
semi·public orecu which are often tuc.ked away
inli.tween are too equivocai to occommodate the
subtleties thot must be taken into account in designing
even on the curbs oí the mocodomized highwoy, where 11
is lefl undislurbed by trolfic ond pedeslrians olike, since
everyone is owore of lhe imporlonce of lhe contribution of
eoch member of the community lo the rice horvesl. n
Anolher instonce of public merging with privole is lhe
laundry hanging lo dry in lhe norrow ilreets of lhe towns
ai Southorn Europe. a collcctivo expreuíon of
oppreciolion for lhe deon woshíng of eoch lomily
honging from a network ol cob!es sponning the streel lrom
one fomily home to its neighbours ocross the way

'
6 T 1 for every spoce and every orea.

10 li ■ Wherever individuais ar graups are given the appor•

tunity to use paris of the public spate in their own
interests, and only indirectly in the interest of others,
lhe public natuTe af the space i, temporarily or perma·
nently put into perspective through that use. EJlamples
of thiJa too ore to be found everywhere in the world.

On Boh -once agoin used os an exomple- the rice 1s

Ovich J/feel
nmeJeenri> ce•rury spreod out lo dry on lorge ports ai lhe public roods ond

Noples
Mnt:cnal o
Other exomples ore lhe nels ond ships being repoired on
lhe quoys in lishing villoges a� porb, and lhe Dagon:
wool slrelched ocross o villoge square.
The use of public spoce by re_sldents as if lt were
'private' strengthens the user's cloim to that area in the
eyes of others. The extra dimenslon given to lhe public
spoce by this cloim in the form of use for prlvote
purposes will be discussed ln more detall below, but
first we will look at what the consequences af thls are
for the archite<I,
BIBUOTHEOUE NAIIONALE, PARIS 1862-68 / H. lA&ROUSll: (121
ln the moin reoding roam ai lhe Bibliathêque Notionole in
Paris the individual wark,surfoces lacíng each other ore
seporoted by o roised middle 'zone'; lhe lomps i n the
centre of this ledge províde líghl for lhe four directly
odjoining work-surfoces. This central zone is obviously
more occessible lhon the lower, individual work-surfoces,
ond is cleorly infended for shored use by those seoled on
both sides.
(ENTRMl BEHfER OfFICE BUllDING (13•191
ln lhe eorly yeors, belore lhe modern 'clean-desk' lrend
hod sei in, the desks in lhe olfices were lítted with ledges
which, when the desks were ploced bock to bock,
provided o roised central zone similar to thol dividing the
reading tobles in lhe Bibliolhêque Notionale in Paris. By
this orticulation o ploce is reserved for those objects
shored by severa! users, such os lelephones ond polted
plants. lhe spoce under the ledges pravides more privole
storoge spoce for eoch individual user. ArliculoHon in
terms of greoter or lesser (public) occessibility con ciso
prove to be useful in lhe smollest detoils.
••
ll
t7 14
li 1'
li 18
"

Gloss doors between lwo equolly public ond lherelore

equolly occessible spoces. for inslonce, provide omple
visibility on both s,des, so thot collisions con eosily be
ovoided ori o slricrly equo bos.is Doon withoul
lronsporenl paneis will lhen hove lo gíve occess to moro
privote, less occessiole spoces. Wnen such o code ,s
consistently odopted throughoul o bu,lding il w, 1 be
underslood rotionolly or intuitively by oll lhe users of lhe
premises ond con thus conlribule to dorifying lhe concep1s
underly,ng the orgonizotton of occessib,1,ty
Furlher dossilicotion con be obloined by lhe shope ol
gloss penes, the type of gloss seri,-tronsporenl or
opoque, ond holl<loors

18 LISSOIS fOt IIUIIVII 1N .t.HHIIHl�t[

When, in designlng eoch spoce ond eoch segmenl, you
are aware of lhe relevanl degree of territorial claim
and the concomilont forms of 'occeuibllity' with respect
to the adjoining spoces, lhen you can e.xpress lhese
dífferences in the ortículotlon of form, molerlol, lighl
and colou,, ond thereby inlroduce o certoin ordering in
lhe design os a whole. This can ln turn heighhln lhe
oworeness o f inhobílonls ond visilors of how lhe
building i s composed of diffarenl ambiances os for os
occessibility is concemed, The degree ln which ploces
ond spoces ore occessible offers standards for lhe
design. The choice of orchítectonic molifs, theír
orticulotian, form ond malerlol are delermlnecd, in part,
by lhe degree of accessibility required for o spoce.

rlBllC 10/UIW 19
r1
 3 TERRITORIAL
DIFFERENTIATION

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20 LISSONS fOI SIUG!IIS 1� UCIIIIClUtl

 Hotel So/,,oy, 8ross•ls r89ó/V Horro
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By marking the grodalions of public accessibility of lhe

differenl areas ond parts of a building on a
graundplan a sort of map showing lhe 'territorial
differentiation' will be oblained. This map will show
clearly which aspects of accessibillty exist in the
architecture as such, whlch claims are laid on speclfic
areas and by whom, ond what kind of dJvision of
respansibllities for core and maintenance of the
different spaces may be expected, so that these forees
1
may be intensified (or attenuated) in the further
eloboratlon of the plan.

lflllf t�IUI! 21
 4 TERRITORIAL ZONING
The charocter of each area will depend to a large
extent on who determines lhe furnishing and
arrongement of the space, who is in chargo, who takes
core of il ond who ÍJ or feels responsible for it.

30

?2 lHSONS fOI SIUO(IIS lt ll[ltlíHI li

CENrR.Ml BEIIEE� ÔfF Cl 8UIIDING 3C,Jli
The surprising effects obloined by the people who work ot
Cenlrool Beheer in lhe woy they hod orronged ond
personolized their olfice spoces with colours of lheir own
choice, potted plonls ond objects they ore lond of, is nol
merely lhe logicol consequence of the focl 1h01 lhe interior
finish,ng wos deliberolely leh to the users of lhe building
Ahhough lhe borenen of lhe stork, grey interior is on
obvious tnv,totion 10 the users to pul lhe linishing louches
to their spoce occordíng lo lheir personol losles, lhis in
31

ilself is no guoronlee thol they will do so.
More is needed lar this lo hoppen: lo slort with, the form
of lhe spoce itself must ofler lhe opportuniti es, including
boslc fittings ond ottochmenls ele., for lhe users lo fill in
lhe spoces occording to lheir personol needs ond desires.
Bul beyond 1h01, il is essenliol 1h01 lhe liberty lo loke
31 personol iniliotives should be embedded in lhe
ai orgonizolionol slrudure of lhe inslitution concerne<l, ond
this hos much more for-reoching consequences thon you
mighl lhink ot first sight. For the fundamental question,
then, is how much responsibil1ty lhe top is prepored to
24 IISSO�S IOR SIUOIMIS IK IICKIIICIUl(
delegole, i.e. how much responsibility will be given lo the
individual users ot the lower echelons.
lt is importonl to beor in mind thot in this cose li wos only
becouse lhe responsibility for lhe orrongement ond
linishing ol lhe spoces hod been so explicilly leh to lhe
users thol such on exc;eplionol c;ommitment to invesl lave
ond core on lheir working environmenl could come obout.
li wos thonls to this lhot the opportunilies olfered by lhe
orchilecl were i n foct seized, with such surprislng ly
successful results.
While lhis building wos originolly erecled os o spotiol
express ion of the need for o more humon environmenl
(olthough mony people suspected thot this might be
motivoted by staff recruitment considerolionsl, there is ot
present o tendency to dehumonize, lorgely owing to culs
in expenditure olfecting staff in particular, But ot leosl the
buildlng con be soid lo olfer some welcome resistonce to
this lrend, ond with ony luck it will succeed in holding its
own. Whot is disoppointing is lhot whot we thought wos o
slep lowords o greoter responsibility for the users hos
turned oul to be jusl obout the lost slep 1h01 con be token,
for lhe lime being ot leost.
ln 1990, lhere is not much leh of lhe imoginoti ve ond
colourful decorotion of lhe worlt spoces, The heyd�y ai
personol expressiveness in lhe 1970s hos given woy to
neolness ond orderlines. lt seems os if the urge to moke o
personol slotement hos foded, ond thot people ore more
inclined lo conform, nowodoys. Perhops due to lhe score
of rising unemployment in the l 9B0s it is now opporently
considered wiser lo toke a less extroverted stand i n
general, ond lhe effecls of this ore olreody to be seen ln
the coai impersonol otmosphere which pervodes mosl
offices todoy.
FACUITY Of ARCHITECTURE MJT, CAMBRIDGE USA
WORKSHOP 1967 131.lll
How much influence users con, in extreme coses, exerl on
thelr living or working environmenl is cleorly demonstro­
ted by lhe odjustments to the existing orchitecture thot
were mode b y studenfs of orchitecture ol lhe M.I.T. The
student objected to hoving lo work ai drowing-boords
orronged in long, stilf rows, oll focing the some woy.
Using discorded construdion materiais thot were regorded
os left-overs, they constructed lhe kind of spoces they
wonted • in which they could work, eot, sleep, ond receive
their tutors on thelr own ground.
One would expect eoch new group ol studenls lo wonl to
moke their own odjuslmenls, but lhe situolion turned oul
otherwise. lhe outcome ol the lierce dispute with the local
fire prevention outhoríties thot ensued wos thot oll lhe
structures would hove lo be dismontled unless o full sprink­
ler system wos inslolled throughout the oreo. Once this
hod been dane, the situotion ln foct become permonent,
ond the environmenl, li li still stands today, moy be seen
os o monumenl to the enthusiosm ol o group o f students of
orchitecl\Jre. Sul we should not be surprised il everythlng
ís lar will soon be) deored owoy • lhe bureoucracy of
centralislic manogemenl is firmly back in contrai.

lhe influence of uHr1 can be 1timulated, ot least if thís

is done in the right places, l.e. where suffldent
involvement may be expected; and becauae that
dependi on acce11lbility, territorial claims,
organiration of maintenance and divi1ion of
l'ffponsibilities, lt is essential fvr the designer to be
fuUy awCll'e of these foctors in their proper 9radotion1.
ln cases where the organizational structure precludes
the users from exerting any personol klnd of inffuence
on their aurraundings, or when the nature of a
particular space is so public thot no one wilJ feel
inclined to exert any inffuence on it, there is no paint in
the archltect trying to make provi1lons of thi, kind, ond holl • Is more líkely to be put to use il it is accessible
However, the architect can still take advantage of the from lhe oppropriate side, i.e. lrom inside the closrroom.
reorganization thot movlng into a new buildl ng always The shell obove it moy creote on aestheticolly pleosing
necessitátes anyway, to try to exert some lnffuence on elfect by setting back the gloss pone, but it is not likely to
the reappralsal of the divlsion of responsibillties, ot be puf to use.
lea_st in sa for as they concern the physical
environment. One thing can lead to onother. Simply by CENTRAAI BEHEER ÜFFICE BUILOING 11•3'1 li 31
putting forward arguments which can reassure the top Whereos the office spoces in the Centraal Beheer li 31
management thot clelegoting responsibilities fvr the buílding, in which eoch worker has his own privale island
environme.nt to the users need not necessan1y result in to work in, are taken core ai by the users, no member of
chaos, the archltect is ln a positlon where he con lhe office staff feels directly responsible for the central
contribute to lmprovlng matters, and lt is certalnly his spoce of lhe building. The greenery in this central spoce
duty to ot lea1t make an attempt in thi1 direction, is looked alter by o special team (cf. Public Works),
and lhe piclures on the wolls ore hung lhere by the
MONTESSORI ScHOOL, DELFI lll,311 ort•provision service.
A ledge obove the door, 9ive11 extra width so that objecls These employees too do lheir jab wilh greot dedication
con be ploced on il • os in this case between closwoom ond core, but there is o slriking difference in atmosphere

ruauc,1op11i 2S

between lhol communol oreo ond lhe individual work
spoces in oll their diversity.
AI the refreshmenl counlers in this centrol spoce you were
served by the some girl every doy; lhe refreshments
deportment wos orgonized in such o woy thot eoch
oltendont wos ollocoted to o specilic counter.
31 She felt respons1ble for lhot countar ond in due course
39 40 she regorded it os her own domoin, ond gove it o
personol touch. These coffee counters hove since been
removed, ond tidy seob ond colfee dispensers hove been
instolled in their ploce. The entire building hos undergone
26 11sso•s fOI SIIDIUS u UCKllfCIUH
thorough renovotion ond cfeoning, duríng which process o
lorge number of odjustments were mede to comply wilh
contemporory workploce requirements.
VREOEN&UIG Mus,c Cu-me (40)
lhe underlying ideo which proved so successful in
Centrool Beheer does not opply to the refreshment
counters in the Music Centre in Ulrecht.
The situotion there vories considerobly lrom one concert
to the next, wilh different counlers being used ond
dilferenl ottendonls serving lhe public. Since no speciol
ollinity between individual employees ond specilic work
spoces wos lo be expecled here, lhere wos every reoson
for the relreshment oreos lo be compleled ond wholly
furnished by the orchitect.
ln bolh buildings • Centrool Beheer os well os the Music
Centre • the reor wolls ore fitted wilh mirrors.
ln the former, however, they were instolled by the staff,
ond in lhe lotter lhey were designed by the orchitect
occording to lhe some overoll princíples lhroughoul lhe
building. lhe mirrors on the reor woll enoble you to see
who is in front ol you, behind you ond next to you.
They recoll the theotre pointings of Manel 1411, who used
mirrou to drow lhe spoce into lhe Rol picture-plane, thus
deliníng lhe space by showing the people in it ond how
they ore 9rouped,
The Music Cenlte hos o competenl ond dedicoled
housekeeping staff to look olter lhe ploce.
 - -
This connot be soid ol, soy, the refreshment cors of lhe
Dutch roilways: lhe atlendonts constontly switch troins.
The on ly commilment lhot these atlendants ever hove
with respect to the cor in which they work is thot they
ore under orders lo leove the ploce cleon ond tidy for
the next shif1. Imagine how different things would be if
the some ollendonf olwoys worked on lhe some troin.
While the reslouronl-cor hos disoppeored • lrom Dutch
lroins ot ony role• o new form of catering hos emerged
in oir trovei. But lhe meob served on planes ore more
like on imposifion on the troveller thon o service; they
ore served ai limes thol suif the oirline rother thon the
possenger (os well os being much too expensive, since fron, luhhom,0
they ore included in the olreody high price ol the oirline 8ordbuch, 6/88

ticket).

fllll( IO!UI� 27
, 1
S FROM USER TO DWELLER
The ll'anslation af the concepts 'public' and 'private' in
temu of differentiated responslblllties lhus mokes it
easier for the architect to decide in which areas
provisions should be made for users/lnhobltants to
make lheir awn conll'lbvtions to the design of lhe
environmenl and where this Is less relevant.
ln lhe organization of a plan, a_s you design it in terms
of 9roundplan1 and section, and also in lhe principie of
the installations, you can c...ate the conditions for a
greater sense of responsibility, and can,equently also
greater lnvolvement ln lhe anangement and furnlshlng
of on areo, Thus users become inhobitants.
MONTESSORI SCHOOl, DflFT CIMíl
lhe clossrooms of this school ore conceived os
outonomous unils, litlle homes os il were, oll situoted
olong the school holl, as o communol street. lhe leocher,
'molher', ol eoch house decides, togelher wilh the
children, whol the ploce will look like, ond therefore whot
kind ol otmosphere it will hove.
Eoch dossroom olso hos its own smoll clookroom, insleod
of lhe usual communol .spoce for lhe whole school, whic:h
usuolly meons thol ali lhe woll,space is loken up by rows
2.8 llSSOfS FOR SIIOENIS U ll(Hll!CIUII
of pegs so thot il connol be used for onything else. And il
eoch clossroom would hove ils own loilet lhis too would
conlribute lo improving the children's sense of
responsibilily !this proposol wos lurned down by the
educotionol outhorilies on lhe 9round1 lhol seporole toilets
were needed for boys ond girls • os if lhey hove lhem ot
home loo • which would require instolling lwice os mony).
li ís quite conceívoble for lhe children in eoch closs lo
keep lheir 'home' cleon, like birds their nesl, thereby
giving expression lo the emolionol bond wilh their doily
environment.
lhe Monlessori ideo, indeed, comprises so-colled
housekeeping dulies for oll children os pari of lhe doily
progromme. Thus much emphosis is ploced on looking
alter lhe environmenl, whereby lhe children's emolionol
oflinily with lheir surroundings is slrenglhened.
Eoch child, too, coo bring olong hls own plonl lo lhe
clossroom, which he or she hos to core for. {lhe
oworeness of lhe environmenl ond lhe need lo look ofter li
figures prominenlly in the Monles,ori concepl. Typicol
exomples ore the lrodilion of workíng on lhe lloor on
speciol rugs • smoll lemporory work oreos which ore
respected by lhe olhers • ond lhe imporlonce thol is
otloched lo lidying lhings owoy in open cupboords). A
furlher slep lowords o more personol opprooch to lhe
children's doily surroundings would be to moke il possible
lo regulole lhe cenlrol heoting per dossroom. This would
heighten lhe children's oworeness of the phenomenon of
wormth ond lhe core lhot goes into keepíng worm, os well
os moking lhem more owore ol lhe uses ol energy.
A 'safe ne_st' • familiar surroundings where you know
lhat your thingt are safe ond where you can concen·
ll'ate wíthout beíng disturbed by others · is something
lhat eoch individual nHds 01 much as each group,
Wllhout lhis there can be no collaborotlon with olhers.
li you don't have a place that you can col/ your own
you don't lcnow where you stand/
There ,on be no adventure without o home•bose to
retum to: everyone nHds some klnd of ne.st to fall
bock on.
lhe domoin of o porliculor group of peopl e should be
respected os much os possible by 'oulsíders'. Thol is why
lhere ore certoin risks olloched lo so-colled multifunclionol
usoge. Toke a schoolroom: il il is used for other purposes
oulside school hours, e.g. lar neighbourhood octivilies, oll
lhe furnilvre hos lo be pushed oside lempororily, ond íl is
evidenlly nol olwoys put bock into ils proper ploce. Under
such círcumstances figures modelled in cloy which ore lelt
oul to dry, for inslonce, con eosi ly be 'occidenlolly'
broken or wmeone's pencil shorpener turos out to hove
vonished into lhin oir.
 41

fUtUC DOA\&lr 29
.1 1
4i lt is importont for children to be obte lo disploy the things
41 they hove mode in, soy, lhe hondwork lesson wilhoul feor
of their things being deslroyed, ond they should be oble
lo leove unfinished work exposed without there being lhe
donger of il being moved or 'tidied owoy' by 'slrongers'.
30 LISSONS rot SIUO!#IS 1• At{ffll[(!Utl
After oll, even o thorough cleoning job done by someone
else con leove you leeling quite losl in your own spoce lhe
nexl morning.
A schoolroom, conceived os the domoin of o group, con
show ils own identlty to lhe resl of lhe school if it Is given
lhe opportunity to moke o disploy of the lhings jlhot lhe
children hove mede or work they hove done in dou) thot
the group is especiolly involved in. This con be done
informolly by using lhe portilion between holl ond
clossroom os disploy spoce, ond by moking plenty of
windows wilh generous sills in the porlilion.
A smoll showcose lin this cose even illuminoted) is o
chollenge to the group to present itself in o more formo!
woy. The exterior of lhe clouroom con then function os o
sort ol 'shop wlndow' which shows whot the group hos to
'ofler'.
ln this woy eoch closs con presenl o picture which lhe
others con relote to, ond which morks lhe tronsilion
between eoch clossroom ond the communol holl spoce.
APOllO ScHOOIS l!·SO
li lhe spoce between clourooms hoi bee11 used lo creote
porchlike oreos, os m lhe Amslerdom Monlessorl school,
lhese oreos con serve os proper workploces where you
con study on your own, ,.e nol ln lhe clossroom but not
shul out either These ploces consist of o work-surfoce wílh
ils own l,ghting ond a bench enclosed by a low wall ln
arder to regulore the conlad between dossroom ond hall
as subtly as possible half-doors hove been rnstalled here,
wnose ombi9u1ty can generote lhe righl degree of
openness lowards the hall while offering lhe required
seclus,on from il, both ai lhe some lime, in each situolion.
Here ogain we find [os in lhe Dellt school) the gloss
showcose contoining lhe douroom's own min,oture
museum ond d1sploy

'
•

PVllt[ IOM41M 31
1 1
 6 THE 'IN-BETWEEN'
The wider significance of the conce,t of in•betwffn
wa1 introduced ln Forum 7, 19.59 (La plu1 grande
réalité du seull) and Forum 8, 19.59 (Das Gestalt
gewordene Zwischen: the concretization of the ín·
between).
SI The threshold provide, the key to the transition and
connection between area1 with dive,vent territorial
claims and, as a place in ifl own right, it coMtitutes,
e»entially, the spatial condition for the meeting and
dialogue between arecu of different orders.
32 \ISSO*S rol SUO(U5 t� U(ffll[CIUtl
The value of thl1 concept i1 mo1t explícit in the
threshold 'par excellenu', the entnJnce to a home.
We are concemed here wlth the encounter and
recon<iliation between the 1treet on the one hand and
a private domain on the other.
The child sílting on the step in front of his house is
sufflciently for owoy from his mother to leel independent,
to sense the excitement ond odventure of the greot
unknown.
Yet ot the some lime, sitting there on lhe step which is
port ol the street os well os ol the home, he leels secura
in lhe knowledge thot his mother is neorby. The child
feels ot home ond ol the some lime in the outside world.
This duolity exists thonks to lhe spotiol quolity of the
threshold os o plotform in its own right, o ploce where
two worlds overlop, rother thon o shorp demorcotion.
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MONíESSORI SCHOOL, 0ELFT tSl-lj)
The entrance lo o primory school should be more lhon o
mere opening lhrough which lhe children ore swollowed
up when lhe lessons begin ond spot oul ogoin when lhey
end. lt should be o ploce thot ollers some lind ol
welcome to the children who come eorly ond to pupils
who don't wonl to go stroight home alter schooL
Children, too, hove their meetings ond oppointments.
Low wolls thot con be sol on ore the leosl you con oller,
o shehered corner is better, ond lhe best of oll would be
o roofed oreo for when il rolns.
lhe entrance lo o kindergorlen is frequented by porents -
they soy goodbye to their children there, ond woit for
them when school is over for the doy. Porents woiting for
their children thus hove o fine opporlunity lo gel to know
eoch other, ond lo orronge for the children to ploy ot
eoch others' homes, in short this public spoce, os o
meeling ground for people with common inleresls, serves
on imporlonl social function. As o result of lhe
conversion in 1981 t�•t, this entrance no longer exlsts.

33
1
 the door lo be opened, while lhe welcoming geshire of
lhe place gives you the feeling lhat you hove olmos!
been lel in olreody.
You could soy lhat lhe bench by lhe fronl door is a
typically Dutch molil • it c:on be seen on many old
pointings, but in our own century Rietveld, for inslance,
creoted lhe some orrongement, complete with o holl­

- .. • door, i n his lomous Schrõder house. Utrecht 1924 tltl•

1 1

zf- '

J ....
�··
_..:::
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DE OVEilOOP, HOME FOR THE ElOERlY (li.la)
A sheltered oreo ol the lroni doar, lhe beginning of lhe
'threshold', is lhe ploce where you soy hello or goodbye
lo your visitou, where you stomp lhe snow ofl your
boots or put up your umbrello.
The sheltered enlronces to the oponmenls thol belong to
SI the nursing home De Overloop in Almere ore litted wilh
19 benches nexl to lhe front doors. lhe lront doors ore
ss locoled two by two to form o combined porch which,
however, is still divided into seporate enlronces by o
vertical porlition projecting from the foçode. lhe holf­
doors enoble whoever is sitting oulside to keep contocl
wilh lhe interior of lhe apor1ment, so 1h01 you can ai
least heor lhe phone ring. This entrance zone ís
evidenlly regorded os o n exlension ol the home, os is
shown by lhe mais thot hove been loid outside. Thonks
lo lhe overhong you do nol have lo wait in lhe rain for

34 lESSOIS rot STUHUS ,. AICMlll(IURI

 DOCUMENTA ÜRJIANA DwElUNGS 1.i-101
11111 The meonder-shoped housing block which wos termed
'snoke' conslsls ol segmenls, eoch designed by different
,1
1 orchilects. The communol sloircoses were ploced in o
.• lully-lit siluotíon rolher lhon in the more usual residual,
1 ,.,.r. 1
generolly dimly-lit spoce.
11 r:
'1
ln o multi�omily house the emphosis should not lie
fti, --

'
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11 .•1''·
•
• disposition, which moy be conducive lo lhe social
1
•
•
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DE DRIE HOVEN, HOME FOi THE EtDERLY 1'°1
l n sítuotions where there mighl be o need for contocl
between inside ond out, for lnstonce ln o home for lhe
elderly where 50me of lhe residenls spend o lot ol their
lime in lhe solítude of thelr own rooms due to diminjshed
mobility, woiting for 50meone to visit lhem, while olher
residents outside would olso welcome some contoct, ít is
o good ideo lo instoll doors with lwo sections, so thot
the upper port con be lept open whíle lhe lower holf ís
dosed. Such 'holf' doors constitute o distinctly inviting
geslure: when holf open lhe doar is bolh open ond
closed, i.e. it is closed enough lo ovoid moking the
lntentlons of those lnslde oll too explicit, yel open
enough to locililole casual conversotions wilh possers­
by, which moy leod to closer contocl.
exclusively on lhe orchileclurol provislons lo preveni
excess noise ond inconvenience from neighbours;
speciol ottenlion musl be poid in porticulor to the spotiol
conlocts lhol moy be expected to exísl belween lhe
vorious occuponts of o building. Therefore we hove
given the stoircoses more promlnence thon usuol.
Communol stoircoses should not only be o source ol
oggrovotion where occumulotion of dlrl ond cleoning
ore concerned • lhey should olso serve, for inslonce, os
o ployground for the smoll children ol neighbouring
lomilies. They hove therefore been designed with o
moximum of light ond opennen in mind, like gloss­
rooled streets, ond con be overlooked from lhe kitchens.
lhe open entrance porches wlth lwo lronl doors, one
oher the olher, show to the communol terrilory o little
more of lheir inhobilonts thon trodilionol closed doou
usuolly do.
Although core hos nolurolly been loken to ensure 61
odequote privocy on the terroces, neighbouring fomilies
ore not fully isoloted from one onother. We hove oimed
ot designing lhe exterior spoces in such o woy lhot lhe

Conc...tizotion of the threJhold os on in•betwMn

meons, firat and foremost, creotl119 o Mtting for
wekomes ond forewells, ond is therefore the
translotlon lnto orchitectonlc tvms of hospltolity.
letldes, the threshold os o lxlilt focility Is just os
impor1ont for social contods os thidt wolls an for
pnvacy.
Conditlon1 for prívocy and canclltian1 for maintolni119
social cantocts with othert are equally nece1sary.
Entrance, parches, and many atfter forms of ln•
betwee.n spoces provide an opportunity for
'accommodatlon' between oâiolnl119 worlcls. This ldnd
of provlsion gív•• riM to o certoin artlculatlon of the
bvllding concemecl, whlch requires both 1pace ond
money, without its function being eosily
demonstroble · let olone quantlflabl• · and whlch l1
therefore often very difflcult to occampll1h, and
requires constont effort ond penuaslon durlng the
plannlng phOM.

(1111( DOIAU 35
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36 USSOMS 101 SIUOEKIS I! UClll!CIU!f
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necessory screening detrocb os little os possible from
lhe spotiol condilions for contocl between neighbours. ■■■■ lll\ •
..
lncidentolly, such exponsion of the minimum spoce
required for 'circulotion purposes' proves to ottroct nol
only children • it ciso serves os o ploce for nelghbours to

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Bv ,ldill9 ar rig�� O. SteidJe, otchit«t

68 sít ond tolk. lndeed, in this cose lhe tesidents ciso
" provided lhe lurnishings.
10 ln odditlon lo on ordinory lront door the dwellings hove
o second gloss door which con olso be locked ond
which leods lo the octuol stoircose, so lhot on open
enlronce-spoce is obtoined. Since this inlermediory
spoce beJween sloircose ond f,onl door is inlerpreled
dilferen�y by dillerent people • i.e. nol exclusively os
port of the stoits but equolly os on extension o! thé
dwelling • il is used by some os on open hollwoy, into
which the otmosphere of lhe home is allowed lo

penelrote. ln lhis woy, depending on which ol the two

doors is regorded os the reol lronl door, the residenh
con disploy their individuolity which normolly remoíns
conceoled in lhe privocy of lhe home, while 01 the some
lime lhe stoircose loses some ol the usual no-mon's-lond
leeling ond moy even ocquire o lruly communol
olmosphere. The principie of lhe vertical pedestrion
wolkwoy os opplied in the Kossel housing project wos
further eloboroted in lhe LiMo housing estofe in Berlin.
The stoircoses of this complex leod up to comrnunol rool­
terroces. li wos evenluolly decíded thol it would no! be
necessory to incorporole lhe play-bolconies thol were
leotured in lhe Kossel projec1, os the secluded courtyord
in itsell ollers odequote ploy-spoce for the youngesl
child,en in porticulor.

34 IISSOWS IOt SIIO!IIS 13 UClll!CIUII

(ITÊ NAPOlÊON, PARIS 1849 / M.H. VEUGNY 111-71)
Cité Nopoléon in Poris, one of lhe firsl otlempls, ond
cerloinly lhe mosl remorkoble, to orrive ot o reosonoble
solution to lhe problem of dislonce between lhe slreel
ond fronl door in o multi-slorey resldentiol building. Thís
interior spoce, with oll ils sloirs ond overposses, reminds
one of lhe multi,storeyed buildings in o mounloin village.

-n �
li 72

A reosonoble omounf of light reaches lhe top floors

1f,; 13
through lhe gloss roof. lhe residents of lhe upper lloors I!
do octuolly open their windows onto this interior spoce,
ond lhe presence of polled plonts ot leost shows thot the
people core. Even while it did nol prove possible • in
spile of lhe buílders' besl intenlions • to moke this interior
/ l
spoce [closed off os it is Iram the street outsidel into o �
fruly functionol interior sfreet by our stondords, when you
think of oll those gloomy usel ess stoirwoys thol hove
been built since 1849 this is indeed o shining exomple.

O S 10
íU1J
ru111c 001111 39
1 1
 7 PRIVATE CLAIMS ON
PUBLIC SPACE
The in•behNNn cone:epl is lhe key to eUminoting the
sharp divislon betwNn ª"11'with different territorial
dalms. The point is therefore to cNote intermediary
spoces which, t1lthough on the administrative level
belonging to either lhe privai• or the public domaln,
are equally accessible to both 1ides, thal i1 to 1ay thal
it ia wholly acceptable to both that the 'other' makes
use of them.

DE DRIE HOVEN, HOME FOR THE EtDERLY !IS.711

The hollwoys serve os streels in o building which musl
functlon os o city for íls �everely disobled inhobitonts,
becouse lhey ore moslly incopoble of leoving the premises
withoul ossistonce. The dwelling units siluoted olong lhis
'street' oll hove, in polrs, porch-llke oreos which on lhe
one hond belong to lhe dwellings, bul on lhe other hond
ore still port of lhe 'streel oreo'. The residents put their
own things there, they look ofter lh-ot spoce ond olten
li grow plonts ond flowers there os if li were pari of their
own home, os o sort of verondo ot street levei. Yet lhe
16 li porch-like oreo remoins complelely occessible to possers­
by, it remoins pari ol the street.
lt is exlremely difficult lo reserve the few squore melres
thol ore needed for such o purpose within the endless
nelwork of regulotions ond norms concerning mlnimum
ond moximum dimensions which govern every conceivoble
ospecl of orchitecturol de$ign.
ln the cose of social housing il is regorded on the
odministrotive levei os on impermissible reduction of lhe
size of the dwelling unit, ar os on unnecessory expons1on
of the corridor: the funclionolity of eoch squore metre is,
after ali, meosured occordíng to quontilioble ulility.The
love ond core lhot the residents lnvesl in this spoce, which
is not, stric�y speoking, pari ol their oportment, hlnges on
on opporently minor dela�, nomely the wlndow which
ollows them to keep on eye on lhe objects thot hove been
ploced outside, not only as o precoution ogolnst thelt bul
olso simply becouse it's nice to be oble lo see your own
lhings or lo see how your plonts ore doing. The orchltecJ
needs on inordinole omounl of ingenuity to gel this ideo
post the wotchful eye of lhe fire prevention outhority.
The lighting lixlures in 'De Drie Hoven' next to the lront
doors were instolled ín smoll projecting wolls, in such o
woy thot o mal con eosily be ploced underneoth. Using
lhelr leftover bits of corpel, the residents oppropriote ond
furnish the llttle spoce thus creoled, thereby extending the
limits of their home ground beyond the lronI door.

·- "' ,r.

Q> □ o i]7
-

40 IISSOMS IOt SIUDIUS IJ UCIIIIUUt!

Provided we incorporote the proper spotiol su99estion1
into our design, the inhabitants will be more incllned ta
expand thelr sphere of influente outwards ta the publk
area, Even a minor adjustment by way of spatial
artlculatlon af the entrance can be enou9h to
encoura9e expansion of the personal 1phere of
lnfluence, and thus the quality of public 1pace wiU be
con1idffably increased in the common interes.t.

01AGOON 0waUNGS 01�3)

Whot could be dane wi1h the povemenls in 'living-streets',
il lhe inhobitonts were lo be given responsibilí1y for the
spoce, moy be imogined on lhe bosis ol the experiment
with lhe povemenl in fronl ol lhe Oiogoon dwellings in
Delfl. The oreo in lronl ol lhe dwellings hos not been loid
oul os a front gorden; it hos simply been poved like on
ordinary sidewolk, ond hence os pari ol the public
domoín olthough, slrictly speoking, il is not.
The areas belanging lo the dillerent houses have nat been
morked, nor doe.s the loyoul contoin ony suggesli on of
privote clalms. lhe poving moleriol consisls of the usual
concrele tiles, which oulomolicolly evoke ossociotions with
o publíc rood becouse sidewolks ore usuolly poved with

resolved ín mutual agreement. lt is here that every li 80

inhobilont plays lhe roles thal eJCpress whol sort of person li 12

he wanls lo be, and therelore how he wanls athers lo see 18
him. Here, too, il is decided whal individual and
-
' - colleclive hove to offer each other.

___.r

exoctly the some tiles. The inhobitonls lhen storl removing

some ol the liles to put plonts there insteod. 'Oessous les
povés lo ploge'. lhe resl ol the files ore lelt ln ploce
wherever o poth to lhe fronl door is wonted, or o spoce lo
pork the fomily cor dose lo lhe house. Eoch residenl uses
lhe oreo in lronl ol his house occarding to his own needs
ond wishes, loking up os much ol the orea os he requires
ond leoving lhe resl os publicly occessible.
l i lhe loyaut hod started out fram the ideo ol seporote,
privole oreas, then no doubt everyone1wauld hove mode
lhe best ol it for his own benelit, but lhen there would
have been on lrreverslbly obrupl division between private
ond public space, inslead of lhe inlermediary zone lhat
hos now evolved: o mergíng ai lhe strictly privale letritory
of the houses and the public oreo ol lhe slreet. ln lhis oreo
in-between public and privote, individual and collective
cloims can overlop, and resulting conllicts must be

PUBll( OOIIIN 41
 LIMA HOUSING ll+ltl
The liMo housing estofe is locoled ai one end of o
li U triangular oreo, lhe corner of which ís morked by o
church. The volumes of 1his church ore very loosely relo1ed
lo the general orchlteclurol olignmenl. The completion of
42 IISSO�I FOI IIUDl.11 1� U{KIIICIUll
building on this triangular islond enloils leoving lhe
church to stand oport os o detoched self-contoined
slruclure. lhe courlyord ílsell ís quile unlike the olten
deprening lroditionol Berlin courtyord, ond is conceived
os o public spoce with six pedestrion occess routes,
including conneclions with bolh the slreet ond the
neighbouring courlyord. These pedestrion routes
constitute pari ai the communal open staircoses. The
e.entre of the courtyord is marked by the large
segmented sond-plt, which wos decoroted with mosolcs
along the curved sides by the resident fomilies
themselves.
lt wos not difficult lo reuse the enlhusiosm of lhe
residenls for lhis projecl • who were keenly interesled in
lhe design of lhe courtyard as il wos • especiolly ofter
lhey hod seen photographs of Goudi's pork ond lhe
Wolls Towers. Technicol ond orgonizotionol ossislonce
wos provided by Akelei Herlzberger, who hos
underlaken vorious similar projecls in lhe post with
equolly suc.cessful resuhs.
At lirst it wos especiolly the children who contributed
their 'liles', but soon ciso the odults joined in bringing
 olong every piece aí crockery they could loy the_ir 81 U
honds on. "
No orchitect nowodoys would be oble lo lovish so much
ollenlion on o sond•pil, nor would lhol be necessory,
becouse it con jusl os well be lelt lo the inhobitonls
rhemselves. A betler woy ai responding lo the offered
incentive is hord lo imagine. But more imporlonl still is
thot il hos become their own sond-pit ond their own
concern: il o lrogment ai lhe mosoic folls off or proves lo
be loo shorp, for instonce, somelhing will be dane oboul
it withoul if being necessory to hold specíol meetings,
write officiol letters, or lo sue lhe orchitecl.

A street area with which the inhabitants themselves

are lnvolved and where individual marks are put down
for themselves and for each other is oppropriated
jolntly, and is thus tumed into a communal space.

,uauc D�••u 43
 8 PUBLIC WORKS CONCEPT
fo"'ít11•é1e Hous,ng Ptojec• GuiJé f1ona

8ijlmermetr
Ho,;sing Esror•. úJSD
f5
AmSltrdom

9(1 ti
92

Pholo-<i>onl09e
The point is to give public spaces form in ,uch a way
that the locol community will feel personally
responsible for them, 10 that each member of the
community will contribute in his or her own way to
an environment that he ar she can relate to and can
identify with.
lt is the great paradox of lhe colledive welfare
concept, a, it ha, developed hand in hand wilh the
ideais of socialism, lhal actually makes peaple
subordinate to the very syslem that has been sei up
lo li.berate them.
The services rendered by the Municipal Public Works
departments are felt, by those for who,e beneflt
lhose departmenls were crealed, as an overwhelming
abstraction; it is as if the actlvítíes of Public Work,
are an imposition from above, lhe man in the streel
feels lhal they 'have nolhing lo do wilh liim'., and so
lhe syslem produces a widespread feeling of
alienation.
The pub l ic gordens ond green belts oround lhe blocks of
fiais in lhe new urbon neighbourhoods ore the
resporuibility of the Public Works deportmenis, which do
oll lhey con lo moke lhese oreos os ottroclive os possible
- within the limils ai lhe ollocoted budgels - on beholf of
lhe community_
Bul lhe resulls 1h01 ore ochieved in this woy connot help
being stark, impersonol ond uneconomicol, compored
with what could have been achleved if oll lhe flol­
dwellers hod been ollered lhe opportunity of using o
smoll plot of lond (even i l no bígger thon o porking
spoce) for their own purposes.
Whol hos now been collectively denied them could have
became lhe conlribulion of eoch inhobilont to the
community, while the spoce ilsell could hove been used
for more intensively il ali 1h01 per;onol love ond core
hod been lovished on il.
An exomple of this is to be seen ai lhe Fomilistere in
Guise, Fronce: o housing project wh ich wos sei up on
beholf of the Godin stove loclory: o working ond
dwelling community modelled alter the ideos ai Fourier.
Allhough il dotes Iram lhe nineleenth century, os on
example af whot con be dane il is still of lopicol inlerest
todoy.
VROESE.NlAAN HOUSING, RomRDAM 1931-34 /
J.H. VAN DEN BROEK t!J,911
Communol omenities can biassam only lhrough lhe n
communol ellorl on the part of lhe users. Thot musl hove 94
been the ideo underlying lhe communal interior spoces -
wilhout lences ond portiti ons - that were designed in the
twenties ond thirlles.

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,ue1tC 00.111111 45
ti DE DRIE HOVEN, HOME FOR THE ElDE�lY '951
lhe fenced-in field with animais, which awes its
exislence ta the inítialíve ol a staff member ol 'De Drie
Hoven', hos grodually developed into o miniature zoo,
wilh o pheosonl, o peocock, chickens, goots, plenty ol
ducks in o pond leemíng with físh. For the elderly
residents of lhe home lhe animais ore o pleosonl ond
inleresling sight, ond the rooms with o view of the
'menogerie' ore lhe mosl sought-ofter.
Home-mode sheds for lhe onimols lo spend the night ín
hod been provided by enthusiosls, but by the lime this
popular scheme hod proved o success ond exponslon
become necessory, the Deporlmenl of Housing
lnspection decided thol things could not 90 on like this:
they slipulated lhot o prolessionol conslruclion plon
would hove lo be submitted, ond would hove lo be
opproved by oll the proper oulhoritles ond commíttees.
For the loco! populotíon the 'menogerie' represents o
slondíng invitolion lo gel involved ln toking core of the
animais or simply to stroll over and see how they 01e
dolng. When do city children gel to see animais? lhe
only animais mosl of them ever see in their home
enviranmenl are privotely owned pets, dogs kept on
leashes, because lorms ol shored ownership and
responsibilily for animais oppeor lo be impossible lo
organize. lhe ideo of doing so doesn't even orise • local
inhobilonts, ofler oll, do not normolly hove ony iníluence
on how their communol spoces ore loid oul ond used.
But lhen Public Works con hordly be expected to look
46 llllORS ,or ITUDINII II IRCIIIHIOlf
aher animais oll over town. For thot o whole new
department with o speclolized stoff would be needed,
nol to mention lhousonds ol notices soying 'Do Not feed
lhe Animais'.
lhe allotmenls and lhe animais ai 'De Drie Hoven' ore o
natural inducemenl lar social contact belween lhe
elderly residenls ond the local populotion • both groups
being deprived in a diHerenl woy. lhe residenls of lhe
home ore forced by circumstance to be outsiders in lhe
city, bul thonks to 'their' garden they con offer some
compensolion for whot lhe others lock • oulsiders os
they, too, ore in the grounds of 'De Orie Hoven'.
These examples nrve to lllu1trate how the be1t
intentions can lead to disilluslonmenl and
indiffe,.nce. Thing• start to go wrong when the ,cale
become• too big, wh.en the upkeep and management
of a cammunal area can no longer be left to those
dlrectfy involved, and a special or9ani1.atlon becomes
necessary, with ils own specialized staff, with its awn
interests and concerni regarding continuíty and,
passibly, expan1ion. When lhe point has bffn
reached that an organí1ation'1 prime concem
becomes to ensure its awn �ontinued existence
r&9ardless af lhe aims for whích it was establi1hed,
l,e. to do for others what they can no longer be
expected lo do for themselves • ai that point
bureouc.racy reors lts head. lufes become o
straitjacket of regulatians. The sense of personal
.,.sponsibility i1 lost in a stlfling hlenirchy of it1elf aeates the alienotion ond, b y claiming to
an1wffllbility to one's superiors. Whlle there i s represent the people, obstructs the development of
nothing wrong with the intentions of the Individual condltion1 that could lead to a mare hospitable
link ln thls lntermlnable chaln of lnterdependendes, environment.
they are rendered virtually irrelevant because they
are too for removed from thase for whose benefrt the ■ The archite<t can contribute to creatlng a-n
whole 1y1tem wa1 invented in the flrst place. envlronment whith offen for mo,. opportunities for
lhe rea-n why dty dwellers be<ome out1lders in people to make their personal marlcings and
their own living environment i1 either that the ldentlmatlons, in such a way that it can be
potential of collectlve inltlatlve has been grossly appropriated and annexed by all as a place that truly
overestlmated, or that pcuticipotion and involvement 'belan911 to them.The wotld that Is controlled and
have been unde...1tlmated. The occuponts of a house managed by everyone 01 well aJ for everyone will
ore not really concerned with the 1pace outside thelr have to be built up of small•Kale, workable entities,
homes, but nor can they really ignore it. This no larger than what one person can cope wlth and
opposltlon leads to alienatian from your environment look after on hls own terms.
and • in so for 01 your relations with other1 are Each spatlal tomponent wiU thus be more intenslvely
influencied b y the environment • alsa to alienatlon used (whereby the spoce is enhonced), while it is alsa
from your t.llow residents. mo,. fair to the users t o demonstrate th.elr intentions.
lhe mounting degree of control imposed from above More emancipotion generates more motivation, and
is malcing the world around us increa1ingly in thls way ene,vy can b e released whlch is
inexorable: and this elkits agression, which in tum otherwise suppressed by centralized detision,making.
leads to further tightenlng of the web of regulations. This amaunts to a plea for decentralization, for
A vidous circle Is the re1ult, the lac;k of commitment devolution wherever at all posslble, and for the
and the exaggerated fear of chaos have a mutuolly handing over of responsibilities to whe,. they belong
e1calating effKt. • ln order to take effectlve measures to solve the
lhe incredible de1truction of publlc property • whlch problema of the inevitable olienation from the 'urban
is on the rise in the world's major cities • can desert'.
probobly portltularly be blamed on alienation from
the living environment. The fac♦ thot public transport
1helters and public telephones are completely
destrayed wnk ln wnk out Is a truly alarmlng
indkt,uent of our wiety as a whale.
What is almost as alarming, however, is that this
tnnd • and fts HCalation • is dealt with as if it w- a
me,e prohlem of organaation: by undertaking
periodical repoin as if they were a question of
rautine maintenance, and by applying extra
,.lnforcements ('vandal•proofing'l, the 1ituation
appear1 to be accepted as 'just one of thase thing1'.
lhe whole suppre11lve 1ystem of the ..tabllshed
order is geared to avoiding conflkts; to protec:ting the
individual memben of the community from incursions
by other members of the sarne communfty, without
the dil'9Ct involvement of the individuais concemed.
lhis ex:plains why there is such a dHp fear of
di1order, choos and the unexpected, ond why
impersanal, 'objedlve' regulatlons ore olwoys
pmerred to personal involvement. lt 1Hm1 a1 if
everything mu1t be regulated and q-ntiflable, 10 as
to permit total contrai; to create the conditionJ in
which the supp,.ulve 1y1tem of order con moke us
all into lessees instead of co·ownen, into
subordinates lnstead of portlclponts.lhu1 the system
 9 THE STREET Beyond our front door or gorden gale begin1 a warld
we hav• little to do with, a world upon which we can
exert hardly any influence. There is a growing fffling
that lhe world beyond the front door is a hostile world
of vandalism and agression, where we feel threotened
rother than ai home.Yet to take this widespreod
A,nslerdom, wotien feeling as the polnt of departure for urbon planning
dlurfcr, ,neeflrfe i•
would be fatal.
lhe t 9111 cenlury:
quite dlfferenl from Surely it i_s for better to go bock to lhe optimistic ond
todoy, bul remembet utopían concept of the 'reconquered s!Teet', whích we
how etomped oJ>d
could see so cleorly before us les_s thon two decades
i110dequoie l,ous,119
wos ln those doys. ago, ln this view, inspired by lhe post·war existentia·
listic zest fo.r Ufe (espedolly Provo os for as Hollond is
concemed} the street is ogoin conceived as what it
must have been originolly, nomely OJ the ploce where
social contacl between local residents can be
establi1hed: as a communol living•room, as it were.
And the concept that social relotions con even be
stimulated by an efficacious opplication of the
architectonic meaM is alreody to be found in Teom X
and espedolly in 'FoNm', where, as a central theme,
this issue was repeotedly roised.
The devoluation of this street concept may be due to

,,
ta

Groggio, /Joly.
TraffJ,.&ee livlng sfn!el.
LooH119 For a p/ae4
in tl,e sltode.

48 llSSOlS 101 S[UDIWIS ll ltCIIHCIUII

the following foctor1:
• the increcue in motoriud trcrffic and the priority that
it is given;
• the incon1lderate orgonlsatlan of the acce11 area1 to
lhe clwelllng1, ln particular that of the fTont doars vi, ci
vi1 -h other awing to indire<t and hnpersonal occess
route1 such as gaUerie1, elevators, covered passages
(the lnevltable by•products of high·ri1e constrvctions)
which diminish conlacl wlth the sfrffl level;
• the effocemenl of lhe streel as communal 1pace
owlng to block sltlng;
• decnand den1itie1 of housing, while also the
number af inhabítanb per clwelling has greatly
d.creand. So the decrease in lhe population denslty is
a«ompanled by an lncrease ln clwelling space per
inhabitant and in the width af the sfrffts, The
consequence is inevitably that today'1 1trfft1 are for
emptier than tho1• of the past/ besides, the
improvement in sise and quality af housing means that
people spend more lime indoors and less in the street;
• the better the economic circumstances of people the
less lhey need each other as neighbours ond the less
they tend to do lhings together.
lhe increased prosperity seems on the one hand to
have encouraged lndividuallsm while on the other
allowing colledivism to assume proportions quite
beyond anyone's gnisp.
We must try to deal with the,e foctor, • even if the
architect is unable to do more than exert an incidental
influence on lhe aforementloned rother fundamental
aspects of social change • by creating the conditions for
a more viable ,treet aNtO wherever po1sible. And thls
mean1 lhal il mu1t be done on lhe level of spatial
organixation, i.e. by archltectonlc means,
■ Sitvatlons where the street serves as a communal
eJttension of the clwelling, are familiar t o us all.
Depend'mg on the climate, either the sunny parts or
the shaded aNtOs are the most popular, but motomed
troffic is always absent or at leasl for away enough
as nol ta preveni the resldents fTom seeing each other
and making them,elves heard.
living•slreets which no longer serve exclusively as a
lroffic route and which ore orgoniied in such a way
lhot there I s olso room for children to ploy are
becoming an increasingly familiar sighl both in new
''
Spongen Hol,slf!9,
llo"•rdom 1919/
M . 8rinlman.
Troffic-free living $lreer,
loo.llng lo, o ploce
ln th• svn.
rullH tOIUI 49
 hou1i119 estofes ond ln renovotion projeds · ot lecut ln ' .. ·.•. •,. ····· ·
::-:-:-: :, •::❖:-: ,:

Holland. The intere1t1 of tfie pedemion ore being

token lnto <ansiderotion ot la,t, and with the 'woanerf'
{residentiol oreo with severe troffic remictions and
priority ot oll times for pedestrlon1) deslgnotian os a
19901 basis he is slawly regoinin9 hi1 ri9htful pio<• • or
ai leost he is na longer treoted cts an outlaw. However
on<e the motorista hove been tomed to behove in a
more disciplined foshion, their vehicles ore stiU so
cumbersome, so lorge, ond especially 10 numerous,
thctt they toke up more ond more of the publi< spoce.

HAARLEMMER HOUTTUINEN HOIJSING (100-109)

The central theme i n lhe Hoorlemmer Houltuinen is the
slreel os living spoce, os eloboroted in ossociotion with
Von Herk ond Nogelkerke, lhe orchilects ol the other side
of the street. The decisian • which hod more lo d o with
politics thon with lown-plonning - lo reserve on oreo of
101 27 metres op to the roilwoy for 'troffic purposes' obliged
100 ,o, us lo build ot leosl up lo this imposed limil of olignment;
os o result there wos no roam there for bock gordens
(which would in loct hove been permonently in lhe shode
onywoy).

ln sum lhese unfovouroble circumstonces • i.e.

undesiroble orientotion ond troffic noise - meont thol this
north side should definitely occommodate the reor woll,
ond so oulomoticolly oll emphasis come lo lie on the
livíng-streel foclng south. This 'living-slreel' is occes.sible
only lo the residents' own motorcors ond delivery
vehicles; due lo lhe foct lhot it is therefore closed lo
general motorized troJfic and to ils width af 7 metres •
an unusuolly norrow profile by modern standards · o
situation reminiscenl of lhe old city is creoled. The
necessory slreet fittings such os lights, bicycle rocks, law

S0 USSOKS 101 SIUDIMIS U UCNIIICIUII


fencing ond public benches ore dispersed in such o woy
thot only o íew porked cors ore enough lo obslrucl lhe
posso ge of forther troflic Trees ore to be plonted lo form
o centre hollwoy between the two streel sections.
The slructures projecting from lhe foçodes • lhe exterior
stoircoses ond living..room bolconiei, • ortículote the
profife of lhe street, moking it seem less w,de thon the
7 metres it meosures írom house-lront to house-front.
The conseqvence is o zone thot provides spoce for rhe
slreet-level terroces of rhe ground-Hoor dwellings. These
povemenl gordens w11h their low surrounding wolls ore
•
no bigger rhon the l,rst-11001 bolconies, lhey could
certoinly not be ony smoller, but the question rises
whelher they would hove been better if lorger As they
offer for less privocy thon the l,ving-room bolcome.s, one
could osk onesell whether the ground-level reStdents ore
ai o disodvontoge but on the other hond lhe immediote
contoct with pouers-by ond 9anerol street octivity seenu
to be ottroctive to mony people, e1peciolly when the
street regoins some of its former communol quolity.
Strips hove been left open od 101nin9 the pnvote outdoor
spoces; the orgonizotion of these sfrips hos deliberotely
been lefl undecided The public works deportment could
nol resist loying down poving stones in lhese spoces
The inhobitanl$ for their pari are now olreody puttmg
plonts there, thus successlvely oppropriotong thts
basicolly pvblic oreo.Outch hous,ng conslruction hos
trodilionolly devoled much oftenhon lo the problems of
occess to upper storeys, ond o greol voriety ol solu1ions
have �en devefoped ,n lhe Netherlonds • oll oimed ot IOJ
giving eoch dwelling 1ts own indivlduol lront doar w1th
moximum occessibility from the street wherever poss,ble.
indeed lhe solut1on we hove odopted ,s s,mply onother
voriohon on this essentiolly oncient theme the iron
10111c oraau SI
Rtljnier Vi�ltJes.lode , exterior stoircoses leod to o first-lloor londing with the
Anuterdcm J 924/
J.C.. won fpen
fronl doar of the upper-storey dwelling; from there lhe
stoircose continues inside lhe building, leoding lhrough
lhe sleeping quorters of the ground-fl oor dwelling lo the
dwelling obove.

The enlmnces to lhe upper dwellings, locoled on 'public

bolconies' overlooking the street, do nol conslitute on
: , , ... .
obstruclion lo the ground.floor dwelllngs, but provide the ....····-·
,....
... ,... .. . ......
loffer with some degree of shelter for their own ----- ......
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it�::::ltn::o::-· ·.···
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entrances. Becouse lhe stoírs themselves ore light ond ... . .... ..
tronsporenl lhe spoce underneoth is h1lly utilizoble for ....... ...... .. .. .. .. ' . ..... . .. ..
1� 106 moilboxes, bicycles ond children's ploy. Consideroble . . . . . . . .' .. ' ..
1011 efforl wenl into seporoting lhe occess oreos lo the upper
101\ dwellings lrom the gorden spoces in front of lhe ground­
Ili! IOJc 10, floor dwellings. This is ,eílected ln lhe cleor definilion ol
residents' responsibiliHes os for os keeping thelr own Second Roo,
occen oreos cleon. The obsence of such distinct
delinilion would undoubtedly result in for less intensive , '
utilizotion of lhe ovoiloble spoce by lhe respective
inhobilonls. '
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r 1
 The concept of the livlng·sheet is based on the ideo
that its inhabitants have samething ln comman, that
they expe<t samething of eoch other even if only
becau1e they are aware that they need each other.
This feeling, however, 1eems to be disappearing
rapidly from our lível, The affinity betwHn
inhabitants seems ta diminish as the independence
that comei with greater prasperity lncreases. Thls
anonymity i s even praiHCI by believffs in
collectivlsm/centrali�ation: if people have too much to
do with each other, there i s the danger of too much
'soe.ia! control', they orgue.
lndHd, the more isolated and aliena.ted people
become in their everyday environment, the easier it is
to contrai them by ded1lon1 taken over thelr head1.
Even though 'social control' nHd not by deflnition be
negative, it does o f covrse exitt and its negative
effects are lndeed felt when one cannot do anything
without belng judged and spied upon by others, as ln
an a_ll too clo1e•knit village community.
We must grasp every opportunity of avaidi ng too
rlgld separation between dwellings, and of
stimulating what is left af lhe feellng of belonging
together.
110 Ili ln the first place this fuling of belonging together
revolves oround everyday social lnteraction, such as
children playlng together oul in the street, boby·
sitting for each other, kHping in touch conceming
each other's health, in short ali those cares and joys
54 l!SSOMS fOI SIUOIWIS IK lt(KIHCIUII
that perhops seem so self•evident thot one tends to
underestimale their importance,
■ DweHing unlts fun<tlon better if the strffts on whlch
they are sited fundion well a.s a llving•street, and
that in tum dependi e1pecially on how receptive they
are, i.e. upan whetfter the atmosphere inside lhe
homes can blend with the communal atmosphen of
the street outside. This is largely determined by the
planning and detoiling of the layout of the
neighbovmood.
SPANGEN HOUSING, ROTIEROAM 1919 / M. BRINKMAN
(110,1111
The occess golleries in lhe Rotterdom Spongen housing
scheme (191911 ore still unequolled in whot they offer
the residenls. Sínce lhere ore only front doors on one
$ide of thi$ type of 'living-street' the residenls hove only
lheir next,-door neighbours for compony. This is o
disodvontoge compored with o normal streel, where
lhere ore ol course neighbours ocross lhe woy, too.
Nonetheless, here in Spongen social conloct between
neighbours is exceptionolly intense, which goes lo show
how importonl lhe obsence of lrofflc is. Yel lhe social
interoction ihot lokes ploce on lhe occess gollery is
inevitobty shut off from lhe slreel below, lo which the
dwellings in Icei turn their bocks. You connot be in lwo
ploces ot once.
nuto,r-i
 - •
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r' 1_
(

e:= - c:.;.,;.J - � - �--- - -- - 1..-,.) - t.=:;;l - � - r - � -

WEESPERSTIAAT STUDENT ACCOMMODAflON (112·115)

lhe dwelling unils for morried sludenls on lhe fourth
íloor were on inducement to build o gollery-slreet, which
could be seen os o prololype for o living,streel, lree lrom
troffic ond wilh o view of lhe roohops of the old cily. li
is safe there for even lhe youngesl loddlers lo ploy out of

�---QI
doors, while lheir porenls con olso sit in lronl ai lheir
homes. The exomple lhís design wos bosed on wos in t.' . � ..
loct lhe Spongeo complex ai 45 yeors 090.

One of lhe problems ín gollery-slreets is lhe plocement of

bedroom windows: il they open onto lhe gollery lhere is
lhe disodvonloge of ínsullicienl privocy. Thís siluotíon The building os o whole hos since become much less 111
con be improved by roísing lhe lloor ol lhe bedroom, so open; ond consequenlly lhe gollery slreet is no longer 113
1h01 lhose inside can look out ai lhe window over lhe publícly occessible. 114 115
heods of lhe people outside, while lhe window is too
high for those oubide lo be oble to look into the room.

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S1TING PRINCIPIES (1111
How this works is to be seen, in on elementory lorm, in
lhe siting principies odopted in some lorm or other in oll
newly construcled housing projecls.
The demond for more openness ond better sunlight
conditlons for oll dwelling units led, in lwenlieth-century
urbon plonning, to lhe obondonment of the hitherto
customory perimeter block siling.
Thot resulted in the loss of the controst between the quiet
seclusion ol lhe endosed courtyords ond lhe bustle ond
troffic noise of the street outside. The foçodes giving onto
lhe streets were lhe fronts (ond so the orchitects
concentroted lheir efforts on them) while the more informal
reor foçodes with their bolconies ond clothes-lines • some
11/ Ili llt lovoured by their orientolion, others quite lhe opposite •
wos the so-c·olled living side. This orrongement wos
superseded by strip siting, with two-fronted dwelllngs,
which cieoted the possibility of posilioning oll lhe gordens
on lhe side (diogrom ai, li is importont lo realize, though,
thot wllh this type of loyout oll the lront doors ol one row
of houses look out onlo the gordens of the next row. So
everyone lives on o holf-streel, os it were, with the spoces
belween the blocks oll essentiolly the some insteod of
olternoting between gorden spoce ond slreet spoce.
lncidentolly, the strip siting principie ollows for the some
form of ollotment so long os the orientotion is suitoble
(diogrom b) but even il thot is not the cose it is worth
moking every effort to ensure thot lhe rronts ol the blocks
li.e. where lhe lront doors ore locotedl lace eoch other
(diogrom cl. li lhe entrances o! the dwellings face eoch
other everyone looks onto the some communol spoce • you
con see lhe neighbours' children hurrying olf to school in
the morning (is our clock slow ogoin?).
But ho�ing o fui! view of your neighbours olso
encouroges inquisitiveness, ond so with this type ol siting
it is even more importont thon with type e to position
Windows ond front doors vis õ vis eoch other corelully, in
such o woy thot some privocy ot leosl is offered ot eoch
entrance to prateei ogoinst too much prying. ln lhe cose
of lhe lroditionol so,colled closed housing block scheme,
oll the gordens ond oll the entrances face eoch other. lhe
gorden oreos ore therefore different in noture Iram the
slreet oreos.
ROYAL CRESCENTS, BATH, El'/Gt.AND 1767 / J. Wooo, J.NASH
1111-119)
Although certoinly not designed with o view to neighbourly
interoction, the curved street-wolls of lhe 'crescenls' in
Both ore porliculorly interesting in this respect.
Due lo lhe concovity of the curve the houses hove o view
of one onolher. li is the some elfecl os when you ore

,. . _; ..... •
__:
'\,....,.o , _J
•
r

56 IISSOII 101 ll�llllS IK lt(ltlllCJUll

sitting in o troin ond the trocks describe o curve: you con

--
suddenly see o string other corrioges full of lellow­
possengers, whose presence you hod not been ow01e ol.
A cuived streel-woll with lhe houses in lhe row
overlooking lhe some oreo lhus contributes lo the
communol nolure ol thot oreo.
While the concove side ol o curved woll con encouroge
lhe feeling ol belonging logelher, lhe convex side ol lhe
bock sees to íl thot the houses turn owoy from eoch olher
O$ it were, ond lhis con contribute lo the privocy of the
gordens. The crescenl solution lherelore works both
woys,
120
ROMtRSTADT, FRANKFURT, GERMANY 1927-28 / 121
E. MAY 1111>1n1 121
Ernst Moy, like his more fomous lellow orchitecl Bruno 111
.-- •-" ·
--= -+- - --=ª
' --
=" -f ,ft___._
Tout, wos omong the leoding pioneers ol Germon
1934
housing conslruclion. The numerous housing schemes he
built in Fronklurl in lhe period 1926-1930 show how
keen Moy's eye wos for lhe urbon delolls thol con
improve living condilions. The lesson he leoches is thol
lhe rother dull ollotment plons thol usuolly result Iram lhe
limited budgels for social housing con octuolly be
lronsformed inlo on excellenl living environmenl in spite
of lhe restricted meons, se long os lhe plons ore worked
out wilh the proper sense of orienlotion ond proporlion,
Of course il is imporlont lo realize lhal lhe orchitecture
of lhe dwellings ond lhe design ai lhe surroundings were
lhe responsibilily ol the some mon, who moreover did
not moke a dislinclion between orchilecture ond urbon
plonning ond therefore succeeded in ottuning dwellings
and environmenl lo each other is such a woy lhol lhey
become complemenlory paris of o single whole.
The Rõmerstodl housing scheme is silualed on a genlle
slope by lhe river Niddo. The porollel slreels lollow lhe
direclion ol lhe volley, ond ohhough il mighl hove been
especiolly obvious here, wilh lhe terroced streets, lo
plon the gorden consislenlly on the volley side, it wos
decided to moke lhe lronl doors of lhe row•houses on
efther side of lhe rood face eoch olher. The inequolily of
the two entrance sides, resulting from lhe orienlolion ond
lhe (slight) dillerence in level, wos compensoted for by
orgonizing the streel spoce in such o woy thot lhe
houses on lhe side wilh leu lovourobly sited gordens
would hove a green zone ol lhe fronl.
A choroclerislic detoil is lhol lhe povement stops shorl ol
lhe loçade, leaving o norrow strip bore directly
odjoining the norlh woll. This is on obvíous ploce for
plonts, ond creepers grown up ali over the foçode, thus
sohening ils slorkness.

1985
11811( 001111

HET GEIN, HOOSINv (124-ll8)
The loyoul of lhe housing eslote 'Het Gein' in Amersfoorl
is such lhol lhe emphosis come lo lie especiolly on lhe
quolity of lhe living-slreels. lhe lerroin wos divided os
much os pouible ínto long stroighl blocks ond porollel
slreels. AI firsl slghl lhis yields less rolher lhon more
voriely thon lhe convenlionol loyout, bul the ideo is lhol
quiet slroíght streets provide o better slorling•poinl for
voriolions within the ollotments. lt is like o sylem of worp
ond weh, os lhe worp jstreels] in o woven piece of cloth
conslilule o slrong jeven colourless lf necessory) struclure,
while lhe weft gives lhe weove its colour. An impor!ont
requirement, though, is lhol the living,streels be kept os
lroffic-free os possible. Much ottention hos ciso been poid
10 the streel profiles; they ore nol only essenliol for lhe
121 Ili
quolity of eoch individual dwelling, bul olso for the woy
ll1
they interrelote. lhe fronls, ond hence also lhe fronl doors
12' llS
of the dwellings, foce eoch olher lwo by two on eilher
side of the slreel. The streels hove o soulh-eost to north•
west orientotion, which meons thot one side cotches more
SI IISSONS FOI SIUBINIS li uc•tll(IUlí
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sunlight thon lhe other. Thol is why lhe streets ore
osymmetricolly orgonized: the porking spoces hove been
moved to one side of lhe street • lhe shody side. lhe olher,
sunnier side, is lorgely fllled with greenery. The dwellings
wilh front doors on the sunny side ond consequently wilh
gordens on the shodier side hove been compensoted for
lhls with on extra spoce (1.80 m wide) olong the fronl,
which con be used to instoll covered porches, conservo­
toril�s, ownings, or olher individual conveniences. These
odditions were olreody supplied by us from lhe outset ln
the cose of o number of dwellings, which might well serve
to stlmulote occuponts of similar dwellings to follow these
exomples if they con offord lo do so. How lhis zone is
eventuolly used by everyone c:oncerned will c:onstitule the
moin source of diversity • not os o producl of design bul
rolher os on expression of individual c:hoices. Some ol lhe
dwellings, too, hove roof exlensions, ond ossuronces hove
ciso been given 1h01 more odditions will be permilled in o
speciolly oppoinled zone in the fulure. lhe gorden sheds
ore locoted eilher dose lo lhe house or in lhe gorden,
depending on sunlighl condilions. ln the porliolly shoded
gordens, this still mede it possib le to creole o sunny spol
with some shelter. lhe ollotments wilh o more lovouroble Li•1119,,11._et,
orientolion hove their shed dose to the house so thot lt Hombu,9 &.,,. ..n
tli,..,,,,,110/Je and
becomes ottroctive lo construct some kind of connection in folkenried, �,mony
lhe spoce between lhe two.

ACCfSSIBrlllY Of FlATS
!)wellings should be os occessible os possible di1ectly Iram
the street, ond p1eferobly not too for 1emoved from il, os is
ohen the cose in multi,storey buildings. Whenever, os ín
lhe cose of Rots, you con only reoch your own home
indirectly by way of communol holls, elevoton, sloircoses,
golleries 01 orcodes, there is lhe risk of these communol
spoces being so ononymous lhot they discouroge informal
contocts between residents, ond degenerote inlo o vost no,
mon'�lond. Even if the need for o certoin omounl ol privo•
cy for eoch unil in muhi-slory bui ldings hos been token into
occount, people who live neltldoor, obove, or under eoch
other, do hove lot to do which eoch other, while the spottol
conditions for lhis ore locking. Also in o block ol fiais it is
difficult to know where to welcome friends ond where lo
soy goodbye. Do you occompony lhem lo your lronl doar
ond leove lhem lo go down lhe stoírs clone, 01 do you
wolk them oll the woy down lo where their cor is porked in
lhe porking lot? And whol o lot ol drogging oround wíth
luggoge you hove to do to pock the cor when you 90 ori
holidoyl li your children ore still too smoll 10 p lay outside
on their own, lhe siluotion is 1eolly problemoticol.

'The f,m beg, ns,

getl/ng 11M, cor ond
lroilor r.ady
from ANWB Toutisl
Gu/de.

ln residefltiol neighbourhoods we must give the 1trfft llving•JJreel, So�mundhom, E1111lond 1887. 'Celeb101in9 Oueen 130
Vic10tío', Jubitte. By th• lote 1880, th. 011Hn'1 po(>llloflty hod
o llving•room quolity not only for day•to·day inter• surmounr.d me eor/Je1 woveJ ol ltpubl,,onJsm. ofld col'le l o o cl1mo(
131

oction but ol,o for more 1peciol occasions, IO that both fn lhe Jubífee, ai 1887 ond 1891, by wltich timo ,he wa; or much Ili 132

communal adivitie, and activitie, of impot1ance to the
local community con toke ploce there.
The street con also be the setting for community activi·
tie1, 1uch Cll the celebration of special occo,ion, thot
concern oll the local inhabitont,. lt is impo1_1ible to de·
sign the street area in such a way thClt people suddenly
take ta having their meals out of door, together.
loved ond ,evered os o n y mo1>0rch ln 8ríloln belore ond since. Nol,ce
thot o polrc,mon, ín 11,e cenlre o! the pldure, wilh lhe (119 ln hr, 119ht
r,
hood, amoog tlte olfidcd petJotu w/,o ot1 h,lping fo ""'' lhe
popvloce, 11,e doy Is worm enougb for mony o/ rh, loclle, ot the rabi.
on the 1igh1 fo howw op,ned /1,eir poro.ais ro p,ot«;l lhem ogo,n,r rhe
, u n . A ,unb<rrnl face ín o womon wo,, ai couue, o lhíng lo b. ovo,ded
ol o!/ com il ,he would mointoin ony wrl ai racial po1il/on.'
/GotdOII Winrer, A country e<imtfo 1844 • J 1)14, Penguin london/

lllt IC ooa11N S9
1
 Yet it would be o good idea to kHp thls kind of imoge
at the badt of your mind as a sort of standard thot
your design must in principie be capable of meeting.
Although people ln northem countries are not ln the
habit of taking their meak out of doors, it does hoppen
every now and again, and so we should see to it that
thls is not rendered imposslble o priori by the spotial
organi_iatlon of the p�,. Perhaps people will even be
more inclined to put the public space to new usn if the
opportunities for doing 10 are explicltly offered to 1 • •
them. • • • • •

Just as important as the dlspositlon of the residential

• •
• • • •
units vis à vis each other is the fenestration, the place·
ment of bay wlndows, bakonies, terraces, landlngs,
doorsteps, porches · whether they hove the correct
dimenslons ond how they are spotially organized, i.e.
adequately uporated but cenoinly not too much so. ,1 (1
lt is always a questian of findi ng the right balance to
enable the residents to withdrow into privocy when
they want to but also to seek contact with others.
Of crucial importante in this respect is the spoce
oround the front door, tbe ploce where the houu ends
and the living•Jtreet b-s,ins. lt is what the dwelling and
the Uving-street hove to offer each other thot
IJJ determines how well or how badly they will bath be ····••·· "'"!!!!!••·· ·••111:1 ...
IJ� able to function. .... ... - fl

Ili
•
13' fAMJUSTfRE, GUISE, fRANCE 1859-83 fU3·136)
The Fomilislêre in Guise in lhe norlh ol Fronce conslitules
o dwelling community esloblished by lhe Godin stove fac•
lory oher lhe utopíon ideos of Fourier. lhe complex com•
prises 475 dwelling units, divided into lhree odjoining
blocks with inner courtyo,ds, os well os exlensive focilíties
such os o crêche, school ond loundry. ln lhe l o,ge cove,­
ed courtyords of the Fomllistére ln Guise lhe surrounding
dwellings lilerolly constitute the wolls. Allhough lhe shope
of lhe courtyord ond the prison-like monner in which lhe
fronl doors o,e siluoted olong the golleries slrikes us
todoy os somewhol primilive, this eorly 'block ol Hots' is
still o pre-eminenl exomple ol how slreet ond dwellings
con be complemen-tory. The loct, mo1eove1, 1h01 these
courtyords ore ,ooled mokas them ext,o lnviting for
communol octivilies svch os those which were apporently
held there in lhe old doys, when lhe housing complex slill
fvnctioned os o lruly colleclive form of hobitotion.
'Every ollempl to reform work refalions is doomed lo
foilure unless li is accomponied by lhe refo,m o/ building (.7
for lhe purpose of creoling o comforlable environmenl
for lhe wo,kers, which is fully alluned lo lheir procticol
needs os wel/ os to providing occess la lhe pleasures
of community living which every humon being deserves
lo enjoy.'
IA God,n. Sc/i,hons Soc,ale,, Pa,i• 189AI
60 IISSOIS fOl SIUIIUS U UCllflCIDII
1 1
 '
•
,!,
DE DRIE HOVEN, HOME fOR TliE EtDERLY fl!l•HO)
ln hospitais, homes for lhe elderly ond similar lorge living•
communilíes lhe reslricled mobílity of lhe residents mokes
il imperolive to conceive lhe plon olmosl literolly os o
smol�scole city. ln lhe cose of De Drie Hoven everylhing
hod lo be occes.sible within o relotively shorl dislonce
under lhe some roof, becouse hordly onyone is copoble of
leoving lhe premises wíthoul ossislonce. And lhanks lo lhe
lorge size of lhe home il wos possible lo realize such a
comprehensive progromme of omenities lhot the instilutian
could indeed opproximole lhe noture of o city in thot
sense, too. The resídenls occommodate themselves to their
envíronment os if it were o villoge community.
Slrongly ínlluenced by lhe nolion of devolulian in lhe
orgonízolion, lhe complex hos been divided up into a
number of 'wings', eoch with its own 'centre'. The differ­
enl deportmenls come logether ln lhe central 'common
room'. Thls dlsposillon of the spoces hos resulted in o
sequence of open oreos which, Iram o spotiol point of
view, reíle<t the sequence: neighbourhood cenlre,
community centre, city centre • o composite whole within
which eoch 'cleoring' or open oreo serves o specilíc
fundion. Yet thls pottern is domlnoted os lt were by lhe
centrei 'courtyord', which the residenls lhemselves coll lhe
'village squore'.
This 'village squore' is not, strictly speoking, bordered by
dwelling units, os is literolly the cose with the roofed
courtyords of the Fomílistere in Guise, but os for os usoge
ond social relotions ore con-cerned it does constilule lhe UI 138
focus ol lhe complex. This is where oll oclivilies thot ore
orgonized for ond by the resident community toke ploce: Ut HO
porfies, concerb, theolre ond dance performances,
foshion shows, morkels, choir performances, cord-gome
evenings, exhibitions ond festive meols for speciol
occosionsl Somelhing speciol goes on lhere olmos! every
doy. This 'villoge squore' is o very free interprelotion of
the usual auditarium for special evenls, which would be
unused holf the lime il íl were o seporote, less centrolly
locoted hall.
rUIII( DOMlll 61

MoNTESSORI SCHOOt, DElfT 041,11!1
ln lhe Montessori School the communol holl hos been con•
ceived in such o woy lhol lhe holl relotes to lhe clossrooms
os o slreel relotes lo lhe housel. The spoliol relolion be­
lween closs-rooms ond holl ond lhe shope of lhe holl were
conceived os lhe 'communol living-room' ol lhe school.The
141 10 e.xperience of how lhis functions in lhe school con, in turn,
serve os o model for whol could be reolized in o streel.
143 111
KASBAH, HENGELO 1973 / P. 8LOM (HJ.1411
No one hos been more oclively engaged in reseorching
lhe reciprocity of dwelling ond slreel-spoce thon Piei Blom.
Whereos lhe Kosboh scheme [..,. Fo,um 7, 1959 aad Forom 5,
1960-6l) wos concerned especiolly with whot the
disposition of lhe dwellings themselves could generote, in
the 'urban oreo' creoled in Hengelo lhe dwellings do nol
constitute the wolls of the streel but rother lhe 'rool ol the
62 LISSOIS 101 SIUDINIS 1� Jl(fftlHIUtl
•
city', leoving the lorge ground-level spoce underneoth for
oll communol odivities ond evenls.However, only
incídentol use is mode of lhe exceptionol opportunilies in
terms of spoce thol ore offered here.
There is quite o lesson to be leornt here. The dwellings ore
too isoloted hom lhe slreel below • lhey ore, so to speok,
lurned owoy from il, they face upwords, ond not much of
lhe street con be seen Iram the windows, while even the
enlronces ore indirectly positioned vis 6 vis lhe slreet. ln
thot respecl lhe lorm of lhe street spoce, os counterlorm lo
lhe dwellings, does nol creole lhe condilions for everydoy
usoge. 8esides, this spoce is probobly too lorge lo be
filled, becouse there ore not enough omenities • omenities
which would hove existed os o motter ol course in o self.
conlolned villoge ol lhe some size.
Bul just try lo imagine this scheme in lhe heorl o!
Amsterdom, wilh o busy mo1ket in the slreel below!
Thot musl hove been lhe kind of situolion lhot Piei Blom
envisoged when he conceived his design.

Having departed from the trodltional bl0<k siting

principie, architects have endeavoured, insplred
especially by Team X and Forum, to invent a stream of
new dwelling forms. This often gave rlse to spectaculor
results, but whether they fun<tion properly i1 only
portiolty depe nunt on the quolity of the dwellings
themselves. What i 1 at leost as impartant i s whether
the arch.lte<t can flnd a way, uslr,g the dwellings 01 hls
construction material, to form o 111Nt that functions
aclequately. The quolity of each is dependent on that of
the other: houses and ,,,..,. are compi.mentaryl

Thot the constru.cted result ts so aften disappalntir,g is 141

becou1e architect1 ali too often have a mistaken idea 14'
of the way in which the actual street•space will be
experlenced and uled in thelr scheme. Apart from the
fa<t that they tend lo rely too heavily on the
effectivenes1 o f 1pecific provi1ion1 (which ali •- often
tvm out to be far less viable than envisaged) the most
Via Mozzanli
common errar lits in the mis<Glculotion of the rotio Ve,ono, lloly
between the size of the public space and the number of
people that may be expected to use lt. i•
:,:,,: •
lf the street area i s •- large, tao little happens in too
few ploces, ond ln splte of ali the good intentions to
the contrary, the consequence t, vast spaces whkh
as1ume the notvre of o 'desert' slmply becouse they
ore too empty. r- mony projech • however well·
deslgned • would fun<tion satbfo<torily if only a
morket were to be held on a sunny Sotvrday: the kind
of morket you con eosily conjure up in your
imagination, but of which in reality there is only one
per 100,000 dwellings.
You should reolly have to test your plan continually for
'populotlon density' by roughly indlcoting the number
of people on your blue-print that may be expected to
make use of the different areas in varying sítvations.
ly doing that you will ot least get some ideo obovt
whether there Is pel'hops o surfelt of space for
recreation, for instonce. While vo,t 1pace1 often appeal
to the archltect'1 imogination os having a certain air of
serenity, lt i s often doubtful whether the local
populotion will feel the some way. For dwellings and
builcllngs ln general a wide voriety of forms con be
deviled, so long as the 1treet·space is formed in 1uch a
way that lt can serve as a cata.lyzlng ogent between

..
the local inhobitantl in everyday 1itvation11 so that at
least the diatance betwNn the individual inhabltants of
the oll too often hermeticaUy sealed dwellings is not
-
lncreosed, but rother thot the spatiol orgonizotion moy
serve to stimulate social interoction and cohesion.
-
IUIII( oo•u• 63
 10 THE PUBLIC DOMAIN organi1ad wíth just as much care so that a sítuotion is
creotecl in which lhe streel can serve more purpo1e1
besides motorlzed trafflc. lf the street as a collection of
building blocks is basically lhe eJC.pression of the
plurality of individual, mostly private, companents, the
sequence of streets ond squoru as o whole potentlally
con,titutes lhe s-pace where it should be possible for o
dialog ue between inhabitonts to take ploce.
The streel wos, originally, the space for octions,
revolutions, cele-brations, and throughout histo,y you
ca:n fallow from one period to lhe nexl how arc:hitects
designed the public space on beholf of the community
which they in foct served,
So this is a pleo far more emphasis on the
enhoncement of the public clomain in arder that it
might better serve bath to nurture and to reflect social
1:nteraction.With resped to eve,y urban space we
should osk ourselves how it functions: for whom, by
whom and for what purpose.
• •
;-1 ' "'
..
•r
·- ,.li
• !
..:: . - a
-
Are we merely impressed by its sound proportions or

�,
does it pemaps a l.s o serve to stímulate improved
• 1
-· I

�
i' &. 1 J •'
. .. '"' . •
' .......
relotions betwHn people?
When o street or square strikes us os beoutiful ít is nol
ju.st because the dlmenslons and proportions are
-

Srud.,1 mo,ch ,n Goltr,o VirlOl,o Emonuei.
Ml lon 'Wit!, t/te slUÓtnl ,,,oJ, educot ,on hoJ
rtrurned 10 ,�, c,ty ond ,o H,e tltu/s ood
hw rhul fo.nd o Ield o{ rid, and d1ver, í{1ed
••Pf"'""' wlt,c� ,, '""'� ""''' lo,,,,ot,,, 11,on
t/aot offered by 1h1 old Khoot 1yslllm
Plfltopi we a,e lteoded toWOfd ao e,o ,n "'h eh
edueot,o• o•d rotai ,,pe,,ence w U 090,n
co,oc,d,. 1n Nhlch tlie Jcllool oJ o• tJ'Obi,Jlttd
11/ld cod,/,,d iotMul,on •o long1t foot ony
t&ason lar e�1s:t�11ce '
/ ftolT! on ortlcle 'A•ch ,/,ctvlf ond educot1on'
by Gioocorlo de Cor/o ,n 'Hon,o,d Educohon
Ra,rew' 1969/
pleosing but also because of the way it functions
within lhe city os o whole. Thls nead not depend
exclusively on the 1patial condítioru, olthough they
oft.n help, and obviously lhese cases are interes'ting as
examplu for the arc.hilect ond urban plo.nner,

147 lf th. houses are private clomains, then the street is the
public domain. Paying equol ottention to housing ond
149 14' 1♦-t oJike meons t...ating the street not merely os the
residual spoce between houslng blocks, but rather as a
funclomentolly complementa,y element, spotiolly
1780/ ).V.LOUIS L118, 141.IIOl
PALAIS ROYAL, PARIS
ln 1780 rows ol houses wilh shopping orcodes under•
neolh were erected on lhree sides ol whol wos originolly
lhe gorden ol lhe Polois Royal ln Poris.Todoy il ís one ol
lhe most 'sheltered' public spoces in lhe city, while ol the

11 l"Cil

·- ..Jhl -
-
64 usso•s 101 SIUIIIIS ,. U(IIIHIOIJ
some time serving os on importont short-cut lrom lhe
Louvre orea lo the Bibliothêque Notionole. The smoll
oblong pork derives its spotiol quolity ond its p leosont
olmosphere nol only from lhe sound proporlions of lhe
regulorly orticuloted surrounding buildings, but olso ftom
lhe voriegoted loyoul wilh oreos of gross, choirs,
benches, sond•plts ond on open-oir café for the city•
dwellers to choose from.

PUBUC SaUARf, VENCE, FRANCE (lSll

ln countries wilh o worm climole lhe street nolurolly
figures much more prominenlly in the tives of lhe people
lhon in countries with o cold climole. Public squores like
lhose in Vence ore to be lound in every vllloge ond every
lown ln lhe counlries bordering o n the Medilerroneon. ln
mony ploces tourism hos severely eroded the troditionol
woy of life, ond hence the original function of public
spoces, but neverlheless these spoces ore slill eminently
suited to communol octívities • ond perhops even more so
in these chonged limes, os for inslonce open-olr concerls
orgonized for lourists prove.

ROCKEFEUEI PLAZA, NEW 'fORJ< CIS2l

Rockefeller Plozo in the heort of New York lunctions even
in winter os o sorl of urbon living-room, when people from
oll over go there to skate on lhe lemporory ica.rink. lhe
skoters show olf their prowess to the onlookers, ond
olthough there is not oll thot much going on, il con
hoppen thot lhe possers-by experlence o cerloin feeling of
logelherness, lhe kind of feeling which you might expect
in o theolre, o church, or in some other ploce where
people gother together, ond which orises here
. sponloneously thonks portly lo lhe spotiol condítions lhot
hove been creoted.

J 1 ...
::i
.. ·-·• 1r-.·
. �

•
- --
1ilJ'
.

...
.,
AI.. ,1,..,

0
, ,1
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w
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' • • 1' •. , �
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151
•
•
' 112
150

tlBtlC ro»IIN 6S
IU IS4
1 ss
PIAZZA DEL CAMPO, StfNA, ITALY IISl•ISSI
lf there is ony public spoce whose enclosed form ond
exceptionol locotion evokes lhe impresslon of on urbon
living-room it is the Piozzo dei Campo in Sieno. Althougll
it ls rother inworcl-looking, wilh its somewhol stern
buildings dominoted by the Poloz.z o Communole, its
soucer-like hollow with sleep olleys rodioling from il slnl
unmistokobly creoles on otmosphere of openness ond
lighl. lhe sunny side of lhe pioz:zo is lined wilh open-oir
coles which ore full ali yeor round, especiolly with
tourists
66 lf554•S 101 5110015 li .ll(Hll!CIUU
lhe siluotion chonges completely when the Palio deli
Conlrode is held, ond oll lhe differenl neighbourhoods
compete with eoch other in horse roces. lhis onnuol evenl,
which is bolh o ceremony ond o proper conlest, costs o
spell on lhe enlire town ond ils populolion, ond lhe lovely
shel�shoped spoce overflows with crowds of people who, •
slonding olong lhe roised edges, oll hove o good view ol
the roce toklng ploce in the centre.AI such limes the open•
oir coles moke woy for grondstonds, ond lhe windows of
every single house with o view ol the piano ore fllled lo
copocity, either wilh poying spectolors or with lriends ai
the fomilies. And of the eve of lhe contes! 15,000 people
dine out in the slreets of ali the neighbourhoods.
PlAzA MAYOR, CHINCHON, SPAIN ns,.,sn
ln Chinchon, o smoll town south of Madrid, lhe central
morket squore is lronsformed into on arena when the
onnuol corrido is held. This plozo, shoped like o Greek
omphilheolre situoted in o hollow on the hillside, Is
enlirely surrounded by buildings, with shops ond cofés
under lhe orcodes below ond dwellings obove. AII these
dwellings hove wooden bolconies running from one end ol
the foçode lo lhe other, joinrng up lo lorm o continuous
tlered circle foclng lhe squore. Whenever o corrido is held
the bolconies become grondstonds, witn rows of seols
which lhe residenls sell to moke some edro money. ln this
woy privole dwellings, locoted in such prominenl ond
strotegic ploces in lhe lile of the communily, tempororily
toke on o public slotus.
 Ili 111
1ll

-
......

lhe woy 1hese bolconies ore oll constructed olong lhe

some principies os on open odditionol wooden zone
conlilevered from the relotively c losed foçodes -
obvious ly with this extra public function in mind - lhey
drow lhe spoce logether to form o lorge uni�ed whole
resembling lhe clouicol ltolion theotre wilh its verticolly
tiered rows ol boxes.

DIONNE SPRING, TONNERRE, flANCf llS81

Communol wosh-ploces (or lhe centrolly lcx:oted woter
pumps or tops in smoll rural communilíes) hove olwoys
been o popular meeting-ground for local inhobitonts,
where the latest news ond gosslp is exchonged. Running
woter and washing-mochines hove pul on end to
this. 'Women hove more lime for lhemselves now', is an
orgumenl often heord in defense of modernizolion. At
the fomous spring of Tonnerre the ploce where the woler
wells op from deep down in lhe eorth was endosed by o
simple circular dom. This solution intensifies lhe
grondeur ol lhis natural phenomenon, while at lhe some
lime crealíng lhe simple conditions for a communol
wosh-ploce for the people who hoppen to live in the
vicinily.
We don't moke wosh-ploces onymore (car-woshíng
inslollations don'I counl). Are there in foct slill ploces
where everydoy oclivilies give rise to the need to creote
communol focilitie-s in the public oreo, such os those thol
ore slill to be lound ín less prosperous parts ol the
world?
 11 PUBLIC SPACE AS Untll the nlneteenth centvry few buildin91 w.,.
public, and even then not affl\pletely sa, The public

CONSTRUCTED
acce11ibility af 1uch buildin91 as chur<he1, temple1,
ma1que1, spas, ba.zaars (amphi-)theatres,

ENVIRONMENT
universities, etc. is subject to cenaln reltrictions
lmpo1ed by those ln charge or by the -nert, Truly
public spaces were nearly always out af daan,
The nineteenth centvry wm the galden age af the
public building, canstructed in principie with fundi
1s, providecl by the cammunity. The types of buildings thot
"º were develaped in that periad constituted the building·
blacks for the city, and we can still leorn fram thaM
examples which architectvral and spatial means can
but be usecl ta make a buildlng more inviting a.nd
hospitable.
Th• indu,trial (r)evolutlon opened up a new mas•
market, The acceleration and massiflcation of
productlon and distribution systems led ta the creation
of depcrrtment 1tore1, (world) eAhibitions, coverecl
market•pkK•• and af cau.rse ta the canstruction af
public transport networks, with railway 1tatian1 and
metro, and �onsequently ta the rise af tourlsm.

VtelfY, fRANCE (159,IIQ)

A porticulorl y interesting exomple is the 'wotering-ploce'
with noturol sprlngs, such os Vichy in fronce. The hopes
ond expectations cancerning lhe heolthiJivlng propetlies
of the woter ore o welcome subject ol conversotion for
oll visilors. The cures thot hove been prescribed for them
toke some lime, which meons thot their poths cross
regulorly in the park ln the centre ol the town where the
springs ore locoted. The moin wolks through the pork
ore roofed with lightweight meto! slrudures, which gives
the stroller the feeling ol being both inside ond out of
doors ai the some time.
The generol otmosphere is thot ol on endless open-<Jir
colé, with countless benches ond choirs where those
seeking to be cured of their oilments can sit and take lhe
local heolth-giving waler. The permanenl stream of
visitars is o determining lactar of lhe urban life as o
whale: there ore mony shops, reslauronts, o cosino ond
oll monner of locilities for the visitors, which provide the
locol inhobilonts with on importont source ol income.
Thus on eorly lorm ol tourisl industry developed here.

The most ba1ic reason for social intercourse has always

been trade, which in all form1 of community llfe takes
place ta a certa:in extent in the strNts. Tawn and
country mfff when the individual farmer goe• ta tawn
ta sell his wares, and ta spend the proceeds an other
goacls. Meanwhlle news i.1 uchanged.

61 IISSOIS fOI SfUDf•g IJ AICIIIIOUU

Lfs HAUES, PARIS 1854-66 / V. 6AUARO tl6M64>
The morket holls in Paris consliluted on indispensoble
link in lhe choín ol dlstribution ol goods ín lhe cily. o
reloy-stolion os it were in o mommoth system, where
producer ond consumer no longer moinloin direct
contocl with one onolher. The morkel holls consisted ol
vost oreos with spon-<ools ond o shellered oreo for
looding ond unlooding. This hub of oclivily did nol loil
lo leove ib mork on lhe surrounding neighbourhood:
there were, for inslonce, mony all,nighl restauronls,
some of which slill exist, os o reminder of the old d!lys.

The conlinuing exponsion ol scale, especially in

tronsportation of food-stulfs, made it necessory lo move
the entire centre elsewhere {to Rungis). The vost sleel­
fromed povilions, once vocoled, we,e demolished in
1971, in spile ol inlensive compoigns to preveni this
lrom happening. li is always dillicult to find premises lo
occommodate theotre perfo,monces, sports
manifestotions and other events thot ottract lorge
oudiences, and these holls would hove served very well
for this purpose. The demolilion of these holls ond whol
they hove been replaced by con indeed be seen os a
symbol ol lhe deslruction ol the public {street•I spoce os
an 'arena' o f urban life. 161 "'
162 16C

6�
 • much less toleronce ond community spirit, lhey ore no
.........
J
''
(OMMUNITY CENTRES / f. VAN KUNGfREN u,11
The c;ommunity centres designed by Von Klingeren (he
colled them ogoros) such os those in Dronten ond
Eindhoven were ottempts to ossemble under one roo! oll
the oclivities thot toke ploce in o city centre. li is this kind
of setting thot generotes new sociol roles ond new
161 exchonges • which connol evolve in the new urbon oreos
lólik ond neighbourhoods becouse no one hos thought of
moking lhe necessory provisions.
Oue to plonning ín terms of seporotely situoted bo.xes with
seporote entrances, rother thon in terms ol on integroted
urbon fobric, lhe 'boxes' tend to hove on adverse effect
on the viobility ol the environment os o whole ond,
porodoxicolly, the better lhey fvnclíon, lhe more lhey
detrocl from the quolity of lile in the slreel. Thus they ore,
reolly, no more thon 'orliliciol' urbon centres whích owe
their existence to lhe inodequocy ai urbon provisions ond
the lock of on oll-encomponing view of the necenory
correlotion between newly-built residentiol
neighbourhoods ond the existing urbon core.
However interesling these community centres moy hove
been os o social experímenl ín lhe l 960's, il is nol
surprising lhot, under the present social conditions wíth so
70 IISSOMS f�I SIUOIMIS I• UCllll(IUtf
longer in use 1odoy. Especiolly the noise of the octivities
going on in odjoining spoces wos lelt lo be disturbing,
ond soon people slorted lo erect wolls ond other kinds of
portítions, thereby underminlng the spoliol unity thot wos
fundomentol to the design.
THE EIFFEl TOWER, PARIS 1889 / G. EIFFEL IIU)
The Eiffel Tower, which wos erected lor lhe World
Exhibilion. is not only lhe tourists' symbol of Paris, but
olso, os originolly intended, o monument to lhe new ideos
thot hod emerged in the course of the ninsteenth century.
Here we see, in o more suggestive form lhon ever before,
the concreta expression ol social chonge os monifested
in the exponsion of scole ond lhe centrolizotion ol power,
A conslruction such os the Eiffel T ower demonstrotes thot
which becomes possible when innumeroble smoll
componenls, eoch with its speclolly ossigned function ond
ploce, ore combined i n such o woy os to lorm o cenlrolly
conceived entity, of which lhe whole for exceeds the sum
of the paris. lhe sub�ety ol this leal of engineeríng
becomes comprehensible when you realize thot o scole
model of the structure 30 cm. high would weigh o mere
7 groms IGuide Michelin). The greoter lhe control ai the
octive forces the greoter lhe exponsion thol could be
ochieved. The Eiffel Tower is on embodiment of lhe
princíple of centrolizotion • which con produce such on
owe-inspiring force out of so mony liny subordinote
forces. li is o demonstrotion of lhe proud occomplishmenl
ol on oudocious plon undertoken in oll innocence with no
thought of the monstrous ond oll�ngulling forces thot
would ultimotely be unleashed. The 'tour de force' of the
distribulion system, whereby the goods produced by o
moss ol individuais ore dislributed through o moze of
inlermediory chonnels omong o moss of consumers, is
bosed on o sophlsticoled structure of division of lobour,
speciolizotion, ond eflicocious controcls. And it Is
undoubtedly this kind of orgonizotionol technique thol
feeds lhe self-propogoting Moloch of scole-exponsion ond
the diminution ol the individuol's influence on the process
os a whole.

EXHlatnON PAVIUONS
lhe world exhibllions • lhose inlernolíonol showcoses ol
moss production, for which new morkels hod lo be found
or creoted • necessítoled the conslruclion ol enormous
exhibition holls such os the Cryslol Poloce in london
(1851 J 1161, 168), ond the Grond Polo is l] 900) 11,,1 ond Pelil
Polois in Por is, both ol which ore slill slonding. These vosl
ho1'5 of steel ond gloss were lhe lirst poloces for lhe
consumer, who rules ond is ruled by lhe consumer soclety
(consumers bolh consume ond ore themselves consumed in
o consumer society).
•
Thís oge of new production methods ond syslems olso
gove birth lo new construction methods: the introduclion
of sleel os o building material mede il possible to erecl
roof slruclures wilh on enormous spon wilhin o very short
time. Besides, gloss panes could now be inserted in lhe
steel rool-fromes, ond lhe resulting lronsporency gove the
vost hall on airy, light atmosphere. lndeed, the new 117 1'8
slructures were more like bell-jars eodosing o spoce 11,
oflerlng bosic shelter from lhe exterior weother condilions,
ond therefore resembled gígontíc gloss-houses (such os
lhose slill slonding in loken neor Brussels ond in london's
Kew Gordens) rother lhan lhe usual solid buildings.
(lncidentolly, lhe Cryslol Polaca ilself wos a direct producl
ai trodilionol gloss-house construclion). lhe lorge spoos,
too, undoubledly, conlribute lo lhe feeling of nol being
inside o building in lhe convenlionol sense. While lhe use
of steel slructures mede such wide spans possible, ond lhe
new possibililies oflered by lhe new conslruction melhods
were eogerly exploiled, lhe queslion rises whelher lhey
were lruly functionol. Perhops not, because even though
the vosl gloss roofs undeniobly provided excellenl
illuminolíon for huge spoces, o few columns more would
nol hove mode thol much difference from o funclionol
point of view. Once ogoin, lhe sheer feosibility seems lo
hove creoted lhe need os much os the need colled for new
lechniques and po$.Sibilities. Jusl os lhe Eiffel Tower
cleorly demonstroled o woy of thinking, so thol woy of
thinking wos undoubtedly inspired by the new possibilities
of conslruction: thus demand generotes supply ond vice
verso (wh ich come first: lhe chicken or lhe egg?). 1t is in
locl very difficult nol to ossociole the vost spon4oofs ond
the woy in which they evolved os well os lhe minimal
spotiol articolotion thot they entolled wilh the emergence
of o woy of thinking which hos led to the vos! exponsion
of scole ond lhe ottendonl centrolizolion of lpdoy.
,u111c DOIAIW 71
1 1
 Mo9011n du A, Bon Morcbj, Paris
Prinlemps, Por/1 1876/LC. B<,ileou
1881-1889/
P . S@d,/Ie

• Ili� -s.....,
.. ;•
". "�,·
-- --- ,,
...

110 177 DEPAtTMENT STORES, PAtlS

111 The exponsion ol the scole ol consumption ond morkel
which lound expression in the steel-ond-gloss exhibition
holls ol lhe losl cenlury olso monifested itself, on o locol
levei, ln the lorge deporlment slores.

Unllke lhe bozoors ond olher kinds of covered slreel

morkets where lorge numbers of individuo! vendors
come logelher under lhe some roof to sell their wores,
lhe deportment store is o single, centrolly monoged
enterprise 1h01 cloims lo run o shop thol is so lorge thot
everything con be boughl there. li is octuolly o sort ol
generol slore, bul blown up lo gigonlic proportions, ond
with on exceplionolly vorlegated stock.
Whereos lhe merchondise in lhe general slore h kepl
behind lhe counter on shelves reochlng from floor lo
ceiling, occessible only lo lhe solesmon, in lhe
deparlmenl slore it is lhe mony storeys thot ore vlsible on
oll sides ol o lorge central hall - líke lhe shelves in the
general slore, wilh the importonl difference 1h01 they ore
wholfy occessible lo lhe buying public.
The gloss roof whlch is to be found ln neorly oll lhe
lrodilíonol deportmenl stores (e.g. les Grands Magasins
in Paris) produce-s lhe some spoliol effect, bosicolly, os o
single, large shop, even thovgh lhe surrounding spoces
ore divide-d inlo seporale deportmenls for different
- goods.
The central hall of Golerie Lofoyelle olfers lhe public a
royol welcome, lhe moíeslic free-slanding sloircase
being especiolfy inviting (the stoircose wos eventuolly
dismontled lo obtoin o few extra squore metres of seles•
1 spocel.+

Goftrie Lofayttre,
Paris 1900

72 lfSSOMS fOI SJUOfllS IN AIClllHIUll

R>.llWAY STAllONS
lhe construction ol on exponding roilwoy network opened
up the world to trovei and la lhe inlerchonge of praducl5,
thereby moking lhe world bolh smoller ond lorger. The
stations lhot were erecled in lhe lowns ond vifloges, like
so mony gofe,buildíngs, conslituled lhe cornerslones ol lhe
system. Nol only did the roilwoy stotions introduce o new
type of building into the towns, usuolly situoled in o
prominenl ploce in the centre, they olso brough1 with lhem
o whole new ronge ol related urbon locilities ond
oclivilies, such os hotels, ploces to eat ond drink, ond
invoriably shops. And quite often they developed quite
independently inlo businesses in their own right,
depending only portly on lhe custam ol lroin possengers.
The holls ol mony roilwoy stotions hove groduolly
developed inlo publlc spoces, roofed ports ol the city,
where you con slill buy orticles when oll lhe olher shops
ore dosed, where you con chonge money, use lhe
telephone, buy magazines, go lo lhe toilet, hove your
photogroph token ln o boolh, gel inlormolion, find o loxi,
or hove o quick meol (or on eloborote one • quite o
number ol roilwoy slolions ore renowned for their
reslouronts). This concenlrotion continues in lhe direct
vicínily, with colél, restouronls ond hotels. ln Greol
8ritoin the holels are often octuolly port ol lhe stotion. ln Central Stot,on, Glosg,iw, Greor 8ntom IIJ
shorl, lhe buslle ond octivity surrounding the orrivol ond 111
deporture of lhe lrains leods lo o greoler concenlrolion of
locilities in the areo oround o roilwoy slolion thon
onywhere else in lhe city.

UNDERG•OUND RAJLWAY STATlONS

lhe entrances ond exils of underground urbon lronsporl
nelworks like lhe Paris metro ond the London
underground hove the some impocl, on o smoller scole
ond in mony dillerenl locotions in lhe cily, os lhe moin
roilwoy stolions. Especlolly lhe Paris metro, wíth íis
distinctive forms is, os il were, one vost construction
which emerges obove ground in oll lhe dilferent
neighbourhoods oll over lhe city, os o lomilior ond
inslontly recognizoble londmork. Whot lhe rollwoy
station is to lhe city, lhe metro entrance is to o
neighbourhood: a ploce which ottrocts local omeníties
ond business. The lobyrinlhine holls ond possages of the
moin inlersections ore o fovourite hounl ol slreet
musicions, especiolly ín winter, when they seek sheller in
this sublerroneon pari of the city.

Paris metro srofion Ploc:11 Oovphine

1898-1901/H, Gv,mord

fUSllC eo.•.i� 73
 12 PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY r- -., -,,,,....,
OF PRIVATE SPACE
�

,...
HI- t
Altho119h the lart e buildings which ore intended to be
octuslble to os mony people os possible ore not
permonentty apen oncl olthough the apening hourt
ore ln fod imposed from obove, such buildings do
imply o fundomentol ond considenible exponsion of
tM publi< wortd.
The most charocteristic exomples of this ,hift of
emphosis are undoubteclly the arcades1 gloss•roofed
1hoppi119 slrNts such 01 tha.. thot were constructed
ln tM nlneteenth century, anel of which 11141ny
impre11lve exomple1 1till svrvive oll over lhe world.
The orcade1 ..rved ln tM first place to exploit the
apen interior 1poce1, and th.y were th.refore
commercial un«Mrtoking1 e.nlirely in keeping with tM
trend towards apening up sales areos for o new
buying public. ln lhi, way peclutrian clrcuits em91'fed
in lhe nucleus of shopping oreos. The absence of
traffi< permits the route to be narrow enough as to
111 afford the potentiol buye.r a gaod view of tM ,hop­ PASSAGf OU CAlRE, PARIS 1 n9 lHS-111)
114 windows on either side. Ali interesling exomple of lhe orcode concepl is lo be
111 11, seen, in on elementory lorm, ín lhe Possoge du Coire in
Paris. The complete building-up of lhe exceplionolly
shoped interior spoce wos conceived together with lhe

74 l(SSO#S fOt SIDDOIS 1� ll(Hlf!CIOI!

outer shell occording to o rotionol principie of ordering
which, to a cerloln exlenl ond subíect lo certoín roles,
permitted o lree disposítion of lhe orchiteclonic elemenls.
Mony of the businesses locoted here ore connected wilh
lhe premises situoted on the periphery, so thot on informal
network of passoges could develop in ond between lhe
seles points i n oddilion to lhe afflcial entrances.

SHOPl'ING MCADES
ln Paris, where the shopping orcode wos invented ond
where il flourished (mony orcodes still exist, especiolly ln
lhe lirsl ond second 'Arrondissements'J lhere ore three
consecutiva blocks with connecting interior possoges:
Posso9e Verdeou, Posso9e Jouffroy, ond Possoge des
Panoramas. Together lhey form o brief choin crouing lhe
Boulevard Montmortre, ond, if continued, il is eosy to
imagine how o network of covered ped1Htrion roules
could hove developed quite lndependently of lhe
surrounding slreel potlern.
Shopping orcodes exisl oll over lhe world, in díverse
forms ond dimensions depending on the local conditions •
olten they hove losl their original glamour os expensíve
shopping districts olthough in mony ploce5 they still

Paris, 2nd
onot>diuemenf

Possoge d,1
Panoramas, Po1i1

Go/er/e Viv1enne,
Polis

11, 111
IIO IS!

ru111c 001u• 7S
 , '
,, .'
'. 1' l 1 �;
..
1
1 ''
......... ..in,
f-, _ ..._,
- _...,.

Strorid Arcodo, occommodote the more luxurious slores, such os lhe

SydMy
Golerie St. Huberl in Brussels ond the Galeria Vittorio
Emonuele in Milon, whích ore lelt by everyone lo be the
heort of the city.
ffor o survey, 0n0lysi1 ond hiitory of lhe orcode 1ee: J.f. Geiil,
Possagen, eín Boulyp des 19Johrhunderts, München 1969)
113 IU
IIS The principie of the orcode regoined lopicol relevonce
11, when lhe lroffic burden in the streets of cíty centres
become so heovy thot the need orose for oreos exdusively
for pedestrions, i.e. o seporole 'system' for pedestrions
alongside the existing .slreet pottern. The nineteenth­
century types of orcode ron through the bloclts, like sborl•
circuits, ond their primory purpose wos to put the interior
oreos lo use.
But olthough the buildings were troversed by the!>e
possoge.s, their outword oppeoronce wos not offected: the
exlerior, the periphery, continued to lunctian seporotely
ond independen�y os o foçode ín ils own right. ln the
cose ai mony covered pedestrion routes of contemporory
design the exterior of lhe complex within which lhe
octivity is concenlroted resembles the unhospiloble reor
wolls of o building. This reversai - lurning lhe building
moss inside-out, os it were • ís no less thon the sheer
perversion of the principie underlying the orcode.

The hith, lo119 pcusatet, Uluminated from above

thanlu to gla,s roofing, give you the feellng af an
interiar: thus they are 'inside' and 'outsicle' at the some

76 ll'>IOI'> 101 '>IDDUI'> IM UCHlll!lUII


tlme. lnside and outslde are so strongly relatlvized vis
à vis each other that you cannot tel1 whether you are
in1ide one buildi ng or in the 1pace connecting two
separate buildings,ln so far a1 the oppasitlon betwNn
building ma.s1e1 and strNt space 1erves to di1tlngui1h
broadly, at any rate • betwNn the private worfd and
the public, the enclosed private domain is transcended
by the lncluslon of arcade1. The inner 1pace i1 made
more accessible, while the fabric of streeb becomes
mare clo,..knit. The city is tumed in1ide out, both
1patlally and al,o as far as the principie of lts
acce,sibílity is concemed,
The concept of the arcade contains the principie of a
new system of accessibility with which the borderline
betwffn public and private is 1hifted and hence
partlally erased, whereby spatlally at any rate the
private domaln becomes more publicly acce11ible.
le/r: GoJerlt
S1. Huberl, Bronef,
Gallerio c!el/'lodush"io
Subo/pino, Turln
The bi.ak away fram the clo1ed perimeter block
sitlng in twentleth·century urbanism, meant the
disintegnitlan of the clear-wt spatial deflnltion given
by the street pattern, As the autonomy o f lhe
buildin91 grew, their interrelationship diminished, so
that they now stand devold of alignment as it were,
like an irregular scaJtering of megallths far away
from each other in an exces1ively large open space,
The 'rue corridor' has degenerated into an 'espace
corridor'.
Thls new open type of sltlng, so lnnavatlve for the
'physical' condition1 of housing construction in
particular, has had a disastrous effed on the coheslon 181 lfll
of the whole • a fate that has befallen most citles,The
more buildings stand apart as autonomous volumes 187 118
with lndividualized fa�odes and private entrances the
less cohe1ian there i1, but alia and e1pecially the
184,188:
Go//erio V,No,io
fmmcnue/e, M11on
77
1 1
 li
�
�
li
- l
�
1:
�

E
1:
�
1

....
�
�

mu11 not be allo-d to leod to an archit.cture of

street wall1 with the actual dwelllngs a1 mere
punctuatlon marka or prop1 to support the dkor.
We must not forget that the Modem Movernent aimed
speciflcally at the lmprovement of bulldings, and
notably crt the improvement of the dwellings by
meons of be"'' 1iting to ensure more sunlight, wider
vlews, moN satisfactory exterior spoces etc.
1fte face of a city i, haff tfie trvtfi • ,ati,#actory
hou.,ing i, tfie otfier, comp/ementory hoff.
The many e,iampl•• of open urbonlsm, OJ deslgned ln
the 1920s ond 1930s, are indffd still of great
relevance, at least lf eoch is judged according to its
own specific quallties.

Eoton C•nJer, greater the opposition between publk and pri,rate

Toronro 1pace, eYen though the housing blodu may be
de1lgned with ac.ce11 golleries or interior co,rered
1treets or indeed with 1urroundln9 prr,afe space,
UrbaniJm with buildings aJ autonomous frHly
dl1persed monuments ha1 gr,en rise to a huge
191 ltl exterior envíronment • at best a pleoJanl parle
lf3 landscape where you always fNI 'outside',
Whlle modem architects and town planners olready
started breaking open the city before the Se<ond
World War, the demolition work was continued by
the war; later on the traffic mania deolt thi1
fragmentation the 'coup de grâce' wherever it could.
5o aU of us are by now convlnced of the need for
reconstrvction of the interior of the city and for a
revival of interest and concem for the strNt areo,
and hence for the exterior of the buUdings. lut that

78 IISSONS 101 SlUtlVIS U U(MllfClUU


M1NISTI!Y OF fOUCATION ANO HEAlllf,
RIO DE JAN�JRO 1936-37 / LE CORBUSlEt ll'3·1'6l
l n his concepl le Corbusier did nol odopl himsell lo lhe
order ol troditionol building block$, os envisoged in lhe
urbon plon. lnsteod ol o �lid moss wllh mojeslíc
foçodes surrounding the site on ali sides, Le Corbusier
desígned his building in o lree form, os o high-rise
construction on columns, so thot you don'I hove lo wolk
oround lhe block but thol you con, insleod, cross lhe
dislonce diogonolly underneoth.
The height of the columns ond the distonce between
them were sefected ln such o woy lho! lhe resulting
spoce hos o liberoting effecl.The feeling of liberotion is
oll the more striking becouse one doesn'I expecl o
siluotion like lhis in the surroundings, ond il is lherefore
o speciol ond stimuloting sensotion lo find oneself there.
le Corbusier's most importont slolemenl in this context
is, thol o lorge spoce which would in lhe normal run of
things hove been inoccessible os port of the prlvote
domoin, by virtue of its occessibility is o contribution to
lhe city os o whole.
lt is imporlonl lo beor in mind, however, thot lhis solution
would hove lost much of its quolity if lhe surrounding
blocks hod been designed occording lo lhe some
principie. ln thol cose lhe oreo os o whole would hove
presented lhe usual picture of on overoge modern city.
lt is precisely the surprlse of the controsl 1h01 mokes lhe
principie so cleor ln lhis cose.
We musl consider the quolity of 111Nl•spoce and of
bulldings ln relatlon to eoch other. A mosalc of
interrelation1:llip1 • 01 we imagine urban llfe to be •
call1 for a spotlol organi1ation in whkh built form
and exterior 1po<e (whi<h - coll slreet) an not only
comple-ntary ln the spolial unse and therefore
reciprocate in formint eoch other, but abo and
especially • for thal Is what we are primorily concemed
wltfi here • in whlch built form and exterior spoce offer
maxlmol accessiblllty to penetrate eoch other ln such a
woy that nol onJy the borderlines between ovt1lde ond
inside become le11 explicit, but abo that tfie shorp 111
division betwNn private and public domoin 11
softened.lf you enter a place traduolly, lhe fronl door l!S 19'
11 dlvested of lts slgniflcance as a 1ln9le and abrvpt
moment; ÍI i1 extended, ctl il were, to forma 1tep·by·
step sequence of areos which are not yet explicitfy
inside but also less expficitly public. The most obvious
ta,pN11ion of 1uch a mechanlsm of acce11ibility was to
be JNn ln the attades, ond lt i s lndeed not surprislng
therefore that the cm:ade idea still serve, as an
example todoy.
JUJllC tfMIIJ 7f
 CENTiMl 8EHfER ÜHJCE 8UIIOING lltl·lOOl
The urbon plon, wholly in keeping wilh lhe 'troditionol'
open construction of the firsl holf of this cenlury, i.e.
withoul o stricl olignmenl of the buildings ond without
slreel wolls wilhin which lhe building hod to be

"' 191 situoted, lherefore colled for o self-contoined

199 orchiledurol design with no references to lhe buildings
700 in lhe direcl vicinity. lnsteod ai o single, colossal
construcled volume, o more lronsporenl conglomerole ai
numerous smoller componenls wos ochieved, lhonks lo
the differenliolion inlo more or less independent smoll
blocks seporoled by orcode-like possoges (i.e.
essentiolly publicly occessible spoce).
And since lhere ore exils ond entrances lhroughoul lhe
complex il looks more like o píece ai o city thon like o
single buílding • mos! ai oll il resembles o kind ai
settlemenl.
Nol only is lhe design conceived in such o woy thol
members of the sloff leove lheir work-spoces lo loke o
breol, lolk ond hove coffee ol one of lhe mony counlers
in the central spoce of lhe complex • os if lhey were
toking o slroll in lhe city-cenlre • this oreo con moreover
be literolly public.
This opporlunity for public occessibility would hove been
fully exploiled il lhe original plon hod been corried oul:
nomely lo siluole the new roilwoy slolion of Apeldoorn
direclly odjoining lhe complex, so lhot you could reoch
lhe plotforms by woy ol Cenlrool Beheer [plons were
even worked out in consullolion with the Outch roilwoys
to instoll soles poinls for lroin tickets inside lhe complex).
While the building, os on oulonomous entity, is pul into
perspeclive on lhe formol level by ifs orliculotion ln ferms
of o lorge number of smoller orchilecturolcomponents,
on lhe procticol level o similar orticulotion is ochieved

ao l!SSO#S 101 SIIO!tlS l# U(Hll!CIUII


by lhe adopted principie of accessibility - thal is, that
you can enler lhe building from oll direc11ons, graduolly
and in stages.
Under the inAuence of the growing security risk in publíc
spaces, Centroal Beheer, too, hos imposed certoin
reslriclions on public occessibility. AII entronces ore
nowodays guorded with tv comeras, and the need is
being felt more ond more slrongly for o single central
entrance to the complex os o whole, which moreover hos
become less stroight forwordly legible since the
conlroclion of lwo of lhe buildings inlo one volume.
,
.. - -
VREOEN8URG MUSIC CENTRE UOl-203) 201 l()]
An ottempl wos mode to ovoid lhe troditionol lorm of o Hl
concerl holl in lhe sense ol o 'lemple ai music' ond
insleod lo orrive ol o less formal, less awe-inspiring ond
therefore hopelully on otmosphere thot is more inviting
lo lhe uninitioted. Besides revolutionizing the overoll
'imoge', olso the 'mechonism' ol occessibility hos b�n
droslicolly ohered, You do not e11ler by woy ol on
imposing moin entrance, you enler slep by step. first
you are in o covered possoge, which leods to lhe mony
entrances (os if you were going inlo a deportmenl
slore), then you lind yoursell in lhe loyers of lhe Music
Centre, from where you proceed to the actuol
ouditorium. The lorge number ai entrances olong lhe
poHage (ar arcode} and ciso directly an the square •
when they ore all open - moke lhe building os o whole
tempororily pari ol the street. And indeed, thot is how
trSSONS FOI SIUHVIS 1• U(HIUÇIUII 11
101
101

the building luneltons during the weekly free eoncerb m C1NEAC CINEMA, AMSTUOAM 1933 / J. DUIKO 1W(IOl1
the lunch,hour On those doys you see shoppers strolling Ouiker nol onfy succeeded wonderfully in litting the entire
inlo lhe bu1ldin9, often surprised, olten listening oltenti­ orchitecturol progromme diogonolly into lhe tiny building
vely olthough lhey hove nol come to heor lhe concert, site (eoch cenhmetre of which hod io be put to use), he olso
ond sometimes 1ust toking o shorl cu! lo the next streel monoged to !eove lhe corner where the entronce is locoted
open, so thot lhe street<orner con continue to lunclion o
public spoce. ln this woy one cuts the comer behind the toll
column, ond, being guided by the curved gloss ownlng,
might be tempted to buy o ticket to the non•slop film­
show.(This owning wos foced wíth wood in ! 980; olso the
illuminoted sign wos removed, thus dísfiguring this, the lost
ol Duiker's major works.)The spoce 1h01 wos reslored lo lhe
. ,.1111
.•,,...,, ....,
' streel 1s on 1ntegrol por1 of the orchitedure, portly becouse
• of the speclfic locollon on o corner, ond portly becouse of
the moteriols lhot wece emp!oyed {lhe some kind ol tiles on
---- ------- lhe lloor os in the rest of the building, ond lhe gloss
owning). tt is therelore equivocai· privote yet public.

82 l!S�O-S 101 SIGDfNIS 1\ U(MIIIIIUJI

 •

While the 1xpre11ion of the rekmvity of the concepts

of Interior and exterior 11 ffrst and foremost a
que1tion of 1.patlctl organisatlon, whether an orea
tends more towords o street-like otmosphere or more
toward1 an Interior dependi especially an lhe spatial
quality.
And buldes, whether people wUI recogni1e the area
concemed as interior or os exterior, or as some
lntermediory form, dependi to a large utent on the
dlmenslons, the form ond lhe choke of moteriols.

ln the cose ol both Centrool Beheer t?�) ond Vredenburg

Music Centre (207) the spoces in lhe ports which ore
inlended os semi-slreel oreos ore extra high ond norrow,
wilh illuminotion from obove os in the troditionol shop­
ping orcode. lhis type of cross,se<:lion evokes lhe olleys
ol old cities, ond this evocotion is further intensified by
lhe opplicotion ol the kind of moteriols for floors ond
wolls thot we ore occustomed to seeing out of doors. As only incidentolly illuminoted from obove. lhe horizontal 10!
you penetrote lurther into lhe Music Centre this feeling is chorocler, with predominontly ortificiol lighting, ond the 207
underscored by lhe use of wood for the floors ond wolls. shiny, glomorous-looking morble mokes Hoog Colhorijne
lhe odjoining shopping precinct Hoog Colhorijne is resemble o vost deportmenl store rother 1hon the public
poved with morble, lhe spoces there ore much wider ond spoce thol it essenliolly Is.
 HOTH 50tVAl, BRUSSELS 1896 / V. HORTA UG!--1111
Ahhough the doors in the foçode ore unmistokobly lhe
main entrance of lhe building, when you enter lhem you
find lhot lhey do nol give onlo o convenlionol holl but
lhol 1hey give occess to o posi.oge leoding slroight
lhrough lhe house lo onolher poir ai doors openíng onlo
a courlyard ot lhe back.
This passage wos intended lo allaw corriagei. to enler so
1h01 people could alight in lront of lhe real door to lhe
house wilhoul getting wel.
lhe real fronl door is therelore i.ilualed ai righl angles to
lhe laçade, ond in ilsell morks lhe beginning ol o i.poliol
sequence comprising entrance holl ond stoircose leoding
lo the first íloor wilh lhe moin rooms locoted olong lhe
enlire fronl and rear walls, wlth Horlo's characlerislic
use ol glass portilions lo creaie on open conneclion with
lhe stairwell.

1C8
ro, 110
111
......
• ••••• .,.....,.
.........
•'T"""'••n•..,.·
.•
• ••••.•

The pasi.oge lraversing the building gives the impreuion

ol being port of the slreel, even thaugh ít h in lact o
slrlctly privote ond spoce and pari of lhe house. This
impression is strengthened by lhe street-like materiais
lhot hove been opplied in this spoce, especiolly the
paving slones and the raised stone bordar.
A characteristic Horto delail is lhe fluenl transition
between loçode and pavemenl, so 1h01 the borderline
between building and slreel and likewise between
privale properly and public spoce Iodes. indeed does
not seem lo exist ai oll onymore since the materiais ol
loçode ond povement ore the some. lt is olmost
impossible lo imagine how lhis could hove been
orronged wilh the local oulhorilies, becouse lhey alwoys
odhere to o strict separolion of privote ond public
spoce.

84 IISSONS fOl SIUDENTS li UCllll(IUU

PASSAGE POMMERAYE, NANTES, fRANCE, 1840-43 (211·714)
Ahhough lhe conslruction materiais and lhe forms lhal
ore applied in mosl orcades are of lhe type lhot 'belong'
outside, sometimes lhe apposite is lhe case, os in lhe
Passoge Pammeroye in Nantes. This connectian culling
acrass a block between two slreets on dilferent leveis is
ane of lhe mosl beautiful orcodes still in exislence,
especially because af its dilferenl leveis whích ore bolh
visible Iram the central spoce ond cannecled by o large
waoden staircase.
The use aí waad, which you wauld nol expect lo find in
such a situolion, emphasizes lhe leeling ai being indoars
• nal anly visuolly, hui olsa audibly. lnside ond autside
ore lhus doubly relativized here, which mokes lhis
orcode the example por excellence of how lhe
opposilion between interior ond exterior can be
eliminoled.

.. - .. .......
.... - li ...
111
?ll

J,,; -�---

:41ííõi!•■i\J3�t •.
T T -
,l
s

rUII 1( O,OlUI! 85
1 1

ll◄ 'THE lena' / PiETER OE HOOGH 11629-1684) tllSJ
Pieler de Hoogh's polnling demonstrotes the relolivity ai
the notions of outside ond ínsíde, in lhe woy it is evoked
nol only by meons ol the spotiol dislinctions bul olso ond
especiolly by lhe expression ol lhe moleriols ond their
lemperotures in lhe vorying degrees ol lighl.
lhe inlerior, wilh its cool shiny liles ond lhe severe
windows in lhe bockground, hos on outside lemperoture
in which controsts with the worm glow ol lhe exlerior
loçode in the sunlight. lhe open lront door without o
doorstep mokes o smooth tronsillon belween lhe living
quorters ond the streel with its corpet-like surfoce. The
roles ai the inside ond oulside oppeor lo be reversed,
creoling o spotiolty cohesive ensemble which expresses,
obove oll, occessibílity.
16 l!Sso•s FOI SUl!IIS IN U(Hll!CIUII
Just a, the application indoor, of the kind of spotial
organÍ'latian ond material that refer to the outdoor
worfd moke the in,ide seem less intimate, so spatial
references to the indoor worfd make the outside lffm
more intimate; it i, therefore the bringing into
perspective of lnside and outside ond the ambiguity
thot this give, riM to thot intensifies both lhe sense of
spatiol accessibility and the sen,e of lntimocy,
A step•by•step sequence of indkations by
architectonic mecuu ensures a gradual entrance ond
exit. lhe entire complex of experiences elicited by the
orchitectonlc means contributu to this proce1t1
gradotions of height, width, degree of illumination
(natural ond artífkial), materiais, different floor­
level,. The different sensotions within this sequence
evoke o voriety of ossociotions, eoch corresponding
with a different gradation of 'lnslde•ness ond out1ide•
ness' on the ba1i1 of recognition of previaus, similar
experience-1.
Not only does each sen1otion refer to a 1pe<ific
gradation of in1ide•ne1s and out1ide•ne11, b y
extenslon it also refers to corresponding usoge.
ln lhe fofe90Íng t have posited that the use mode of
on area, the 1ense of re1pon11bility for that area, ond
the core lovished on it, are all connected with the
territorial claims ond management, but architecture
has by vlrtue of the evocotive qualities of all
explkitly spatiol imoges, forms and materiais, the
copacity to stimulate o certoin kind of usage.
Concepts such os public and private thu1 ,hrink to
mere administrative entlties.
l y selecting lhe appropriate architectonic means the
private domain co_n thus become less fortress·like and
more accessible, while the public domain can, once it
becomea more responsive to per,onal re1pon1íbllities
and the personal core of those directly concerned, be
for more inten1ively used and thus be enrkhed.
White the trend ot the end of lhe sixties seemed to be
towards a greoter opeMe,, of society in general ond
of buildings in porticul.a r, as well os the revival of the
street • the public domaln por excellence· there is
currently o 9rowin9 movement Iowa.reis restricting
that accessibility, and towcrrds retreoting into one's
own 'fortress' out of feor of aggression and the wlah
to feel secure on one's own ground. lut in so far 01
the balance betwMn open·ne1s and closed•ne-11 is a
reflectlon of our fairfy open society, we in lhe
Netheriand1, wlth our aolid tradition, may hove lhe
most fovourable conditions imaginable for the
realàotion of building1 that are fundomentally more
acces,ible and streets thot are fundamentolly more
inviting,
. 1

.•

... 1,-
� i •
•

•
1

'
.,
B MAKING SPACE, LEAVING SPACE
'Der Gege npod von Zwong isl nicht Fr11iheit, $0ndern
V11rbundenheít. lwong isl eine nogorivo Wiri:lichkeil, und
Verbundenheil ist die positive; freiheir ist eine Mêglichkeit, die
wiedergewonnene Moglicl;leil. Vom SchickSQ/, von di,r Notur,
von den Menschen 9ezwu119en weiden: der Gegenpo/ Is nichr,
vom Sehiclsol, von der Notur, von de11 Me11scnen lrti, S<>ndern
mír lhm, mil ihr, mil ihnen verbunden und verbündel sein; um dies
zu werden, mu11 mon lreilich erst unobhiingíg gewarden sein,
ot,., díe Unobhóngigkeir id ein Sreg und kein Wohnroum.'
'The antipode of compulsion is nol liberty, but ollionce.
Compu/sion is o nogotive reolíty, and o/lionce o positive one;
liberty is on oplion, o regoined oplion. Compu/Jion ai the honds
of fole, of noture, of �pie: its antipode Is 1101 /ibe,arion from
fole, from natvr11 ond Iram ptople, but ollionce with lhem. To
ocliieve tl,is bo11d, however, ()$0Ple musl (irsJ become
independent, but independence signifies o norrow poth, not
living-spoce.'
(Martin Buber, Reden iiber frzl&hung, Heldel�r g 19531
autor
1 Strv<tvre ond lnte,pretotion 92 9 ln<entive, 164
Columns
2 Form ond lnterpretotion 94 Piers
Conals, Amsterdom Housing, Berlin / B. Tout
Mexcoltitàn, Mexico Perforoted Buildíng Blocks
Estogel, fronce
Oude Grocht, Utrecht 1O Form os on lnstl'ument 170
Vioducl Rue Rombouillet, Paris
Paloce of Oiocletion, Spli1, Crootio
lhe Amphitheotres of Arles ond lucco
Rockefeller Plozo, New York
Temples, Bali
Columbio Universily, New York

3 Structure os o Generotive Spine: Worp ond Weft 108

Fori l'Empereur Projeci, Algiers / le Corbusiet
'The Beorers ond the People; ihe End of Moss
Housing' / N.J. Hobrolen
Housebools Project
Oevenler-Steenbrugge Housing Project
Projecl for o Neighbourhood Centre, Oeventer-Borgele
Projecl for o Pedeslrion Underposs, Apeldoorn
Housing, Westbroek
Free Universily, Berlin / Condilis, Josic &. Woods
Projecl for o Residenliol Areo, Berlin / S. Wewerko
Villo Sovoye, Poissy, Fronce / le Corbusier

4 Gridiron 122
Ensonche, Borcelono / 1. Cerdó
Monhollon, New York

5 luilding Order 126

Orphonoge, Amsterdom / A. von Eyck
linMij, Amslerdom
De Orie Hoven, Home for lhe Elderly, Amslerdom
Centrool Beheer Oflice Building, Apeldoorn
Vredenburg Music Centre, Utrech1
Ministry of Social Affoirs, lhe Hogue
Apollo Schools, Amsterdam

6 Functionolity, Flexlbility ond Polyvolence 146

7 Form ond U,ers: the Spoce of Form 150

8 Moking Space, Leoving Space 152

Weesperslroot Studenl Accommodalion, Amsterdom
Montessoti School, Delfl
Vredenburg Square, Utrechl
Oio90011 Dwellings, Delft

�Hl!G S?HE, lEAYliG SIA<I 91

autor
1 STRUCTURE AND
INTERPRETATION
Port A of tbis study daolt wiffi the NKlprocity of public
ond privote 1pheres of influence, and what the
archltad con do to contrlbute to that balance • at t.o,t
íf he is -are in each situation of which spe<ific
responsibtTtties apply anel how they con be lnterpret.d.
Port two will deal with the recipracity of form and
usage, in the sense that fom, not only detennine.s bath
usage and uperience, but thot lt i, ltself equally
determlned by them ln sa for a, it Is lnterpretable and
can therefONI be lnffuenced. ln 10 for a, something Is
designed for everyone, that iJ a, a collectlve 1tarting­
point, we mu,t concern ournfves wtth aU conceivobi.
individual lnterpretarions tflereof • and not only at o
,peclfk moment in time, but alsa a, they change ln
time.
lhe relotion betwHn a collectlve 9lven and Individuo(
lnterprefation os lt existi between form and usage as
well os the expe,leflce thereof moy be compcrred lo the
relotlon between longuage ond speech.
lml9uage i, o coledive lnstnlment, the common
property of a group of peaple capable of using that
instrurnent lo shape their thoupts and to convey them
to each other, 10 long a , they abfffve the conventions
of grommar and ayntox, and .o long as they UM
recognwsble -,ds • i.e. wonb that mean somethin9
to the llatentf. The remartcable thlng Is that each
individual can be undentood by onother, even when
he or she expnisses very personal feeling, and
COMems ln o highty persa� way.
Moreover, speech is n ot only consbtentfy on
interpretatlon of languoge, but laR9uoge is ln tum olso
inffuenced by what i, often spoken, and ln due course
the language cha nges under that staody lnfluence. So
you might say that language not only determines
speech, but thot lon 9009 e ltself is at the some time
deiermined by speech. language and 1peech relohl to
- another dialectlcolly.
The cancept of strvcture tendi to obacure rather thon
clarify. Anythln9 that has been put togethe,, however
shodcllly, soan tends to be described as a structure.
(And then there are the 11e9otive asso<latlons wlth so♦
called strvdvrol tlúnking in lnmtutlons and buslne1s
o,gonbatlons, and of course ln pollticJ.I Itere
'structure' refers to new fonn1 of opp,usion by new
wlelders af po-. Evetything ln architecture, good or
92 lflSOkl fOt SIUOIJIS fl U(HIIHIUtl
bad, in whkh the constructive aspecl occupies a
vlsuolly promlnent position, and which has to do with
repetition of prefabricai.d componenh (whether of
concrete o, of some other moteriol), wiffi grlds or
framu, rigid or shaky or bath • lt is ali labelled
structurolism. The onglnal and by no meons llll'lpty
mecming of strudure ond structurollsm indeed appean
to have been submerged by loads of orchitectural
jargon. Structurallsm denoted, lnitlally, a way of
thinking origlnatlng from cultural onthrapology, which
roH to prominence in Poris duri ng the sixtíu and
which, especially in the form developed by Claude Lévi
Strouss, exerted a stra ng influence on the varlous
social sóences. The term is dosely bound up wlth Lévl
Strouss: his idaos • especially where they daolt wiffi
the afore-menlioned relationshlp betwNn the collectlve
pattem and individual interpretotlons • were
porticulorly insplri ng for archltecture.
Lévi Strauss, for his port, was in-5pired by the linguist
Ferdinand'dt Sau1sure (1857•1913), who wa, the flrst
ta stvdy tt., distinction betwHn 'laft9ue' and 'porole',
between lo nguoge and 1peech. laR9uage is structure
par excell♦Me, a structure that, in principie, contoins
the possibilitíu to exprus everythíng that can be
communicated verbally. lt ls lndeed o pnirequislte for
the ability to thlnk. For an idea can only be aaid to
exlst in so for as it permiti formulation ln words; we
use l onguage not only to convey our ideas, languoge
actually shapes thase ideas as we expre,s them.
Fonnulatlng and thinking go hand in hand: we
formulate a, we thlnk, but we alsa think as we
formlllate.
Wlthln thls system • a caherent exponse of valuea • the
different inleffelationships are lald down in ruiu, but
th- is still a lot of freedom of octíon wiffiin the same
1y1tem lhank1, parodoxiccilly, to the very some fixed
rules thot delimit thls freedom.
ln the philosophy of structurollsm thls idea is extended
to encomposs on image of man whase possibilities are
tonstont and fixed, like a pock of cards with which
you can ploy diffwent games depencllng on the -y
they have been daolt.
lévl Strauss (Lo Penlff Souvoge, 1962) explain1 that
dlfferent cultures, whether ,o-called prlmitive or so•
called dviliud, play o transfarmatlon of the sarne
game, as lt were; lhe main directlon1 are f1J1ed while
the interpretarion differs continually.
Having studied and compored the myths and legends
of dlvene cultures Wví Strauss observed that the some
themes recvr, and thus come to the conclusion that,
through appllcatian of transiormotion·rulea, there wo,
Mal I COl'T' d
a high chgl'ff of cornspondence in structure. Ali lanauote, while penonnance rems to the UM h•
pott11m1 of behaviour within clifkNnt cuttvr.1, he makes of thot knowledge lrt conaete .ituotlon,. Anel it
mafntained, were tTGnsforritations of -h other; Is wlth this mon genwat ,...formulotion of the tenn1
howewr diffenmt, the N1latlon vis ô vis thelr own 'longue' Clnd 'parole' thot o lirtk can indeed be
1ystem within whidi they perform a functlon would, in estal,tilhed with orchitectvre. ln atthlte<tural terms you
principie, be constant. coulcl s,sy thot 'competence' 11 form'1 copocity to be
'ln tlte HIM way, il )'OU compare o plH>lof,opli ond lts lnterpret.d, ond 'performaMe' is lhe wuy in whkh
MfOtlve • even tftouth fite ,_ imops ore dlffwent • form Is/- lnterpreted ln o speclflc sltuatlan.
yov wiU find tflot tlte relotlotubips befwNn tlte
-,onent parts rwmoln tlte same' jM. fO<lCovltj.
'To put lt ln moN popular tenn,, when you ,-t down to
lhe euentiab, diffeNnt people uncler difment
dmmutances do the sarne thlngs ln dlff.rent woys and
diffeNrtt things in the ,ome w,sy.
'M- 11 tfte woy lte is -•• IM,t the paint /1 wflat doN
lte make ol the woy 1M, i, -'•' IJ,P. Somei, meanint the
clepM of f,eedom he R1Cceecb in creatl1t9 within the
rntrlctlon af hb -n poulbUJtlu.
The mcm aimplified wmmary of the mucture-idea can
be glven on the bads of, s,sy, the gcmte of chus.
Wlthln an esHGtlally cltlldlshty limple Mt of rvlfl
govwnlnt the freedom af movement of each plece ln
tfte game, goacl play.rs su«ffd in creating on lnfinite
Nlft98 of potJibilifies. fht bett.r fhe player ÍI the richer
the game, oncl wlthln the offidal set of rvles othet,
unofflcial sub·rvlet arlse on the bosls of e,q>erienc:e,
whlch dewlop lnto offidal nilu lrt the honds of
experienced playen who1e experience in thw
oppllcotlon ln tum jmh,_, the original given, ond
wha thu,, by elltension, contrll,ute to reeuloti1t9 the
system. M-ver, chest Is an ouffflmdl1t9 example of
how o flxed Mt of rules doe, not reltrict fnedom but
rcrther creolff freedom. Noom Chomsky, lhe Americon
Bntuist (who hoppen, to be NtMmbered fffM(lally for
his oppotitlon to lhe United States irttenentlon in
VletnomJ, compored longvages ln o w,sy similar to
how IÃvi Strauu compareci myths • ond conclud1d thot
the,e hod to be o li"9uistk .Uity -logous in oll
men. He took 01 hls storting·polnt o •g-ratlve
grammor', o 1ot1 of underlyint pottem to which ali
longuafU (Gil be traced funclamentoJly anel for whlch
an i-te olMlity existi. So in thit """ diffeNnt
lon9uagu, llke cllff.rent fonn, of behciviour, coulcl be
- a s tronsformotlon1 of eoch other. GeneroOy
1peoking all thls doff not _,., t o be for removecl from
Jung'• 'on:hetypes'. Ttu, lead, to the fNll1t9 thot olso
lhe creatlon of form and spatlol arganiaotion on
anologa1n 9rauncl1 could be traced back to an innote
abUity of aU men in the most diver1e cuftvte, to arrive
ot ever dlffffltnt lnterpretatlons of euentlally the same
'ordl•fomu'. Moreover Chomsky introduced tfte
conwpta 'competence' olld 'performoMe'. Competence
ÍI the knowledge thot a person hos of hi, or her

11\lllNG �,ur, l(�YIIG SPl(E 93

1 autor
 •
2 FORM AND
INTERPRETATION
lroodly 1peaki119, '1tn,ctu,.• 1tancl1 for the collectlve,
generol, (more) objedrfe, and permiti interpretatíon in
term1 of what Is expected ond demanded of it in a
1pecific 1ltvatlon. One could also speak of stnlcture in
connedion wlth a building or an urban plan: a lo rge
form which, changing little or not ot ali, is suitahle and
adequote for accommodatlng dlfferent sltuatlons
be<aute it offen fresh opportunlties tlme and agaln for
new uses.

(ANAIS, AMSTEROAM {116-?701

The pollern ol the c:onol bells in Amsterdom gives the city­
centre its distinctive loyout ond mokes il eosy to línd one's
woy. Not only do the successive concentric semi<ircles
enoble one to find one's beorings throughoul lhe centre,
they olso indicole the possoge ol lime • much like the yecr­
rings of o tree. lt is obvious thol their original function os

116
111
211

94 l!SSONS !Ol SIBOEIIS IN UCNIIECIUI!

delensive slruclures con now be seen merely os the motive
underlying their specilic loyout, which hod ond still hos,
polentiolly, so much more to offer. Besides serving
purposes ol defence, the conols were used moinly for the
transpor! ol the incoming ond outgolng goods to which
the city owed much ol its weolth; ond in lhe doys before
publlc sewoge systems they served os open droins for the
city's woste. Todoy lhe canais constilute the principal
green belts of the centre, ond the boot-tours olfer mosses
of tourists on opportunity of opprecioting lhe beouty of ils
architeclure Irem on exclusive viewpoint. Bul they olso
represented o possibility ol goining quite o lot of extto
space • o possibility 1h01 hod on especiolly strong oppeol
in the doys when urbon exponsion wos o top priority, for
they were seen os providing o solution to the lroffic
problems which ossumed such gigontic proportions in the
1950s ond 1960s. Mony canais in Halland were lilled in
ol thot lime, which meont thot irreparoble damage wos
dane to mony Outch towns ond cities. ln Amsterdom the
domoge wos restricted to o number of radial canais •
lortunotely the unique semi-circulor loyout ol the moin
canais was not tompered with. House-boots ore still
toleroted in some of the canais becouse the outhorities ore
owore of their importonce os substitute dwellings in o time
ol severe housing shortoge. Bul they would like lo gel rid
ai them ollogether os soon os possible, becouse they hove
no conception of how this informal ond constontly
chonging varlety contributes to the liveliness ol the city •
especiolly where the general oppeoronce of the city is
dominoted by formal, dignilied orchllecture, os olong
Amsterdom's canais.
However, when we look ot old photogrophs, we see 1h01
the canais presented o much busier ond untidier picture in
lhe losl century due to the lroding business thot took ploce
lhere: lhe city centre wos nol only shoped by beautiful
orchiteclure, but equolly by lhe lively and colourful bustle H•1tngrach1,
Anu�rdom 1672/
of oclivity around the mony boots corrying their corgoes G. von Be1ih•rd•
right lnto the heort of the city.
The cityscope chonges lostesl ol ali with the seosons,
especiolly olong the canais where the trees creote o
complelely different spoliol effecl in summer thon ín
winler, when they ore bore. Then lhe differenl loçodes ore 11t 220
shorply silhouetted ogoinst the sky, forming on olmosl ?li
grophic delimitotion of lhe urbon spoce. And linolly there
is ol course the dramolic chonge of oppeoronce when the
canais lreeze ond lhe emphosis shifts from lhe slreets
lining the canais lo the icy centre dotted wilh skoters. On
those relotively rore occosions bolh the olmosphere ond
lhe sense ai spoce chonges completely for o while.
MEXCAlflTÀN, MEXICO tnlt?ll
'lhe desire to creote on environmenl 1h01 con be pul lo
vorious uses con somelimes be stimuloled by specilíc local
circumslonces. ln Mexcoltilôn, o villoge siluoted in lhe
San Pedro river, Mexico, the periodical chonges in lhe
woter levei due to the heavy roinfoll in lote summer
tronsform lhe slreel tempororily inlo canais, so thot lhe
whole ploce undergoes o veritoble metomorphosls.
llCIK& StAU, IUYlf& $rAC!
r
9S
 Ufe in the village is wholly delermined by these natural collecls lhe roinwoter from the slreels: this droin is lo the
conditions. The streels continue lo serve for troHic ond river whot the river is to the lown, il is o miniature version,
lransportation equolly efficiently, olbeil in differenl both in lerms of size ond in lerms of lime, wilh periods of
'oggregole' slote1, with eoch fully exploiling lhe specilic dryness olternoting wilh lhe flow of woter, To lhe children
usoge polenliol'.(4) it is an enhoncement of their ployground • lo them il is o
river in its own right, wilh oll the excitemenl ond
112 l7l fSTAGEt, fiANCE (ll◄.115) sometlmes problems thot o river brings with it.' [4)
121 l!i 'Mony rivers flowing into lhe Mediterroneon chonge
considerobly ln volume over the yeor, dependlng on lhe
seoson. ln Estagel neor Perpignon il is the Agly river thot
oppeors ond vonishes depending on lhe seoson: either it
is non-existenl or il rushes posl olong lhe og�ld rive_r­
bed. Bul even when it is dry the river dominotes lhe smoll
town. During dry periods lhe river-bed in the lown - o
cement trench • becomes port ol the publíc spoce ond
offers lhe loco! children o speciol ployground of lheir
own. A gutter running in lhe centre of lhe river-bed

96 l!SSO�S 101 SIDOlllS lN U(fflt!CIVII


Ouoe GIACHT, UTRECHT (11t..2ll>
ln Utrechl lhe noturol difference in level between street
ond conol hos yielded on exlroordinory ond very ellectíve
profile. Alreody in the fourteenth century goods used to be
transporled ln barges over the canais; they were looded
ond unloaded on the quay•sides in lront of the storoge
spoces be low slree1 levei. These storoge spaces, or
worehouses, continue under the streel to form lhe
bosement of the shops situated on the street above. The
merchandise could thus quite eosily be roised or lowered
vio o simple vertical connection with the
• quoy-side. At one
spol lhere was o sl oping lunnel through which horse­
drown corls could gel lrom the street to the quoy ond vice
verso, for transporlation to locations elsewhere in the
town.
When the old proctice of tronsportalíons over woter wos
._--u ' i
$-·--
discontinued, these quoys lost their original function, until •
in recent yeors they storled lo serve os terroces for coles
and restauronls located in the former warehouses, lhe
latter hoving been for the mo1t pari sectioned off from ,the
shops obove when lhe transportotion of merchondise
ceosed to 90 over woler, leoving the quay-sides lorgely
unused.
So nowodoys the old quoys have been put to use ogoin,
olbeit dillerently, ond when the weolher is fine they ore
once ogoin crowded with people. They ore indeed
exceplionolly well situated, along the conals where shelter
from wind ond troffic noise is provided by the slorey-hígh
quoy wolls. Also the distonce between these walls on
either side of the canal, with the quoy-sides below street
leve! along lhe woter, is very lovouroble for o pleosantly
proporlioned locolion. The bend ín the conal ot this poinl
only enhonces the spoce, giving it o pleosing
enclosedness without obstructing the view.
finolly (ond who could hove designed this) 1here ore 1111, n,
lave ly trees growing on lhis lower level, which nalurally 111
contribute more than anylhíng else lo the unique ond 11' 210 lll
pleasont otmosphere ol this pari of the old city centre.
Although this profile was thus created for specificolly
urbon purposes, it hai. now, a century loter, been
transformed, without any fundamental changes being
necessory, into on entirely differenl kind of ploce. lt is
easy to imagine lhe scene when lhe woler in lhe canais
lreezes over, providing o natural skoting rink. lhe quoy•
sides lhen became the perfecl place to tie on one's skates,
while the street above becomes the domoin of speclolors.
This tronsformotian provides yel more proof of jus! how
much this type of urban form con accommodate, in such a
woy os to be oppropriate lo eoch situotion os it orises.
And ohhough the scole is much larger, lhe banks of the
Seine in Paris olíer comporoble conditions. The clochords
IUIN& SPA(!, lUVIK' SflCI 97
, 1 I
 hove hod to give up their troditionol hounls under lhe
bridges: o lroflic ortery hos now cloimed this marginal
zone by lhe wolerside.

?31 lll VIAOUCT PLACE OE lA BASTllt.E • RuE RAMBOUIUET, PAllS (134-2431

234 The vioduct wos built for the roilwoy, os in so mony cities
2liJ where trolfic orteries enter on urbon ogglomerotion. The
236 111 238 72 orches were lilled with whotever come in hondy. The
vioducl served os o sort of fromework, o string of cleorly
defined comportments, thot could be lilled ln ai will.
The vioduct ilself remoins lorgely unchonged, much os il
olwoys wos ond os íl con remoin • o permonent slruclure
olwoys reody to occommodote new purposes which in
their turn odd new meonings to lhe surroundings. lt is
quite remorkoble how lillle nolíce lhe fillings seem lo toke

. . '

98 llSSDNS fOI SIUOlllS ll U(IIH(IUII

of the semi•circulor shope of lhe lrome • hordly o
convenient shope for buildings ond opporently orlering no
incentive to creote o specific counter.form. As if it were
the mosl obvious thing in the world, oll the orches were
filled in with buildings which were constructed on the
some principies os o free•slonding house. The vioducl
itself did not serve os o starting,poinl or source of
inspirotion, but nor wos it opporently felt os o hindronce;
even lhe norrow side-streets were oble to pursue their
course stroight through the long stone obstocle, which
itself both penetrotes ond is penetroled by the urbon
fobric. Now thot it is no longer used for troins il hos been
designoled os o promenode, leoding to the new opero
building on lhe sife ol the former Gore de Vincennes.
These doys the orches sport identicol fronts, in perfect
ottunement with the currenl civilized ond convenlionol
ideos on order ond orderllness. And so o unique urbon
monument hos hod to cede to o standard solution.

231
7◄0 l◄I
ll>t
7l7 10

V� ai viadud º"
the flle Rombouillel
with fotmtr
Gore de lo 8osHUe
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PAlACE Of DIOClEllAN, SPUT,(ROATIA, 4TH CEr-fTURY A.O.

(211,751)
Under the heodin9 'An emperor's home becomes o lown
for 3000 people in Splil' lhe architecl Bakemo wrole
oboul lhe ruins of lhis Romon poloce, which slill
constitutes lhe nudeus of Splil lodoy jfo1um, 2-1961).
Whot were once paris of the poloce structure now serve
os wolls for dwellings. Whol were once niche-S ore now
rooms, ond whol were once holls of lhe po loce ore now
dwellings, ond everywhere you con still see lrogmenls 1h01
recall lhe original funclion of lhe struclures. This enormous
building, being wholly obsorbed by lhe surrounding cily,
wos copoble of serving o new ond differenl purpose, wilh
lhe city being oble lo occommodote ilself fully to the given
form. Whol we see here is o melomorphosis - lhe original
structure is still presenl lnside, but lhe woy lhe ol d hos
been swollowed up by lhe new mokes one wonder whol

100 llSSOIS 101 SIUOlMa fK UCKlf!CIUII

J

would be lelt, struclurolly speoking, il one were to

sublroct the lotar lillings. lhe process is irreversible • the
poloc:e is there oll right, inside, bul it c:onnot be rec:olledl
Nor Is li conceivoble thot, under differenl circumslonces, o
c:omplelely dilferent woy ol odopling lo whot is lelt of the
original slructure will ever be reolized; ot ony rote whol is
lelt of lhe structure does not offer the slíghtest suggeslion in 1962, il wos o source of inspirotion for our woy of 749 lSO
of thol ever hoppening. thinking obout orchitecturoJ forms such os omphitheolres • n1
lhe exomple of Splil is especiolly inleresling in thot il olthough lhe lotter, unlike lhe poloce in Split, no! only
demonslrotes the dlvorc:ement of form ond func:lion so permitted new forms of usoge but even evoked such new
cleorly, ond it is worlh mentionlng here becouse, olreody opplicotions by virlue ol their speciflc shope ond structure.

1Ulll6 SPl(I l[/.YIN& St!CI

 THE AM1HITHEAUES Of ARLES ANO LUCCA 11511111
'lhe omphilheotre of Arles wos used os o forlress in the
Middle Ages; then it wos filled in with buildings ond wos
inhobited os o lown unlil lhe nineteenth century.
lhe omphilheotre of Lucco wos obsorbed by lhe town ond
ai the some lime kepl open os o public squore. Within lhe
nomeless urbon fobric the ovol spoce is o londmork, it
lends íts nome ond identilicolion to the surroundings.
The two omphitheotres, constructed for the some purpose,
ossumed dillerent roles under chonged circumstonces.
Eoch took on the colour of the new environment which
111
•r�e a,,,,.,, ol Nimes and Alies, lransformed
lnk> -1uded l,"le, homlen, wn/11 1h1 romoins ol
1n1 ,-,.,, Gol/o.Roman ll>wns -• abandon«i IO
lhe /Jzords ond tlie snohs- thor 91-.1 ui o good
idl>O of u.bon deterio,ahDII o/t., lhe faN of
Romo. Ar Nimes lho Wisígorn, 1ransfor111ád lho
0111.no fotn o mim-4own of tw'O tlio11sond
inhabitanll, which ane enro,od throogh lo.ir
90,., s,rvo,.d ai tl,e Foc,, cardinal poinrs
ChurcJ.e, were c0t1s/ruc1ed inside lhe arena
Th. some was lru• ol Ar/eJ, lhe oronos becamo
fortreues.'
/Micbel Ro9on quotin9 Iram Pierre lovedon,
'Hlsk>i11 de /'urbonísm,, onriquíll- moyen A91',
Porí1 I 926}
obsorbed it ond which wos obsorbed by it, the
environment in its turn olso being coloured by lhe oncienl
structure in its centre. Not only were they thus token for
gronted in their new lorm os on integral port ai the urbon
fobric, they olso provided thot urbon fobric with on
identity. lhe oval sfructure ond the surroundings proved,
in both coses, copoble of tronsforming eoch other. These
ovols represent on orchetypol form • in this cose thot of
lhe enclosed spoce, on interior, o lorge room whid1 con
serve os work -ploce, ployground, public squore ond ploce
to live. lhe originol lunclion is forgotten, but lhe omphi­
theotre-shope retoins its relevonce becouse il is so sugges­
tive os to ofler opportuniti es for constont renewol.' 11)
These omphitheolres succeed in mointoining their identity
os enclosed spoces, while their contenl is subject to
chonge. The some form could therefore tempororily
ossume diflerent oppeoronces under chonging
102 lfSso,s 10, SIUDIIIS li ll[Hlll(fUI!
circumstonces, without the structure itself essentiolly
chonging. Besides, lhe Arles exomple • now thot thls
arena hos been restored to its original stote • shows thot
this kind of process of lronslormolion is bosicolly
reversible. A more convincing inslonce of 'competence'
ond 'performance' in orchitecture is hord lo imagine. And
the foct thot these two omphitheotres ore nol identicol only
underscores the polemic quolity of lhe siluotion: for justos
the outonomy of lhe oval form is emphosized by the
proceu ol tronslormotion, so lhe form os 'orchetype'
imposes itself olmosl inescopobly.
The for99oing examples, and tho.1e that will be given
in the following, give riH to a number of conclusions:
• ln all theH examples the multiple purpoHs that
the original structure allowed for were not
deliberately or intentionally built into the strudure, lt
is, rather, their intrinsic 'competente' that enables
them to ,-rform different fundions under different
circumstances, anel thus to play a different role
wlthln the city as a whole.
• 1t is certainly not tnle that then is always one
specific form that fits one specific purpose. So there
are fo.111s which not only ,-, mlt vorious
interpretations, bvt which can octually evoke these
interpretotion1 under chonging circumstances. So you
could u,y thot the varlety of solutions must hove
bNn contained in the form as inherent proposition1,
Matenal com d1 ei autor
• ln none of these coses does the adual strvdllre
change under the lnfluence of its new function • and
this is a crucial pornt: the form Is capable of adoptí119
itself to a variety of fundions and af aJsuming a
variety of appeoronctJ, while remalning essentiolly
the sarne,
• The degrN in whkh a form accommodotes
different lnterpretationJ posslvely or evokes those
interpretotlons actively be<ause it is in itulf
suggestive (as in the cose of the arenaJ) varies fram
one sltuotion to onother.
they may even disappeor completely from one day to
the next, There is an important distinction therefore
between cases ln whlch adjustments or e,xtensions
are octucdly caMtruded, and cau1 in which the
'filling' relotes excluslvely to temporary usage, which
are therefore more like 'software', ln the following
examples the emphasis is on more temporory
adjustments, such os those which daily usage colls
for.

,�
2Sl

Amp/,Jth110tre IAICco,
/Joly

• The moín form which we called strvctvn is

collective by noture, rt is usuolly controlled by o
goveming body, ond is essentially public. Control
aver the useJ to whkh it Is put ranges from more
public to more prrvate, depending on the commercial
interesn involved.

• Sltuations whlch ore more or lesa permanent are

u1uoUy accomponied by the constructian of
extension1 or further subdrvislon1 • ln themselves
ohen whole ediflce1 ln their own right, Changes of
fvnction can take place in the course of very long
periods, of a few yeor1, a •-n, a week, ar they
c.an take place daily.
The shorter the duratlon of a particular 1ituation the
lesa permonent the noture of the extensions or
Amphirh«,tr• Mes,
odjustments will be, and in the co1e af doily usage FtoJt<t

I.IIIN6 SPA( 1. 1 fAYlfi SPiCf 103

1
 TE>-<PLES, 8All ,j\\ li•
Unlike the cenlrol1stic emphos1� on o single, dominoling
monumenl os m the Chrlstion world. Hinduism, os
proclised on Bali, is choroclerized by multiple centres of
ottenhon, wh1ch lmds express1on ,n whol you might coll o
decenlrof;i:otion of ceremoniol sites There ore lhousonds
of temples spreod our oll over the ,slond, atone ond in
groups.
There ore mulliple levels of oUenhon bolh in letms o!
spoce ond ,n terms of hme, depending on the noture of
lhe celebrofion lhe venerotion of on onceslor, ceremonies
relohng lo o good horvesl ond so on. The use of the
dífferent temples is bound u p with specific occoslons, so
1h01 not oll the lemples ore used 01 the some lime but
there is olwoys something going on in some of them. lhe
temples, wh1ch vory m s1ze from smoll pieces of furniture
lo smoll houses, ore somelimes mede of slone, but usuolly
?IS
104 ll550KS FOI 51901115 1� UCHll!llltl
they consist ol o sorl of open stoll with o sophi$licoted
wooden construction ond lholcned roofs on o slone bo$8.
They ore, essenholly, rother like free-slond,ng covered
oltors ;O the open oir, doUing the londscopo. You come
ocross disused lemples, of which little more lhon lhe
skeleton stands· empty stolls one or more of which ore
rhen, suddenly, furnished ond decoroted wlth beoutilul
droperi�. wilh objecls mode ol bomboo ond polm leoves,
ond otner otlributes belong,ng lo specific occosíons, ond
olwoys wilh offerlngs Eoch individual temple therefore
fundions os o rort of fromework which is eloboroted ond
furn,shed, whenever necessory, w,1h the proper elements
lo specily lhe portlcu lor occosion thol requlres
observonce So eoch temple perm,ls temporory
oppropriotion lo o spec:ific end, ÍI is drened up os il
were, to assume o Cflfloin role, oher whlch li is ollowed
lo rever! lo 1ls on91nol, passive stote
�
Of course this is o simplificolion ol lhe octuol situotion,
becouse you olso find temples thot contoln severo! smoller
lemples, which in lurn contoin even smoller ones -
slructures within struclures • which might well indicote
differences ln the relotlon to o specilic oncestor between
individuais vis à vis the community.
And os i f oll this is not enough, long rows ol women
suddenly oppeor, coming Iram oll sides ond beoring toll
multi-col oured burdens on their heods: offerings o l rice,
coconuf ond sugar in on incredible voriely of shopes ond
colours. AII the offerings ore ploced in the littfe temples by
woy ol o linishing • ond edible - fouch: the most tronsient
ond soltes! component in o sequence of ottributes ronging 7\l
lrom 'hordwore' to 'software'. li/ ISS
When the ceremony is over ond the gods hove received llt
the offerings, the edible oflerings ore token home ogoin,
where they ore consumed, ond ony leltovers ot the lemple

ore eolen by dogs. This moy strike the western, rollonol

mind os somewhol conlrodiclory • alter oll, you either
give food to lhe gods or you eol it yoursell - bui in o less
literol ond perhops more intelligenl sense il is possible to
do both: once lhe religious tronsoclion hos been elfected
lhe olfering is just o losty tidbit for the people ond the
dogs. So one ond the some object con evidently perlorm
severo! roles, in this cose ot differenl limes when, os here,
li is given o riluol inlerpretotion on certoin occosions only
lo be dlvested of thot conlent when lhe occosion hos
possed, ond lhus lo relurn Iram lhe exlroordinory to the
16!1 1'1 ordinory. ln Christian churches oll lhe rellgious
oppurtenonces retoin their socred importonce ot oll limes,
even when lhe church is not in use. ln lhe weslern world H
is inconceivoble thot o house of worship should become o
ploce where chlldren ploy hlde-ond-seek, os in Bali where
lhe children regulorly turn lhe temples into their
ployground. An oltor for o climbing,frome • il is hord lo
imagine. People in lhe Wesl ore perhops not ímoglnotive
enough, ond it is not very efficíent either, to hove lo
construcl climbing-fromes os well os oltors, os if God
would objecl lo children climbing over his oltors • no, in
this port of the world we wonl lo keep everything neot
ond lidy ond in its proper ploce, so there must be no
confusion concernlng meonlngs.
ROCKEfEllER PlAZA, New YORX (760,!611
Rockefeller Plozo, the smoll sunken public squore in the
middle of Rockefeller Cenlre in Monhotton tokes on o
completely differenl oppeoronce ln summer ond in winler.
ln lhe winter there ore the skolers, ond in lhe summer
months the ice mokes woy for o lerroce wilh plenty of
seots omong plonh ond porosols. This cleorly defined
spoce offers every opporlunity for exploiling the chonging
circumslonces of the different seosons lo the lull.
COIUMBIA ÜNIVERSrrr, New YORK f2'1)
Monumental flights of sleps ore o slople feolure ol
buildings which ore intended to emonote o sense of
imporlonce, ond thus lo evoke on otlendonl sense of
respect ond owe lrom oll who enler. ln this cose the
building is o librory, the nerve--cenlre of o university, o
temple where knowledge i s stored. And here lhe owe-­
inspiring entrance does no! in ony woy invile o cosuol
ond spontoneous visit, while onyone who hos difficulty
106 IISSONS fOi SIUDl#IS IX ltCHIIICUII
wolking is flrmly discouroged. So li is by no meons o
welcoming libro,yl
li is os if onyone wishing lo portoke of thot knowledge
must be mode to feel thot something is expected ol him in
return. But however imposlng lhe sleps were inlended to
be, lhe pho1ogroph shows thot they con be used quite
lnformolly, too, rother like o grondstond, if the occosion
orlses, e.g. when o speech is delivered. So here lhe
orchitecture proves lo function quite differenlly thon
expected, ond even, os in this cose with lhe students
turning their bocks to lhe libro,y, to serve o complete ly
contro,y purpose.
On lhe levei of form these sleps derive their imporlonce
wholly from lhe uses to which they ore put, ond thot some
importonce con, under lhe influence of lhe specific use
lhot is mode of lhe steps, turn into its opposile, os we see
here.
lt would not be difflcult lo cite more examples of how
a larg.e·Kille form can, quite unintentlonolly, permit
dlfferent lnterpretatlons, but what we are concemed
wíth here are the patentlal applica.tions of lhe
establishecl principie. lf an archite<t is capable of fvlly
9raspi119 the implicatlons of lhe distinctlon between
structure and fllll119, or in other words between
'competence' and 'performance', he can a."ive at
solutions with a grecrter potential volue as regards
appllcabillty • 1.e. with more space for interpretatlon.
And because the time foctor Is incorparatecl in his
solutions: wíth more space for time. While on the one
hand strvcture stands for what is collective, lhe way in
which it mciy be interpreted, on the other hand,
repreunts individual requirements, thus NC:onciling
individual and collective.
----=---�
761

7
,1
lo\lllMG SPIC!. lU�INi SrlCI 10
1 utn,,,
 3 STRUCTURE AS A Unlike in the previous exomples, we are now
concemed not in the first place with the different

GENERATIVE SPINE:
interpretations over time, but with the diversity of
individuo! interpretotions which wlll be able ta coincide

WARP ANO WEFT

in time, thereby constituting one whole, thanks ta a
stnlcture that, as a common denominator so to speak,
reconciles the diversiry af individual forms of
expression.
The ordering mechanism contoined ln the followlng
examples brings a variety of images to mind. let us
take the image of a fabric such os thot constituted by
warp and weft. You could say that the warp
estoblishe.s the bosic ordering of the fabnc, and ln
doing 10 creates the opportunity to achieve the
9reate1t possible varlety and calourfulness with the
weft.
The warp must firsl and foremosl be strong and of the
correcl tensian, but 01 regards colour it needs merely
to serve as a base. lt is the weft thot gives colour,
pottern and texture to the fabric, depending on lhe
imagination of the weaver. Warp and weft make up an
indivilible whole, the one cannot exist without the
other, they give each other their purpose.

fORT t'EMPEREUR PROJECT, AlGIERS 1930 / LE CORBUStEa

l!•H6lí
The ideo undedying this elongoled megoslruclure which
follows the coostline like o ribbon, is to combine o
molorwoy ond living occommodotion. Above ond

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Pog� '147 'lo ,,;fie

Rodie•se', Paris
1933/le Corbvsle,
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108 l!SSONS FOt STUtlMTS 1� UClllHTltl

Material com d1 etos
1 autor
underneoth lhe motorwoy there ore slocked Floors
conslituting ortiliciol building-sites. Dwelling units con be
conslructed on these sites by individuo! owners in ony
style.
You could coll this conslruclion of 'sois ortiliciels' o beorer
(le Corbusler himsell used lhe term superstrucluret, ond il
would obviously hove lo be buílt ln o síngle operotíon os
port of lhe molorwoy, ond by the stote. The drowing
shows thot le Corbusler envisoged, on poper ot any role,
lhe greotesl voríety imoginable. And certoinly in 1930, ín
the heyday of the Modern Movement ond Funclionolism in •
orchileclure, this wos obsolutely revolutionory, even if he
hod somewhot noive notions obout trollic, os some loter moreover makes the compleJt as a whole infinitely
commenlolors hove conlended. But li wos o mosl richer than any one ar<hitect, however lngenlous, could
extroordinory vision, which even todoy, more thon filty ever make it,lut that is not aU • the drawing shaws
yeors loter, inspires more orchllects thon ore prepored to that, with such a structure, the greater the diversity in
odmil itl the parts, the better the quality of the wholel So choos

- -- -
=»<=- --·
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i.. Corbu1ier's plan for Algiers is the key to our train of

thought, inasmuch as it proposu, explicitty, that the
individual o«upanh are offered the opportunity, by
virtue of the strength of the mega1tructure itaelf, to
create thelr homes exa<tly os they themselves wlsh, or
according to the ideos of 'their own' architects, While
the collemve strvcture in foct only indiccit.s the spatlal
Umits of eoch individuo! clwelUng, the d-ltings
together determine the appearance of the whole.
Such a 'superstructure' creates the conditions, on the
collectlw level, for an exceptlonol freeclom on the part
of the Individual inhobitonts.
The drawing • which is, incld.ntally, one of the most
evocative thot La Corbusler ever mode · shows that the
most divergent designs ond constrvction methods con
coeJtist honnoniously, ond thot it is the rnegastructure
that not only makes this dlversity passible, but
1
MUIVG srice. tt,vhli SIA<l 109
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ond order do sHm to nNd one onother.
Tti. drowlng ol.JO shows some run•of-the-mill
dwelling.s, popular housing (1) of the type thcrt olwcrys
oppecrrs in o 'Y•tem in whlch the pecrple themselves
have no scry in the design ond construction of the
hou1e1 they live ln. ln Le Corbusler's drowing the,e
dwellings do not occupy o prominent position vis à vis
the exuberance oround them, and they seem to be no
more thon o curious reminder of doys gane by. lut this
type of moss housing Is the reality thcrt we encounter
time and agoln, ond lndeed lt is one of the most bcrsic
problems thot confront u,, People todcry do not seem
114 269 to have ony ideo how to give expres,ion to thel r own
woy of llving.
But there is no reason to assume thot the copcrdty to
expre11 oneself ln o personol woy in form is essentiol•
ly ony different from the copcrcity to express oneself
personolly ln languoge. And if we do not seem to be
copcrble of this any more, then we mcry reasonably
assume thot the lmpotence of orchitecture todoy is
ccrused by o very serious disruption of social relotions.
Mais housing, which is superflciolly ln occordonce with
our industrial circumstonces, derives its dominont
position from the mechanism af mono-cultural
behoviour which governs our society. lhe leost on
archltect con do ln o sltuotion like this is to provide the
outlines of imoges thot will show woys of rousing the
people from this condition of numbness.
As dose 01 Le Corbusier's propcrsal ( 1932) brings us to
on oppcrrently obvlous solution, so for ore we removed
from it todoy. Even the smollest steps i n thot direction
100n prove to conflict fundomentolly with the
consequences of our institutionoliud centrolized
society, ond we do not get much neorer to the
reollzotlon of our plons. lut those few limes thot we
do succeed ot leost give us on opportunity of
demonstrating the principie, olbeit ln o more
theoreticol thon proctkol wcry.
110 IESSONS 101 SJIO!NIS 1� UCHIIHIUI!
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1
'SufPORTS: AN ALTERNATIVE ro MAss Hous1NG1 , 1961 /
N.J. HA8RAKEN
1 wou ld like lo mention Habraken's conlribulion in lhis
conlexl, wh ich in o sense lits in with whot le Corbusier
hod in mind when he made his plon for Algiers. Hobraken
lried, in theory ai leasl, lo orrive ai o bosis on whlch,
using the industrio! apparatus thot is ai our disposal,
people can be ollered much more freedom in their choíce
ol haw they wont to live. The beare1s, specially designed
skeletol units provided by lhe stole complete with the
bosic lechnicol necessities, con serve as consltuc1ion sites
on which people con build prelobricoted houses or pari ol
houses which ore morkeled by ony number of lirms.
Since lhe inhabitanl con pick the type of house thot he
likes oul of a range ol possibilities, and since he con hove
certoin adjustments mode to suit his toste, he is thus again
aclively invol,ed in the process, in the result of which he
currently hos no soy.
Bul problems immediotely crise because here too the
houses soon become wholly commercioliz.ed, ond
therelore subject to the ,icissitudes ol compelition ond
morketing mechonisms. And thot meons thot lhey will be
olluned to the lowest common denaminotor • thct of
mediocrily • ond so we ore right bock where we started.
Whot mokes the proposol inle1estin9 is the ottempt to
creote the conditions for o more sensible ond ellicocious
exploitction ol the industrial potentiol that our society hos
so much ol. Every one of us osks himself from lime lo lime
why houses connot be produced like cars, and, from a
lechnologicol viewpoinl, il is very hard to understond why
we oll hove such o problem with houses.
The onswer is less simple that the question, but one thing
is cleor: it is especiolly the problem of siting with its
inlinite diversity of requirements and rules thot conllict
with oll repelilion, which is lhe mainsloy of modern
technology. li only you could divorce lhe house itself os a
prablem from thot ol the 'building site', which the stote
could provide os o sophisticoled urbon f1omework, then in
theory ai leost one ol the twentieth century's dreoms could
come true. But the very lew ottempts lhot hove been made
to realize thot dreom hove not succeeded in producing a
autor" s
froclion of lhe poelic imoge lhol le Corbusier conjured up
for us more thon filty yeors 090.

HOUSESOATS PROJECI l11l>-lllt

HousebooJs, usuolly moored dose lo eoch other in duslers
-
ai lhe arder of lhe outhorilies, ore in Hollond lhe most
conspicuous exomple ol (odmitledly permonentl
occommodotíon in whicli lhe inliobifonls still hove o lorge
soy ond lhis hos resulted, especiolly in lerms of exlernol
oppeoronce, in o richly díversifíed siluotion.
1
This lreedom of expression is undoubtedly due to lhe '
obsence ol o troditionol, olficiol form ond oppeoronce ol
houseboots. from the oulsel the nolure of lhis
phenomenon wos estoblished by home-mode solultons to
lhe housing problem.
Thot this did not reolly leod lo chootic siluotions ond lhe
general unlídiness lhot oulhoritíes ore s o ofroid of is, no
doubl, becouse lhe overoll shope ond size of houseboots
is bosed on lhe borges on top of which they ore built, ond
whích do not vory much. Besides, they ore oll moored
lenglnwise to o quoy-side, from which lhey gel their
woter, gos ond eledricity. So these houseboots represenl
free ond personol interpretotions ol essentiolly standard
elements which ore connected with the public omenities ai
permonent moorings.
ln ploces where conglomerotions ol houseboots constitute
entire flooting nelghbourhoods, usuolly on lhe outsklrts of
the cities, jetties hove olten been built by woy of public
focility: o minimal spine which provides boslc necessities
-"F)J:",R'-
such os occess ond energy. li is this 'public spine' thot
oligns the diversity, s o lo speok, ond thus introduces o
certoin arder.
You could imagine plonning íloolíng residentiol
neighbourhoods in oreos with o lol of woter, even entire
cities on the woter, with o network of boordwolks insleod

of slreels providing the infroslruclure. The dwelling units in 711 111

such o settlement on the woler would then be for more 1T3
voried in oppeoronce thon would ever be possible in our 170
ordinory towns ond cities on lond. And whol o sense of
freedom, to know thot you con now ond then move your
houseboot to o dillerent spot, for instonce when you wonl
to be in o specilic neíghbourhood for one reoson or
onother. (This ideo orose in connection with o plon for
urbon renewol in the centre ol Amslerdom in 1970, so
thot people who hod to vocole their homes lempororily for
renovotion could move to o houseboot in o conol neorby
ond therefore not hove to leove their lomilior environment
ogoinsl lheir will.)

IUU6 Sfl(l, 11Ull6 SUCl 111 1

 1 c;'.l
DEVENTI�-SUEN8RUGGE HOUSING PROJECT (214)
Only an open grid has been designed, no more than a
street potlern and the basic parcelling. The houses border,
essentially, on lwo streets, ond con therelore have two
lrant doars: the danger of excessive social contrai is thus
ovoided (should it hove orisen ogoín through the
emphosis on community spirit).
So lhe expectotion is thot the different street, eoch derive
their own specilic choracter lrom the inhobitants and Iram
their aclivities, so thot o wide voriety ai solutions will
monifesl themselves within a pattern ol identicolly laid-0ut
streets.
Front ond back ol the pareei ore mede suitoble for
construction, by the inhobitonls themselves, of extensions
to the house such os a garoge, shed, workspoce, an extra
room, a garden roam, or a small shop. To make this
eosier low walls ore erected ol either end on the
borderline between the pareeis, os an encourogement anel
reminder to the inhobitants of what they con undertoke
themselves.
The street spoce is constituted by the whole lo which each
inhobitonl mokes his or her contribution: the space thot
the inhabitants leove and moke for each other. ln the
slreet lhe mutual dependency thot olreody governed the
delimilation of the private areos becames the prime lactar,
and indeed it should be possible for the inhobitonls
themselves to take ony decisions thot concern them
collectívely os inhobítonts of the some slreel. (4)
112 llSSO�S IOt SIUO!US IJ H(MIIHIUtl
DE ScHALM, PROJECT FOR A NE IGHIIOORHOOO CENTRE (211-711)
Sínce lhe lnteroction between people monilests itsell in the
slreel, ane con conceive ol the neighbourhood centre as o
streel capoble ol occammodoting o voriety of polenliol
occretions, depending on lhe specilic needs that crise ond
on the ovailoble resources. The neighbourhood centre
should be plonned in such o way thot ít can evolve over lhe
years, by virtue of its adaptability ta specific needs; in
other words it should always be possible to add new
elements ond to alter or even demolish them in occordance
with changlng needs.
We therefore started out from whot one might coll a spine,
o slntel with o lronsporenl rool ond ai right angles lo a
number ol walls marking off intermedi-ote zones belween
the central slreet and future accretions. However chaotic
the complex ol components moy be, the spinal street must
tronsform lhe whole into a permanently ordered chaos. li
l l l l l l l i l
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Mat nal c-om d1 autor" s
spoce is required for o speciol occosion (i.e. tempororilyl
sucn os celebrotions, foirs, exhibitions, it is often much
better to improvise with instollotions such os morquees,
shelters, hongors, stolls ond the like. These offer mony more
possibilitles thon permonent structures, which tend to be
either just too smoll or for too big, ond which eliminote the
element of surprise. For more permonent occommodoti-on
use con be mode of prefobricoled constructions reodily
ovoiloble on the morket, such os those for building-sile
sheds, offices or hongors. The poinl is then for the
inhobitonts to creote their environment themselves, ond in
thi1 proce$.$ orchitects connot do otherwise thon to hond the
inhobitonts the oppropriote tools. This project, o lypicol 716tlcdl
product of lhe eorly sevenlies, roises quite o few questions 211
now thot the result hos turned out to be not completely
solisfoctory. li Is evident lhot lhe users were unoble to live
up to whot we hod expected of them. They proved unoble
to do very much more lhon arder complete prefobrlcoted
building components, hove them put up ond do some
poinling. Th� 'lighl-street' hos developed inlo o shopeless
moss. Apporently lhe streel wilh wolls os o formal motil
wos nol strong enough to wilhstond the impoct ol lhe cross­
structures (lhe 'welt'), let olone to generote them os wos
originolly inlended.
Although this project certoinly combined o lorge voriety ai surroundings is not necessorily achieved by a group in o
elements ond moy well in mony respecls be termed o communol spoce. lhe project is on ílluslrotion of whot
success from the viewpoinl ai o group venlure in lhe neigh­ hoppens, il too much lreedom is given to the user. The
bourhood ilself, this is by no meons monilest ot lhe level of result is disoppointing compored wilh the greoter spotiol
formal unity. What individuais ochieve in their private possibilities 1h01 on orchitecl might hove offered lhem.

-, 1 f 1 1 1 -[!,

IUlli SrACI, IUTII' SPICI J 13

' t '
 PROJECT FOR A PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASS (l/1·281)
An underposs running beneath a wide traHic arlery
conslituted on importanl pari ai the sunken pedestrian
network which was to link lhe city-cenlre wilh the railway
stotion.
This, ai any rote, wos what lhe Apeldoorn plonner hod in
mind ai the lime when the Centraal Beheer building wos
being designed, ond there wos every reoson then to
connect this future pedeslrian roule lo the building. lhe
ideo orose to moke lhe underposs extra wide, so lhot il
could be used for more than jusl pedeslrion lroffi c. ln this
woy it would be possible nol only to ovoid the desolation
which so often chorocterizes such tunnels, bul moreover
this conslruclion, os o public omenity, could provide
occommodotion for instilulions requiring spoce but unoble
to poy commerciol rents, such os youth octivity centres,
reheorsol spoce for lheolre groups, ele., os well os for
marginal selling. But why not olso consider the possibility
lll Ili no of o covered m orketl
lllek The experience with covered public spoces shows that lhis
idea is not realislic, and like lhe urban plan, il hinges on
using lhe wide spons lhol ore commonly feotured in
underpasses with a view lo reslricling the number of
necessory points of support, o lorge number of columns
were to be used • relotively lorge columns, so thot they
m ight serve, withoul furlher odjustmenl, os lhe
demorcotion of more or less enclosed spoliol units,
corners, niches, in shorl ol such comporlmentolizolion os
mighl be required. IEoch column octuolly consists of two
separata smaller columns enclosed by a wall, which in
turn can occommodate odditional niches or display
windows). lhe ideo was lo demonstrale thal by odopting
lhe slroightforword disposilion of mossive 'adhesive'
columns, oligned with lhe walking direction, the
suggeslion would emanole lrom them thol they should be
pul to use - in other words, thot the construction material
should be ordered in such o woy os to ensure o maximum
of compelence.
....
• • •

e
overeslimotian of what is feasible. • •
• • •.• .
••••• ••••
ln sum lhe plon omounted lo the following: rother thon • •••
•

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114 l!SSONS 101 SIUDINIS li ll(Hlll<IUIE

1at n I com d1 auo
HOUSING, WEST8ROEX (281-7811
The struclurol design of lhis residentiol neighbourhood,
smoll in scole ond only por11y built os yel, is nol bosed on
principies ol construction but on the noture of lhe octuol
building sile. Cenluries 090 the oreo wos ortificiolly
divided by o porcelling system consisling of long porollel
ditches • o lroditionol chorocteristic of the local
londscope, which wos to be preserved ai all casts.
li is common proclice in lhe Netherlonds to prepare
unsuitoble construction sites lor building by first depositing
o bed ol sond severo! metres thlck to serve os the
loundotion for roods, droins, etc.; lhis nolurolly erases
every troce ol the underlying londscope, thereby
providing o deon slote, upon which on entirely obstrocted
plon con be reolized regordless of lhe nolure of lhe
lerroin. But in this cose, grotelul use wos mode of the
'natural' orticulolion of the site upon which to base the
urbon plon.
lhe moin outline of the plon wos to build on lhe norrow
strips between the ditches, ond becouse the sttips were
nol wide enough to occommodote o streel lined on both
sides with dwellings ond gordens, lhe buildings were
slotted logether, which yielded o profile of very norrow
slreels lhreoding porliolly overlopping structures.
Thonks to this solution li wos possible to keep lhe space
required for the sond foundotion ond the inlrostructure of
slreels and droins down to the borest minimvn, i.e. os for
removed os pouible from lhe ditches [ar rother little
canais) in o,der to preveni tronsg,ession of lhe bonks due
-...
to lateral pressure. Thls specilic loyoul wos thus wholly
engendered by lhe reslrictions ond possibillties ai the
original site.
The ditches ar little canais we,e lhus retoined in lhe plon;
lhe bonks were reinforced occording to vorying methods,
ond where lhey mark lhe end of privote gardens lhey
hove token on o voriegoled oppeoronce under the 2&?
inlluence ai theír new funclion. Nol on ly did the existing lU
orticulolion ond porcelling ol lhe londscope yield o highly
specific loyout in this case, the 1esulting orchitedure in
lurn gove the ditches o new look.
Thus lhe bosic slructure ployed o crucial role in the
disposilion of the buildings, ond vice verso: basic
slructu,e ond buildings reciprocote on the level ol form.
ln telrospecl, one could ergue lhol the plan os il wos
reolized does nol sulficiently monilest the underlying
urbonislic intenlíons. lhe moin reoson for this is oport
IUIIM, SPIU. IIIVU' SIICI
r
115
 from lhe loct lhol lhe plon hos nol reoched completion,
thot il wos not corried out by more thon one orchiled.
The scole ol lhe projecl wos too smoll to permit engoging
more orchilects, ond unlortunotely lhe truly generotive
potentiol o/ the bosic motil • which is ol leosl monilesl in
the ditch embonkmenls - wos thus not lully exploited with
regord to lhe buildings themselves.

During lhe 1960s o number of plons were drown up,

notobly in lhe circles ol Teom X, in which lhe principie ol
distinction between slruclure ond complemenl wos olreody
empholicolly included. These plons, in which the rigidíty
ol exclusive lunctions ond lhe ensuing disintegrotion hos
successlully been eliminoted, con indeed be seen os
onticipoting ond inspiring whot we might now coll
slructurolism in orchiteclure .
•

FRE_é UNIVElSITY, BERLIN, 1963 /

CAN0tus, Jostc & Wooos ,21�1,ii
This project, ln the original version, proposed o formulo
,i1 ! IIru;oau
:=1
for lhe woy o modern uníversity could be spotiolly
orgonized os o network of inlerrelotionships ond
fA}
;.:.... -� :.'..__-=(D==I\ opportunities for communicotion. lnsleod ol storting oul
{ • i
Iram lhe usual dlvísion into locultles, each os o strongho ld
u rn m I
co co
1

\1 1_I
in ils own building, with ils own librory etc., lhe point ol
W
aa □o.io ��..J./

r1.1 1'r'1T
deporture in this bullding wos o single conlinuous
structure lunctioning like o rooled ocodemic
ogglomerolion, in which oll lhe componenl paris could be
positioned in the mosl logicol relallon vis à vis eoch olher.
And becouse ideos chonge over lime olso lhe
..-

ã
211 l8S :'
interrelotionships will chonge, ond with them the dilferenl
116 components; it wos therefore proposed lo creote spoces
/81 �
lhot con be erecled or dismontled wllhin o Jixed ond
288 --
.•l permonenl network ol interior slreets.

�-:..a,-
289

,,_
··-· - ...
•º •
•
• This is exploined in the lollowing stolemenls by Shodroch
.. Woods:

......,.. 'a

--� \.\
,,_, • )
Our inrenlion in lhis plon, is to choose o minimum
.,
,-..
T·

'
�
'-'
N- .,, orgonizolion which provides moximum opporlunities for
.'"''
,. lhe kind of conloct, exchonge ond feed-bock lhol is lhe
real roison d'êlre of the univenily, wilhoul compromising
lhe lronquillty of individuo/ work.
b)
We were con vinced thol il wos necessory to go beyand

--- ...... lhe onolytic sludy of dlfferenl loculties or oclivifles in

different buildings; we lmogined o synthesis of funclíons
ond deporlments where o// disciplines could be ossocioled
and where lhe psychologicol ond odmini51rotive borrlers
which separo/e one from lhe other would no/ be

·-
•••
•••
.... . . ' ..
::1
reinformed through orchíleclural orliculotion or lhe
• !
frogmenlary idenlificalion of lhe paris ai the expense of
_.., ........
:•

lhe whole.

116 lHSOJS 101 sr�DIWIS IN Al(HIIICIV!E

 e)
The web of primory ond secondory circvlolion ond
servicing reloins lhe possibiliry of modificolion so rhol il
con be vsed efliciently. ln lhe firsl plonning sloge il exists
only os on opproximole network of rfghls-of-woy. lt is built
only os ond when ir is required lo provide circulotion ond
service. li is no/ o megoslruclure bul rolhe, o minimvm
strvchlring orgonizolion. This orgonizolion keeps its
potenliol for growlh ond chonge, within lhe limils of lhe
/echnologicol ond economic milieu.
d/
No one of lhe slems hos been given greo/er imporlonce
thon lhe others, eilher in dimension or lhro119h lhe
intensiry of oclivilies olong il. li is inherenr in this plon thol
il should begin by being non<enlric through use. The
orbilrory decision of on orchilecl os to lhe noture ond
locolion of 'centres'wos reploced by the reol choice of rhe
people who use the system '.
jShodroch Wood,, World Architec/ure, london 1965, pp. 113,1141

-··1
-..
Woods wos cerloinly oddicted to 'chonge ond growtn', to
lhe ideo 1h01 chonge ond growth (ond opporently never -- :: :: t

.. ... ,.......... ,,
diminulion, by lhe woy) should be treoted os the most
imporlonl constonls • ond inis is lhe exod reverse ai whot ---
we ore odvocoling •bul he hos received his due ln thol
the Free University, os it wos eventuolly built, turned out to
be on ordinory rigid structure oher ali.
But 1here is slill every reoson to ot leost loke inlo
._ ...�
.... ..... -- ,., ....
■••••11a
11111 ■,■

·=
considerotion lhe still relevont ond hence undeniobly
importonl bosic ideo ol o minimal ordering, in this cose o
spoliol orgonizotion necessory for oplimol intercnonge
.-•. '
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=-,..).
...-,-·..'
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- :::'.?
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which, on principie, generoles freedom ol choice ln lhe • ' ',!·

'r:,
woy lhe bosic slructure is to be lílled in. rrns· •► -.. . 1.·� --
-
"

E,cpJanotíon wflh
diogrotns b�
S. Wood,

7'0
!ti
191 213
ll4

IIUI!& SPA((. lU,'IING SPiCI 117

 • no/ lhe form of lhe buildings ond so on. ln lhis way o
' variely of differentioled dwelling Forms ond street spoc:es
,, .
,--:::::
-
-
• slruc/ures and street struclures ele.} could be viewed as a
'
PROJECT fOR A RESIDENT IAI AaeA, BeauN 1965 /
S. WEWUKA 11fS-lfll
'The street c:on be regorded os more or less the oldesr
elemen/ of urbon plonnlng. The street had olwoys been
lhe '/iving room' of the people. The ídeo of pu1ting lhe
familiar urlx.m spoc:e lo use ogoin resulted in this design.
29S The public: spoce mus/ once more become lhe selling, wílh
196 on lmproved spotiol orgonizolion, foro// lhe oc:tivities il
197 1'1 hos been used for since time immemoria l.
Unlike lhe so-colled building plon, the proposed zoning
scheme indlcoles only destina/ians and occessibililies, but
,.,.,.. '-..I---LL...J...J.....L..1--1.JL.a.__J'---L..U.....&..J,.--+r""-'-....___._,__._ -::..:..:..-_-_
could arise.
The specific: functions of cerloin oreos might we/1 change
in the fulure, necessilaling cerloin adjuslmen/s which,
however, need no/ spoil the unity or organizolion of lhe
who/e. Afler o// there ore, scattered lhroughovl lhe plon,
pedeslrian brldges over lhe molorway as we/1 os covered
cross<onneclions for bath pedes/rians ond cors
/depending on lhe specilic demands of differenl
loc:otions}.
The built-up orea as o whole /consisling of dwelling
greol conloiner in which lhe en//re oge-old gomu/ of urban
exislence can be permilted lo take ils familiar, lively
course.
Serious oltempts were made to give the motorcar o fitting
role, insteod of storling ou/ from what is best for the
vehicle. Through-traffic has been eliminoted From the oreo,
which has already dane a foi lo simplify lhe problem. The
inhobitants of this place will ot los/ be oble to wolk, play,
drive and parle wherever they like, and they wi/1 always
know where they belong.' (Stelon Wewe,ko, 196AI
'This projecl is, in essence, simply on intensive kind ol
plotting of lhe building site by meons of woll-like building
blocks, o grid thot must still be filled in within o 1on9e of
possibilities defined by ce1foin 'rules ol the gome'.
Openings con be mode in lhe wolls, they con be inler­
rupted oltogether to creote public spoces or squares, lhe
heights of the blocks con vory, pedeslrion overpossei. con
be mode to link the blocks together, ond so forth. On
confronlolion wllh this gríd o world of possibilities opens
up before the orchitect's eyes, in other words lhe grid is
copoble ol generoting or even ai provoking solutions.
..,
"
..........__._���-::::..-:.:.-_�--,,
 Watts Tawers.
tos Aitge!.,
192 1-54/S. llodla

The constroinls o! worlclng with lhe proposed theme
evidenlly do nol hove o restricling effect bul, os
calalyzing ogents, actuolly hove a stimuloting effecl.
So the constroínts of lhe lheme in fact result in more
freedom (is il o porodox thot freedom ond restroint
generote eoch olher�).
Different designers worling independenlly con use lhe
grid os a 'mester p lan', whích they can campl ement with
thelr own speciflc solulions. ln the some woy o greot
variety of progrommes con be implemented. Within the
loyout, lhe componenls con develop occording to their
own criteria. The plon as such permits such o variety af
lnlerprelotians thol, regardless af whol is subsliluled ond
by wham, lhe complex os o whole will olwoys hove o
Apart from the uctiptianal quality af the plan• af
Waacb and Wewerka as idecu, whGt we can learn in
particular from them Is that we should nat concentrate
our attention to the e.xduslon of oll else an change as
such, but an the 1trvcture which, in itt conttan<y, it
capable of absorbing change.
ln the uample given above, the imoge of warp and
weft, the collective ttrvctvre is therefare the warp,
into which individual interpretatlons are woven as
the weft. 1t is the collective structure, in itseH meaning
!9' ll)t
lOI

certoin arder.
The essence is thol the grld con be inferprered an oll
leveis . i l merely provides lhe objective potlern, lhe
underlying currenl os it were, the prolo-lorm, which
ocquires ils true idenlily by virtue of lhose very
lnlerprelolions thol ore given to li, notably by the
progrommes lhot ore filled in ond the specific woy i n
which lhol i s dane. Whalever is filled in, i l will olwoys be
directed ordered, thot is lo soy nol ordered in lhe sense of
'subservience' but rother in lhe sense ol 'inclinotion'.
The grid functions os o generolive lromework which
conloins wllhin it lhe bosic inclinolion 1h01 il tronsmitted to
eoch solulion. And becouse lhe grld vesls the individuo!
components wilh lhe common inclinolion, not only will the
ports dele-rmine the idenlity of lhe whole, but conversely
lhe whole will contribuis lo lhe idenlity of lhe paris. The
idenlíly of the ports ond of the whole will be reciprocolly
generolive.' 13)

lt Parar, ldéor,
1879-1912/
focleur Chevol

MUII, SIICE, lUVIMó SUU 119

r 1
 little or nothing thot evoked the individual
lnterpre!(ltions, which would not have arisen lf the
�text had not been there. Mor.ove, it ÍI the
strudure thot indicate1 lhe coharence without which
ther. woold only be on �lmíng mau of
expl"ff1ions • whkh we call chac».
'fhe GWONntSS of fhe rep-essive effe<ts of fhe
equotlng of dwelling unlts ln aportment buildíngs as
large-scale sto,oge systemJ reoched a peok in the
sixtles. The consequence wos o NHficol repudiotion of
everything thot merety referred to systems and arder
imposed from obove. At the some tlme much
emphaai, was ploced on the weolth thot ÍI the
product of individual expresaion. Thi11k of Sam
Roclia'a 'Watts Towers', Ol the po1btto11 Cheval's
'Palall Ideal', ond ali the fantastic arch.itecture thot
peo,I• driven by on •xtr- commltmellt u,cceeded
in creoting with their bore handsl And yet the ideal of
the vlctory of individual ueotivity and dedicotion
over everythlng thot is lmpo1ed by the powen thot
be is on oversimplification.
Just as longuage is neceuary t o be oble to upress
ourselves calle<tively ln tenns of stru<ture, sa a
collectlve formal atructure 11 neces1ary to be oble to
eiq,rets oneself 1pGtiolly in one's environmem.
lf the,e is onything thol comes to the fore ovt of oll
these exetmplff it Is surely the poradox thot the
restriction of o strvctvring principie (worp, ,pine,
grid) apporentty results not ln o cfimlnulion but ln etn
ex,ontion of the possibilities of odaptation and
therefore of lhe Individual posslbllities of expresslon.
Tfte comtd strvcturol � doe, not rfltrict freedom
but is octually «>nducive to freedoml
So the way the structure is fllled ln Is no more
wbservlent to the structure than the other way round
· 120 liSIO�, 101 HfJDf�JI ll itlttll!CIUU
1 am stlll lhinking ln tel'IM of warp and weft: the
warp moy wel serve to keep the whole fabric
together, but the appeor91ce of the end·product is
stif1 determined by the welt.
But not only are strvctvre and infill equivalent, they
are also reciprocai, ond sa he,e tfle warp ond weft
idea no longe, applies · in the some way thot s,eech
alsa malcff langU091 anel not only the reverse, they
therefo,e generote eoth ofher, and the better the
quolity of -h, the less important the diatlnction
between the two categories.
VILIA SAVOYE, POISSY 1929-32 / tE co-Sl/SIEi [l0l-30S)
li is dífficult to lind o belter exomple of o 'plon líbre'
thon te Corbusier's Villo Sovoye in Poissy: 'les Heures
Cloires'.
The 'plon libre' demonstrotes o consistent ei1ploitotion of
the new possibilities offered by the opplicotion of the
concrete Irome.
Chorocteristic ol these eorly ei1omples ol free plons
were, besides the free-stonding columns, the olten
curved wolls which olmos! oslenlotiously procloímed
their liberotion from o lood.beoring funclion. When
conlronted with such o concrete lromework you
inevitobly expect the columns to be dispersed occording
lo some regular orrongement governed by conslructive
crilerio, and ai first sighl you are inclined lo think thal
they are orronged os indlcoted in fig.o, but this is not
lhe cose ot ali.
lt is possible thot te Corbusier did indeed starl out lrom
such o regulor system, but thot ín the process of his
design he musl hove felt the urge not only lo odopt the
wolls to the posilions ol lhe columns, but conversely olso
lo shilt the columns vis ô vis lhe wolls, in arder thus to
obtaín the carreei configuration. By virtue ol the
Mal t COl'T' d
 , l
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conditions thot the wolls ond columns offer, bolh systems
ollow room for eoch other, ond so 1hey creote lhe
conditions ol heedom in eoch other. The building, like o
white mochine, o spoceship lrom onother plonel londed
in lhe midst ol noture, represents like no other the
mechonism of lwenlieth-century orchilecture.
303
344
JOS
 4 GRIOIRON Plon, Tlmg od, Al9erio
T11• principie of minimal ordering of the clty by a grid
such as th• gridiron ho1 bNn known •v., sinc• town
plonning wa1 inv9nted. ln townt that did not evolv•
thonks to a 1uc"11ion of 9Y9"b in a gradual proeffs
of growth, but d•veloped occording to a preconc•iv.d,
fix.d plon, th• nNd -• f9lt time and agoin,
WMIMY., the loco! dn:umstonces did not automaticolly
provlde ,elf..vident incentive for some klnd of
orderlng, for something in !fie -y of a grid: o
'blueprint' for what was to be done next. Whotever the
primory point of deporture in eoch 1pec.ific case, ther•
ore voricrtions on the some theme to be found
306 throughout history which guorontee in a 1ingle formulo
301 301 the conditions of land distribution, olso on o lorger
scale or in a longe, t9rffl, ond the accesslbility of Nch
plot of lond. The starting•point i1 nearly always
rectangular or squore plots: 1treets enclosing blocks
whose dimensions correspond with the constrvction
m.ttiod whlch is envisaged, olthough they could in
principie be fill.d in o variety of ways, the notvre of
tfie filllng depending on the noture of the period in
whlch it Is requir.d.
122 l!SSOWS 101 sn0u1s li U(HllHIDR!
•
:�
' �
ENSANCHE, 8AtCELONA 1859 / 1. CEaDÁ llCll·llOI
Ildefonso Cerdó's plon for Borcelono in the �ond holl ol
lhe neneleenth century wos oimed ot ensurlng o higher
quality thon thot olfered by o primory ordering of streets
ond blocks within which one could do pretty much os one
pleosed. The size of the squore$ wos e1toblished by him
in relotion to certoin heights of conslruction in order thus
lo guoronlee odequole living conditions everywhere. He
ciso proposed thor pari of the blocks should be kept free
from buildings.
Nothing come of this in the plon os it wos reolized
becou$e, os is so often the cose, the exigencies of llving
conditions were no motch for the for greoler power of the
londowners ond exploilers. Cerdõ's proposol for o
building principie consisting of strips thot could olternote
in direction per block, simple os it moy seem, creoted
virtuolly inexhoustible possibilities for voriotion, which
would leod to on incredibly rich pottern of urbon spoce.
And this not only opplies to the volumes on the obstroct
leve!, there is ciso the olternotion with greenery which in
itself constitules on orgonizing foctor in defining ond
vorying lhe spoce. And we hove not even referred to the
furlher eloborolion of the blocks by diHerent orchitects,
auto
 .
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B
eoch wlth his own sígnoture, whích would oulomoticolly
ensure 1h01 no two ploces within this lucid, coherenl
syslem would be ídenticol.
The most ingeníous ospecl of this plon is lhot lhe corners
ore olwoys well-defined, ond lhol these 'cornerslone'
buildings consistently lace lhe intersecting slreels with o
diogonol loçode. The lour diogonoh widen eoch
inlerseclion to lorm o smoll squore, which lhus provlde o
welcome reliel from lhe monolony ol lhe long slreels.
Even in lhe form in which lhis plon wos ultimately
reolized, wilh closed block siting ond much loller
buildings thon originally inlended, the elfect ai this corner
arrongement on the loyout as o whole h still noliceoble, Coso Mlló, 8orc�01t0 1906-1 O/A. Govdl
suggestive os il wos for orchítec1s . ond nol leost for
Goudi - to depor! Iram lhe rigidity ai lhe most obvious
solutions.

MUtW, �PACE. 1[0116 �PAU 123

 MANHArTAN, New YORK 13ll·JHI
ln the ropidly developed lorge Americon cilies we find lhe
gridiron opplied in ils most elementory lorm ond with the
mos! chorocteristic results. li is hord to imagine o better
woy to torne the wild collection of orchitecturol lorms
ronging lrom llot struclures to skyscropers • which is
olmosl impossible to curb in lhis world of inexoroble free
enterprise.
Monhotton is undeniobly lhe most exciting exomple ol oll.
Not only does one see lhe most loscinoling range ol
orchitecturol solulions poss before one's eyes like o
greotly voried londscope, but due lo the curiously
elongoted shope of lhe peninsulo one is constontly owore
of two conlrodictory feolures: on lhe one hond the wide
streels olong the longitudinal oxis which ore so long thot
you con see the vonishing polnt on the horizon, ond on
lhe other, lhe norrower lolerol streets covering the
relotively short distonce from one end by the woler to the
311 311 other. While one experíences lhe voslness of the city ln
Monhotton, eoch side-street slill olfords o view of lhe
woter beyond. So in this cose the grid contribules in o
very speciol woy to the woy lhe urbon spoce is
experienced.
One ol lhe lirsl things to strike the visitar to Monhotlon is
the cold-blooded consistency wilh which the grid hos been
opplied, until it simply connol be continued ony further, so
1h01 lhe somewhot íroyed edges not only oppeor lo be
rondam but olso to some exlenl insensitive. But
remorkobly enough it is olso in those ploces lhot lhe mos!
124 irsso-s FOI SIUDINIS li ll(RIIECIUII
inleresling solutions were devised. One would expecl,
within such o severe rectongolor syslem, thot the
exlremities would be ollowed to lerminote in o woy
belilling lhe possibilities ollered by lhe grid.
But, os so olten hoppens, il is the confronlolion between
one principie ond onolher 1h01 reveols lhe noture ai eoch
This is mos! evident perhops where the regular
longitudinal pottern is cut ocrO$S by Broodwoy, the old
country rood which wos lelt virtuolly unchonged os if ít
were inherenl in lhe londscope. Broadway wos
incorporoled ínlo the grid os on inevitoble glven foctor,
ond wherever i l meets the grid it disrupts ít, thereby
chollengíng orchitects to lind on imoginolive solution lo
lhe irregulority. One celebroted example of such o
solutian is lhe Flol-lran buildíng on Modíson Squore.
li is in lhese ploces 1h01 lhe nolure ai lhe grid monifesls
ilself mosl convincingly.
lhe biggelt misconception r119ardin9 the gridiran
,yslem is that it musl inevitably lead to monolony, and
that its effect Is represslve. Those dangers do
admittedly exist, but here are enough great e.xamples
ta prove that, in a gigantic expanse of buildings, the
negative aspects adually recede lnto the background.
Whether the ardering of the gridiran will indH-d
expand the possibilities of variatian instead of
reduclng them depends first and foremost on whether
the proper balance has been found between
r119ulations ond frffdom of cholce.
The grid is like o hond operoling on extremely simple
principies • it odmittedly seis down the overoll rufes,
but is oll lhe more fleidble when it come$ lo lhe
detailing of each site. As an objedive basis 11 plols lhe
loyout of lhe urhon space, and this layoul brlngs the
lnevitably chaotic effect of myrlod seporole decisions
down to acceptable propositions. l n its simplidty the
grid is a more effective mean.s of obtaining some form
of regulation than many a finer·meshed system of
rules whích, olthough O$lensibly more flexible and
open, tend to suffocate the imaginative spirit. A.s for as
its economy of means is concerned it is very like o
che1sboard · and who can think of a wlder range of
possibilities ari5ing from such simple ond
stralghtforward rules than that of o chessplayer?

lll
lll
 S BUILDING ORDER
ln simple temu, you could 1ay that building order is
lhe unity thot arises ln a buildlng when lhe parts token
togelher det.nnine lhe whole, and converMly, when
lhe separat9 parti derive from that whole in an
equally fotlcal way, lhe unlty resulting from design
that consl,i.ntty employ, thls reclproclty • parts
de,.rminillf lhe whole and de,.rmined by lt • may in a
sense be regarded as a structure, lhe material (lhe
informationl is deliberai.ly chosen, adopted to suit lhe
requirements of lhe tosk in question, and, in principie,
lhe solutions of the various design situations (l,1. how
lhe building i1 ini.rrelated from place to place) are
permutations of or at lea1t direclty derived from one
another, As o result lhere will be a distinct, one could
say fomily, relatlon1hlp betwffn lhe variou, paris,
Following lhis train of thought, one ...s that lhere is
an obvious comparison with that outstandlng eJ1ample
of structure: language.
311 116 Each senhtnce derive., its meaning from lhe words of
which it is compoMd, while ai lhe 1ome lime each
word derives its meaning from lhe sentence as a
whole.
Of course, ev1ry w1ll-designed building has a
consistent idea with a di•tlnct lhemotic unity behind it,
a unlty of vocabulary, mai.rial, and bullding method.
lut here lhe essential lhing is design bosed on a
con•istent straf9gy, Starting out from lhe components
you have to go lhrough lhe whole building again and
agaln to check whelher all lhe eJ1tremities can be
brought togtther uncler lhe denominator of a common
lheme (hence putting lhe hypathesis to lhe te.si), That
explorotion ln tum leads to adju1tnMnt of the
hypathesis or lheme,
This working method implies, ín fact, filling ln one.'s
own de1ign 1tructure, as it were and, by feeding bock
�- - --__,_-· -=
-=
.t 4
1
. 1 f·
'�....
1 ; :
.,
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.......
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1 1
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126 IISSOMS f�l SIUDl�JS tW llCNIIICIURI
lhe result, one ev1ntually arr'tves at an orclering in
which lhe conditions for all conceivabl. e infills are
already pre1ent • ln other word1, a 1tructure which
may be said to be programmed to accommoclate all
expec:tN infill••• ln lhls way it is po11ible to ajm
conK�sly at a unlty of spatiallty, components,
mallriol1 and colaurs, in 1uch a way that a maxlmum
of variety of uses can be accommodotecl.
Thl1 thought proceu, lnspired by structurallsm,
atffmpt1 to square account, with lhe aomewhat
controdictory fvnctionali,tk 1triving to find a speclfic
form and a 1peclflc 1patial o,vanlxation for each
fvnction.
Design thot ...ks lhe largest common denominator, the
'Hf' of all lhe requirements under discu11ion ln a
particular to,k (i.e. the progranune in lts wiclest sense),
employ1 o different 1trat9gy and demanu a
fvndamentolly different outlook from lhe orchite<t,
0aPHANAGE, AMsTERDAM 1955-60 /A.VAN fYCK 1311-310
'The lírsl execuled slruclllring wlth o buildíng arder, in the
sense ol o unity in which paris ond whole determine eoch
olher reciprocolly, Is the orphonoge of Aida von Eyclt.
The orgonizolion ol thís buildíng, wilh its 'slreets' ond
'squores' ond independenl building unils, is like o smoll
sell-conloíned city. li evokes these ossociolions even if one
is nol fomilior wilh Von Eyck's exhorlolion 'Make ai eoch
o ploce, o bunch of ploces of eoch house ond eoch city,
for o house is o tiny city, o city o huge house'.
This identificotion with o 'smoll city' is perhops ln ilself lhe
most creolive step, ond o highly significonl breoklhrough.
ln lhe design phose, once lhis 'conneclion' hos been
made, a troin of lurlher associalions is releosed, odding o
new dimension lo lhe quolity ol lhe cammunol, 'public',
ploces. Corridors become 'streets', interior lighling
becomes 'slreel lighting' and so on. Ahhough a building
con never be o cíly nor onythlng between the lwo, il con
still become city-like ond thus become o better house. This
reciprocai house-city lmoge leads to o consistent
arlkulolion of lorge ond smoll both inside ond oulside in
sequences of conlingenl unils which inlerlock wilhoul

.._.__.,,.·-..
�.
o
•
stress or efforl. When this orticulolion is corried through lo
lhe smollesl dimenslon, nol only buildings ond cities
ocquire reciproco! meoning, bul buildlngs ond furniture
olso, becouse lorge scole pieces of 'built' furnilure ore
like smoll houses in which one feels yet more lnleriorized
thon in o lorge room. Thus eoch pari is given lhe
dimension which suits its purpose besl, i.e. the righl size
through which it comes inlo its own.
AII this hos become common knowledge by now, so 1
wonder il there is onybody who believes not to hove been
inlluenced by il. Bul whot I olwoys lound most omo1.in9 is
thol no motter how obsorbing the eloborotlon down to lhe
smollest pari moy be, lhe essence of lhe lorger whole
remoins os powerful os ever. The whole rodioles the colm
ol on equilibrium which encomposses on exlroordinory
inlricocy ol form ond spoce ln one single imoge. lt seems
to me thot the secret lies in the inexoroble unity of
material, lorm, scole ond consJruction combined in o
building arder ol such clority lhot I hove olwoys
ossocioted il more with clossicol order thon with lhe
cosboh. (1 know, Aldo wonts both: clority, but
lobyrinthion, ond cosboh, but orgonized. Neither one nor
lhe other, but both ot once, which colls for o more
inclusive mechonism. Sy now we should be in o position
to ochieve this, with oll the meons ol our disposol in the
twentieth century.j
Perhops the finteis hove something to do with it olso,
morked os they ore by the horizontol openings ploced in
such o woy os to give the impression ol o widening of the
·º
-·�-'
. r.:!
1-'--'-•
• 1 •
•
columns ot the top, copitol-like. The continuous lintel zone
fotms o horizon throughout the entlre buildíng, both inside
ond outside.
Whot thus become cleor to me wos thot lhe woy o
londscope is set free by its horizon is okin to the woy the
cohesive potentiol of o building arder con glve o building
o horizon from which - slronge porodox • it likewise drows 311 311 llt
its freedom. 310 311
li is the dome-like rool unils, the round columns ond obove
oll the lintel choin which moke lhe penetrobility of the
building's perimeter lrom both oulside ond inside
reciprocolly pouible. They invite, os it were, o ploy ol
wolls oround them, letting outdoor oreos ín ond interior
oreos out. Ouiker's open oir school comes to mind. There
the gloss skin oround the clos.s,room's outer edge, by
turning inwords owoy from it, leoves spoce for the omple
l og gios (outdoor closs-rooms), whilst lhe concrete lrome
continues to ollow you to 'reod' lhe entire building moss.
Through contilevering, the woy only Duiker knew how, the
corners ore rendered even lighler ond more tronsporenl.
ln the Orphonoge lhe outer skin olso turns inwords to form
either porch, log gio or verondo wilhin the periphery, but
lhe opposite occurs os well: the interior breoks out i n
 lhree ploces, doing owoy wilh the interno! corners which
otherwise would hove constrícted both movement ond
view of lhese porliculor ploces. Solutions of lhis kind ore
cerloinly ostonishin9.
My very firsl cursory confronlotion with lhe Orphonoge,
slill under construclion ot lhe lime, wos enough to
convince me thol this wonderful new building wos 9oin9
to be of on enlirely new kind, bosed on o different
mechonlsm ond herolding onother kind of orchileclure',IBI

llNMu (321-3311
The workspoce thol wos constructed on the roo! of o
---------
::s==---=--== ---
- --
----·
-
J7l loundering foctory doting from the beginning of this

' ·- -- -- --
----------- -- -- --­ - -
:sa!!:::::i ···-------· --
ln.\ century wos inlended os lhe first step in lhe plons lo

. '
·---------
==----------
--­
....
...
::-:..:..--
ª
-rJ/!1 ··111•1!1 ,s: --•::
.....
313 exlend lhe premises. The expectotion wos ol thol time lho! !F.,
-
•!: p !.
-ã ___________
•· ai ...
rWi �/:i: .. ----· 1
'

successive extensions would become necessory os lhe '.-i·t:ii1.1:r.:I

different deportments exponded:
1.
the impossibility ol predicting which deportments would
require exponsion ai which times;
2.
lhe nolure ond inveslment potentiol ol lhe compony
permitled only o limiled number ol building units to be
121 l!SSO•S 101 SIIOfUS lil U(ttllfCIUII
,, t:
-� -- ,
'
reolized símultoneousl y;
3.
lhe quolity of lhe existing premises wos good enough to
worronl preservolion ond, ohhough somewhot gloomy ond
ineffícienlly loid oul, the building would still be
serviceoble oher incidental olterotions.
ln order to chonnel the expected growlh in lhe future ond
to guord ogoinsl lhe eventual emergence ai o hophozord
potchwork of exlensions, it wos decided to design
building unil$ bosed on o number ol interreloted motifs. ln
lhis woy it would be possible to use diflerent combinotions
to creole o voriety ol lorger spoces. The lundomenlol
principies for the design were os follows:
o.
to occommodote lhe constont chonges within the business,
eoch building unil hod to meet o wide range ol industriei
requirements • i .e. it should not be loo strictl y ottuned to o
specilic progromme, but flexible enough to occommodote
vorying functions withoul odjustmenl lo the unit ilself being
necessory;
b.
the premises should be complete ond whole ofler eoch
exlension, regordless of the subsequent sloge in
construction; eoch new oddition should therefore
constltute o li nished whole.
The building unit should therelore hove on identily of its
own strong enough lo be copoble of ouerling itsell
regordless ol the specilic milieu ond moreover lo
conlribute to lhe idenlity of the lorge1 whole of which it is
o conslituent. lhe rother demonstrotive use ol
prelobricoted components is i n thi& cose not o
consequence of the need for repetilion bul ocluolly . ond
this seems porodoxicol • the consequence of the desire to
individualize eoch component. lhe componenls must be
outonomous ín order lo serve multíple funclions, while the
form musl be chosen in such o woy thol the diflerent
building unils ore constonlly oltuned to one onolher.
lhe origino! premises were so constructed os lo ollow for
onolher floor to be odded on lop, ond were lherefore
sturdy enough lo serve os the base for lhe step-by-slep
extensions lhot would evenluolly cover this ortificiol rock­
formotion. The new slruclures enhonce the colour of lhe
old, while conversely the old conlribules to the crealion JlS
ond formotion ol the new. Old ond new reloin lheir own
idenlily while confirming each other's. , lll
311
UI
lhe extension wos nevar completed. Woue still, the entire ri , Jlt 339 131
complex wos demolished ol lhe beginning ol the nineties. •

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129 1
 lhese very diflerenl cotegories ol occommodotion wos
.. ' oimed ai moximum interchongeobility, so lhol residents
-•= whose condilion improved or worsened would need lo be
'e .D moved Iram one section to onother os líttle os possible, i1
t ] wos obvious thot the complex wos to be conceived nol os
o conglomerote of seporote buildings but os on urbon
orea, o miníature city in which oll omenlties would, in
principie, be ovoiloble ond occessible lo ali residenls.
These considerotions led lo the ideo to creole one
continuous structurol fromework, bosed on the some
modular unit, to meet the requiremenl5 of the highly voried

-------� ---- ..
�- L_ _ •
331 DE DRIE HOVEN, HOli\E fOR THE EtOERtY inr-ain
33l 314 Becouse lhís complex for elderly ond disobled people
consisls ol o c:ombinolion ol o nursing home seclion, o
llS seclion where some core is provided, ond o section with
independent dwellings ond cenlrol omenities, ond
•
ond complex progromme. The smallest unit copoble of
serving os lhe bosic component for rooms of ony size wos
colculoted to be 92 cm. The progrommes ol requirements
o f the respective cotegories were subsequently fitted inlo
on overoll building arder, consisling slructurolly of o
system of column-, beom- ond floor-elemenls, i.e. on arder
conditioned o priori by lhe selected unil of meosurement
ol 92 cm. ond thus receptive to o wide range of specilic
demonds.
Synchronizotion ond slondordizolion of dimensions
throughoul lhe complex wos nol only imporlont for
lnterchongeoble usoge, bul olso lo orrive ol the mosl
rolionol ond ropid construdion melhod, ond lhus lo keep
the costs down lo o minimum ond to stoy within lhe
budgel,
ln order to keep the number ol construclion elemenls down
lo o minimum, three linlel si;tes were chosen, which yield
three dillerenl boys: 2 x 92 184 cm; 3 x 92 276 cm;
& &

becouse differenl mínislries eoch wilh lheir own rules ond 4 x 92 � 368 cm. Adding up these boys produces
regulolions hove responsibility for lhe vorious seclions, lhe standard meosurements ol 5 x 92, 6 x 92 etc., like o coin
overoll design had lo accommodole a consideroble system l5<ent, 10-cent ond 25-ceni coins).
diversity ol dimensions os for os the moximum and With the resulting 'conslruction kit' mode up of dillerenl
minimum heights ond widlhs of corridors, rooms ond elements, spoces ond buildlng mosses con be combined ot
storeys were concerned. And because lhe combinolion of wlll. The iniliol loyoul ol this complex consisled of units
grouped oround lhree courtyords ol successive sizes,
whereby lhe controsl in spotiol ellect wos furlher
inlensilied by hovíng two- ond three-slorey struclures
surrounding the lorgest of lhe three courtyords, three ond
lour sloreys surrounding lhe mlddfe-sized courtyord, ond
.._.,
�•·= ·=- ,_.-=-•�·rt----
, -=-,.,,.--
...._-.. five ond six sloreys surrounding the smollesl courtyord.
The progression Iram lwo to six storeys reaches its
.-, • •
1li li 11li orchitectonic culminotion-point in the centre of the

.. l"I -
complex, expressed in o spoliolly extroverted window
1..
li li li
obove lhe ouditorium jto which I ottoched greol
' importonce os indeed to the foct thot the diogonols of the
• • •
' • lhree courtyords lorm righl ongles). A greot deol ol
--------- ➔ • • IH • energy wos spent on these feotures, lully confidenl os we
• 1• li •
�. ··-­
-- -('M.-
····-·--
••W-150
were obout lhe progromme ol requirements. The lotter,
however, soon chonged under the influence ol o rother
sudden development in the ideos obout ond opprooches
to the core for lhe elderly.
While quite o lot of lhe new proposols could initiolly be

130 IISSOIIS FOI SIUtUIS li UCIIJH!Ulf


• vertical shofts locoted ot rotionol ond regular distances
odopted by meons of o number of modifications thot did
not entoil fundamental ollerotions lo lhe original plon, il
become evidenl oher o while thot the closed circuit
occording to which the plon hod been orgonized wos too
rigid ond hermetic to odopt itself to ali the chonges thot
hod become necessory in lhe meonti me, ond in the end
the plon hod to be obondoned oltogether. The lesson lhot
we leorned from this experience wos thot il you odhere so
slrictly lo such o specific ond explicit orgonizotion of lhe
moin form, your plon is doomed to failure, ond lhol it
would fn foct be for better to start out from o more open
ond more Aexible bosic structure thot is copoble ol
occommodoting odjustments os they become necessory.
Alter this foilure, o new concept wos developed,
occording to which the projecl could finolly be reolized.
The lirsl slep, this lime, wos to estoblish which general
focilities were relevont to the entire premises, such os
'
' JII,
+• 7
.•
�
,
•
•
sloircoses, lifts, switchboords, conduít shofts, oir ducls
ond moinlenonce doseis. These were oll concenlroted in
Iram one onother throughout the complex. This resulted in
o constellotion of towers which, on the construclionol
levei, serve o stobilizing function within the complex os o
whole.
lhe progromme of requiremenls, tronsloted into o spoliol
scheme, wos superimposed on this 'objective' grid morked
by the lowers, ond odjusted to the dimensions of the
building site. The fixed points of support, lhe towers,
consequently serve to bring o certoin ordering into the
spoce os o whole, while the 'constrvction kit' of l36 lllob
(prefabricoted) concrete elements guoronlees the ultimote
coherence ond unity of the vorious components which ore lll llt
formed 'from within'.
lhe building structure of De Drie Hoven, formed os it is by
identicol beoms ond columns throughout, is monileslly
present in the entire building, olthough the woy it is lilled
in varies Iram ploce to ploce. The design-concept of such
o slruclure is 1h01 o greot diversity of fillings is possible,
os the rellection of o differentioted usoge, without
delrocling from the visual ond orgonizotionol coherence
1
1
 of lhe whole. Besides, conversions 1h01 become necessory
os o resull of new insíghts con be foirly eosily undertoken
within lhe fromework of lhe slruclure which continues lo
perlorm ils loocJ.beoring funclion ond which itsell is nol or
hordly offected by olterotion ol the wolls, doors ond
ceillngs, ele,
Although it is ín o sense poinlul for the orchitect on lhe
one hond lo see how the components he hos designed
with so much core eventuolly disoppeor or ore oltered
beyond recognitlon by others ond without prior
consultotion, it is on the other hond ciso o kind ai triumph
Progrom
thot his ideo os lar os the overoll concept is concerned
remoins stonding. You could compare the strucl\Jre to o
• • • • • •
• • • • • • tree wh ich loses its leoves every yeor. lhe tree remoins
• • • • • • ......,......,• the some, but the leoves are renewed eoch spring. lhe
• • • • • • usoge varies ovar lime ond lhe users demond of lhe
• • • • • • - building 1h01 it odopts ítsell properly to thelr lnsights os
• • e • • •
, •- they evolve. Sometimes this entoils o step bockwords in
Grid wlrh r�eorellco/fy
po"iblt 1o...,, the spatiol quolity, but somelimes, too, it meons o step
• • • • • ... forward, on improvement on the original siluotion.
,.... . •
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Sup<!r/mpo11hon

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311

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132 !SIO�S fOI SlVOf•lS "U(<lf[(' ff


•
CEN!iML BEHEER ÔFFICE BUILDING (3173131
The ideo which wos proposed previously in lwo
competilion projecis for town holls in Volkenswoord (l1H441
ond Amslerdom (34S.341J respeclivel y, ond which finolly
moteriolísed in lhe Cenlrool 8eheer office building, is thot
of o building os o sorl of selllemenl, consisling of o lorger
number of equol spoliol unils, like so mony islonds slrung
together. These spotiol units conslilute lhe bosic building
blocks; lhey ore comporolively smoll ond con
occommodo1e lhe differenl progromme componenls (or
'fundions' il you preferi. becouse their dimensions os well
os their form ond spotiol orgonizotion ore geored lo thot
purpose. They ore therefore polyvolenl.
Whereos De Drie Hoven involved o progromme with o
very high diversity of spoliol dimensions ond spotiol
requiremenls • which necessorily resulled in o single
building arder thot would ollow for o greof voriety • in the
cose of thís office building, onologous lo lhe uhimote
chosen bosic principie of the squore spotiol unit, however
simple in the elemenlory sense, proved copoble of
meeting virtuolly oll spotiol requiremenls. Thonks to their
polyvolence lhe diflerent spoliol unils con, however, if
necessory toke over eoch other's roles• ond thot is o key
•
•7
-
-
to the copocily to obsorb chonge. JO
Designing on office buílding moy well be simple enough
in principie, bul il wos lhis very necessily of odoptobilily
thot led lo lhe ossignmenl . Consfont chonges occur within
the orgonizotion, lhereby requiring frequent odjustments
to the size of the dilferenl deporlments. The building musl
be copoble of occommodoting these internai forces, while
the building os o whole musl continue to function in every
respecl ond ol oll limes. Thls meons lhot permonent
odoptobilily is o precondition of lhe design. ln eoch new
siluotion, lo ensure the equilibrium of the system os o
whole, i.e. 1h01 il continues lo function, the componenls
musl be oble lo serve dífferenl p,urposes.
The building hos been designed os on ordered exponse,
consisting of o bosic struclure which monllesls ílself os on
essenliolly fixed ond permonenl zone lhroughoul lhe
building, ond o complementory vorioble ond inlerpretoble
zone.
The bosic structure is the beorer of lhe entire complex, os
il were. li is lhe moin conslruction, il comprises lhe ducl
system ond coincides with the principal 'troflic routes'
inside the complex. The bosic structure monlfests itsell in
lwo woys, notobly os o continuous slruclure [spine), ond
,111NG SPA(!, l[lYl�G,srHI 133
1
 wilh regular inlerruptions olong the periphery oí the
complex ln lhe lorm of smoll towers (cf. lhe verlebroe).
The inlerpretoble zones ore geored lo perlormin9 ali
foreseeoble lunctions, which moke specilic demonds on
lhe spoce ond which therefore 9ive rise to diver9e11I
'complemenlory' solutions. li is this interprelobte zone 1h01
con be filted in wilh lhe primory ingredienls of the
different componenl ports, The bosic struclure ond
inlerpreloble zona in ils enlirety thus owoils
complementory filling in, while remoining essentiolly lhe
some: the building os o whole derives its identlty from lhe
complex of different interpretolions.
/

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134 l!SSONS FOf s,uorus IN lt(Mtll(lUII

 o
IJllfu1,u1 &tl,S 10H ••t•&at l"ILDING co.t,OH.lllffl
10• rtUOfltflf?M
MMIIAl'Ul.»IJ�

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311
311 313

--

VREotNBURG MuStc CENTRE CISS-3&0)
From the outside the complexos o whole looks like o
rondam form, ond does not exoc�y live up to one's
expectotions concerning o self-contoined building. lhe
point ol deporture in the design• i.e. to ovoid the effect of
o 'temple' of music by integrating the structure as much as
possible in the surroundings • ond the ensuing principie of
occes1ibility resulted in o peripherol orrongement
composed ol multiple focets. And because all these focets
hove been constituted ol the some materiais they
represent, in effect, simply dilferent facets of lhe some
whole. ln other words, more ottention hos been poid to
lhe legibilily ol the por1s than to the coherence of the
whole, while the whole is represented ín those ports.
This meons thot the whole con be viewed lrom mony
dilferent sides. lhe constructionol elements become more
independent, they ore emoncipoted os it were, ond by
virh1e of the different woys in which these elements ore
'assembled' ai lhe corners the relotionships 1h01 ore
estoblished vis à vis eoch other olso differ constontly.
So in spite ol its dil!erenlioted periphery, the uniformity of
moteriols ond constructionol elements os well os the woy
in which these elements ore joined together moke the
complex as o whole speak one orchitectonic languoge
(olthough the wooden locings in the interior ore on
odditionol feolure). By the opplicotion ol the some bosic
materiais inslde ond out, interior ond exterior ore put into
perspective, thereby reinforcing the overoll expression of
occessibility.
An importonl role within the building order is ployed by
lhe recurrent use ol columns, with their emphatic and
clearly recognizoble lorm,fonguage. They stand in grid­
lormotion with equol distantes between them, thus
marking aff equol areas throughout lhe entire building.
They represent the codence ol the building, ond sei the
rhythm ai lhe space, justos the bors indicole the type of
intervals and beots in o musical score.
lhe arrongement ol lhe columns constitutes a minimal
ardering syslem which allows for a very Reidble 1illing in
of the dillerent paris, ond which hos o reguloting effect on
the greot diversity of constituent elements orising from the
complexity of the progromme.
While serving to unify the whole, this column syslem is on
-

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13� l!SSONS fOt SIUOU!S 1� U(KIIHIUI(

inducemenl lo design eoch spoce occording lo ils specilic
requiremenls ond locolion. This principie does not
essenliolly diverge from the 'plon libre' thol wos
developed in lhe eorly yeors ol lhis cenlury os o new woy
of exploiling the full possibilities offered by lhe
opplicolíon of o concrele skeleton consisling of columns
ond plotforms u1c1. Among lhe chorocteristic feotures of
lhe eorly exomples of lhe free plon were lhe oflen
demonslrolively curved wolls ond ciso lhe free-slonding
columns wílh their own spoces; these leolures controsl
with the woy lhe free plon is usuolly opplied nowodoys,
wilh lhe columns serving os lhe storling-point for lhe wolls.
ln o slructure comprising o proportionolely greoter number
of rooms or enclosed spoces, the lotter 'method' is
obviously more suitoble.
When lhe columns ore free-slonding, round columns ore
undeniobly preferoble, il only becouse they odopt
lhemselves in o so much lriendlier ond genller way lo lhe
presence of crowds of people in lheir midst.
Stonding 'in lhe woy' everywhere yel without ever being
on obslocle, lhe columns monilesl themselves slrongly,
lheir strong personolity being lurther reinforced by lhe
squore capitais, on 'overstolemenl' ol lhe lorm required
lar lhe construction. The moin lunction ol these oligned
copilols, is to coordlnote the conneclions with the ceilings
coming towords lhem from dillerent direclions ond ai
dilferent heights. ln oddilion their extra wldlh keep the
odioining woll ai o dislonce, ond so helps to creote o
certoín spociousness oround eoch column. The columns in
the lrontoges seNe to keep the wolls ai o greoler ar
smoller dislonce oport, depending on the omounl ol gloss
thot is required in o specilic locotion. The openings ln the
fronloges ore on lhe whole olwoys locoled ln lhe 'column
zone', only very rorely do lhey occur os 'holes' in lhe
woll. The columns slonding lreely in the spoces
enveloping them conslltule o molif whlch recurs ln
dilferenl voriolions lhroughout lhe building, ond which
therelore yield o recognizoble ond chorocleristíc imoge.
lndeed lhe column wos designed to enoble eoch ploce to
evoke dlfferent spotiol experiences, while the bore column
remoins the some whotever lhe specilic locolion il i s in.
Depending on lhe derived openneu or closedneu it
oppeors ln o different guise, you could soy: dressed for o
different port. So the column determines lhe ospecl of o
ploce, while ai lhe some lime ils own lmoge is determined
by thol ploce in relurn. The column struclure moy be seen
os o syslem thol generoles freedom: o 'compelence' lho!
provides on incentive for the 'performance' belonging to o
specilic sltuolion, ond therelore on inslrumenl thot yielded
o coherent building arder despite lhe obsence ol repetitiva
spoces.

l!llt�G suei, lUVIK6 5PACI 117

1 r 1
 MlN�T,Y OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS (311-319)
lnsleod ai o building volume with on endless succession ai
office lloors the building hos been orticu loted into
segments; lhe building volume is thus d ivided up inlo
/ ' /
severol oslensibly more or less seporote buildings,

)('
/
grouped nexl to ond opposile eoch other olong on
elongoted centrei zone: i.e. severol smoll oflice buildings
/ " together forming one complex. Eoch of these more or leu
seporote 'office blocks' consisting of o number of
intercõnnected octogons, con occommodote one or more
deportm�nts, eoch of which is directly occessible from the
central zonê.
lhe ollice units consist of one or more successive ar
superimposed octogonal islonds ol + 420 m2, in which
the spoces con be orronged in mony different woys. Eoch
spotiol unit occommodotes on overoge ol 32 people in
rooms with 1, 2, or 3 work-oreos. Although the building
wos designed primorily os o cell-oflice, il lends itself in
principie ciso to more open orgonizotionol forms where
ond when the need crises.
lhe building oppeors to consist of o conglomerole of
octogons slrung together - ot leost, thot is the first
impression ol the periphery from both outside ond inside.
Also the subdivision into office units follows o potlern of
lll octogons.
Ili From o constructive viewpoint lhe building is o regulorly
3'l consliluted skeleton mede up of o lorge number of
UI identicol prelobricoted concrete elements, which ore
ossembled on site. These elements hove been combined in
-'\
',. ;
;
such o woy thot o repelilion of similorly identicol spotiol
units is obtoined.
lhe moin beoms, oll diogonolly positi oned, lorm o
continuous conduit zone ocross oll lloors. The pottern hos
been chosen with o view lo creoting consisten�y squore
spoces os secondory zones outside lhe primory zone of
the moin structure; these 5econdory zones could be left
open in ploce5 between the Roor-ponels terminoted by
secondory edging beoms.
lt is the selected diagonal lorm ol terminoting these
secondory zones thot culs out the octogonal shopes from
the Roor os o whole, os il were, ond it is ciso here thot
the desired rhythmicol orticulotion is ochieved.
lhe chosen building structure thus mokes it possible to 'lill
in' the differenl paris of the progromme occording to the
desired orgonizotion. lhe regular 'objective' disposilion
of columns offers much scope for voriotion in fillings ond
\ / /I" / reodjustments, so 1h01 the building will prove to be
A.._, -··'
1 )/
relotively odoploble to future needs.
/
/ '' The building structure serves throughoul to introduce
arder, ond will not in eflect restrict lhe lreedom of lilling
)lf
/ ''llil.. in but will enlorge it. The structure is lhe orchitecturol
/
/
',' common threod running through lhe entire complell:,
I'
I'
' moking the different components legible ond thus ordering

131 11sso•s 101 SIUOIMIS ,� U(Hll[[IURE

Material com dr etos
i autor
 361
366 161

them. Apart Iram the spatial division and organization,

lhe struclure also generates the starting-point for the
technical installotions, in o patlern of similar conduit
shalts throughout the building, whally integraled into the d b

construction.
The main direction of lhe office unils • ond that is the e
direction of lhe main beams thus constitutlng the primary
structure - is consisten�y diagonal wilh respect ta the
directian of the building as a whole.
The way the central hall os a spatiol main artery culs
through lhe entlre length of the building is therefare
followed by the direction of the secondory beams which, o
although of a lighter calibre than the main beams, -
perform a lunction lhat is ai least as important Iram a
spotial point of view.
One ol lhe most intriguing design themes of this building
was lhe integration of these two deliberately chosen
prlmory directions. The problem boiled down to moking
th� constructive main beams and the diagonal secondary
beams come togethe, in such a way that lhe latler would
ensure a convincing and continuous lengthwise definition
of the space. The solution to the suppart of beams coming
Iram 8 directions wos provided b y the square column• e
heads, which, forming table-tops ol 1 square metre ond
divided into 8 zones, can in principie occommodate
beams Iram ali directions. The intersection points, twenty
of which were needed to be oble to meet oll the spatiol 1
demands of the building, were individually and
d
,.,,,
collectively designed os o single plostic theme. The heavy
main beoms coming together from different directions and ,,,_.
the lighter secondary beoms were attuned to each other
by profiling lhe higher beams in such o woy thot they
unite the dimensions of both types; in addition the column•
heads were not oriented to the main beams but rother to
the secondary ones [which become edging-beoms in the

r1
Mllll6 SPACI.IIAVIM' SPUI
1 J39
1 1 autor
 voids). lhe consequence ol this choice of direction is thot
lhe direction ol lhe central holl is just os strongly monilesl
os thot of the moin beoms of lhe building. The
inlerseclions creoled lhus sum up lhe entire struclurol
principie, ond so, os 1 cubic melre-poinl where everything
comes togelher, lhey represenl lhe slruclurol ond
conslruclive concepl of lhe building os o whole ond, by
virtue ai lhe diversity within their unity, they ore the mosl
importonl elemenls of lhe building order.
Thonks lo lhe lorge-scole repelition ai conslruclive
elements ond the possibility ai exlending Floors wholly or
porliolly ai will, the building wos eminently suiled to
execution with prefobricoted concrele elemenls. An
odvontoge wos thot lhe quolity of lhe finish thol could be
obtoined wos high enough for the elements to serve os
bore concrele. lhe beoring structure is essenliolly built up
ol four conslruclive elemenls: columns, beoms, shofts ond
lloors. The beoms resling on the columnheods were
lurnished on one side with o projecting ridge which
served ai o loter stoge os o simple ottochmenl for lhe
'void íloor-ponels'. The required degree ol occurocy here
wos provided by prefobricotion of lhe beoms. The
structure wos given slobility by the conduil sholts, which

361
3&9
310

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140 IISSOMS FOI SIUDEIIS ll IICIIIHJIIE

auo
 • -'
,j
•

J/1
177 )7)
Jll li� JJ• li/
 were poured on site. For the lloors between lhe beoms
eilher prefob unils or on-sile poured concrele could be
used. The porlüng spoce beneoth lhe lronl of the building
wos execuled wilh lhe some column dislribulion os in the
office floors. The decision lo odopt a syslem whereby pre­
pobricoted componenls con be ossembled on lhe building
site represenled a consideroble reduction of the cosi, ond
lhis ln turn mode il feaslble lo erect such o complex
slruclure wilhin a limited budgel.

311 llt APotlO SCHOOlS (SI0-384)
310 311 Both of these schools resulted from lhe some spotlol pro­
gromme of requirements sei by lhe Minislry of Educalion
and, hoving been developed from the some building arder,
os a common design, there ore mony similorilies between
them. Bul lhere ore ciso o number of lmporlont differences
belween lhe two buildings owing lo the dlflerenl siling
and lhe consequently differen�y orienloled bay windows
of the closs-rooms, bul olso os o result ol lhe divergenl
principies underlying lhe lwo school communilies .

•_...,

142 HSSONS 101 STUtlNIS 1� IICMIIICIUlE

 -

íll

However, lhe some orchileclurol meons hove been used lo

l ..
solve the speclfic problems posed by eoch building, which ç.
hos resulted ln o slrong coherence belween lhe eleme.nls
• u 8
C"'
�
moking up lhe lwo units. Nol only do we find o common
�
orchiteclurol vocobulory here, bul olso o common orch1-
�
leclurol grommor in lhe sense 1h01 eoch individual solulion 1 ....
1
represents o differenl declension ol o common rool. 312 313
The underlying slruclurol principie con be summed up in [J 1 !$4

some 20 points which con be clossif ied occording lo how --- .YJ lSi 316

they ore inlerpreled, e.g. insid&-0ulside; skelelon or lhe.

conslslenl opplicollon of bricks, sills, steel components;

,..---- --,.-! ---.....-- --,--,-

- �r.-cr----r-------,

)
,....J
---..__rrrJ'

f \

:i,1"i

1011*6 SU(I, llAYIM' SP1CI

1 1431
381
3U
normol or oversized; crossed beoms or T-junclions. Ali lhe
elemenls ore linked by o sorl of fomily kinship, which hos
resuhed from lhe considerotion ai the design sloge of the
implicolions of eoch point for oll lhe other points, so thol
eoch subsequenl slep relers back lo the lirsl.
144 IISSONS IOt SIUDINIS IW ltCflllECIUtf
lhe unity of mean1 lnherent in a building order may
well remind you of classifkotion into orchitecturol
1tyles, according to which the ubiquitous cla-.sicist style
al1-o, ostensibly, meets the criteria that we set for o
building orcler.
ln an archite<turol style each elemenl has i b fixed
ta_sk, and allows itself to be combined with others
according to spedflc rules. ln this sense an architectund
style thus represents o sott of formal language by
means o f which you can express some things ond not
others, in the sense that each element and each
combinotion o f elements inevitobly referi to o certain
fixed meaning thereby leovlng little or no room for
lnterpretation. lut in addition, and this has more far·
reoching consequences, the technicol limitation1 of the
'constructlon kit' determine its spatia_l potential. For
instance, you cannot make cantilever • when opplying
clossicistic principies, and therefore no open comers
without o column (as in the buildings of Dulker and
Rletveld) • for the me«Jn-1 ta do so are simply not
provided in the coMtruction kit.
As a matter of fact, lf the history of orchitecture has
anything to do witf, orchitectund style1 it i-1 espe<ially
that they have succeeded in throwing off its yoke. lhe
arthitect derives his 'roison d'itre' from the continuo,11
efforts to break awoy from the conventional pattern,
which he must do becovse what h e has to soy con.not
be 1aid wlth the means that are available.
The building order of o project is the outcome of o
more profound reolization of the uses to which it will
be put, now ond ln the future.
The buildlng order thus anticlpates the 'performance'
that may presumobly be expected of it. And from this o
'compet.nce' is (re)construded through on inductive
process.
ln fact, therefore, eoch archltecturol assignment
contains an incentive to develop a new order, i,e. an
arder emanating from lhe specific nature of that
assignment. Just os eoch arder represenls o specific
mechanlsm, it also lends to be exdusive to lhal
mechanism. Differenl oims are emphasi1ed ln different 389
instonces, but lhe centrol issue with structure is lhe
parodox of an ordering creating freedom · a horlzon
throughout your p/an.
Mon loymg oul fish lo dry, Senegal
6 FUNCTIONALITY,
FLEXIBILITY AND
POLYVALENCE
ln fvnctionaUst archltectvre the form -• derived from
the expressian of efficiency (which did not
automatlcally mean thcrt atl functianollst architecture
was equally efficaciovs). ln the 'functional city' and
'functional bullcllng' lt - s the differencfl thot _,..
parti<ularly manlfest. Thls amounted to on extreme
specification of requirements ond types of utllity, which
tnevitably resulted ln more frogmentation than
íntegration, ond if there -• anythlng to which these
concept. w.,.. not resistont, it was tíme.
AduaHy, the tood functionalifts, preaccupiecl anel
lndeed obseuecl as 11,ey often _,. by thelr
'lntematlonal style', rnanagecl to avolcl the usual
pitfalb, ond most of thetr alry, whlte cublc bulldings
are in fact suitecl to multiple purpase,. llut upecially
the so·called functional urbanism gives a very clear
clemonstratlon of the exteflt to whkh thtnlclng obout
solutions to archltectvral pfOblems has been hampered
by segregation of functlons instead of lntegration. The
rapid obsole-c• of all too specific solvtions leads
not only to cllsfvnctionality but also to serious
inefflciency.
Just thlnk of the parldnt proges wlth sloplng floors,
whlch are stlO belng built on a large acale. This may
well be an lnexpenslve anel ecuy-to-construct system,
but Y04I can never use the buildlng for onything else, if
thinsJs change • in o pe,iod when for fewer people own
cars, for lnstance.
146 l!SSOIS fOt STUOíllS 1• UCHIHCIUU
Flexlbllity became the catch•warcl, it -• to be the
panaceo to cure all the iUs of archltectvre. So long as
the design of buildings wa1 nevtral, it wos thought,
they coukl be put to different lltff, and they could
therefont, in theol')' at least, absorb anel accommodate
the influen<es of changlng tímes anel sltuatíons. That at
lemt woukl be ane point goined, but neutfolity in fact
consists of the absence of identity, in other words, the
lack of dlstinctive features. The probt.m of
changeabllity, tlten, is not 10 much a matter of havlng
to odapt anel modlfy distinctive features, but of havíng
those dlstinctive features ín the fint placel
'Flexibility si9nifie1 • 1ince there is no 1ingle solutlon
that is preferoble to ali others • the obaolute denial of
a fixed, clearcut stond paint. lhe flexible plon stort, out
En,m the certainty thot the correct solution does not
ex.ist, becouse the problem requiring solution is in a
pe,manent 1tate of flux., i.e. it is always temparary.
Flexibillty ís ostenslbly inherent in relativity, but in
actual fact it only has to do with uncertainty; wlth no
dari119 to commlt oneseH, ond therefore with refuslng
to accept the re1pon-1ibility that is inevitably baund up
with each and every action that one takes. Althovgh o
flexible 1et-up admittedly adapts itself to each chanp
as lt presents lbeff, lt can never be the best anel most
sultable solution to any one problem; it con at any
given moment provide any solution but the most
appropriote one. Flexibility therefore represents the set
of all unsuitoble solutlans to o p,obtem.
0n these grounds o system whkh is kept flex.lble for
the sake of the changing objects thot ore to be
accommodated wlthln that system would ineleecl yleld
the most neutf'OI solution to 1pecific problems, but
neve, the best, the most oppropriate solvtion-.
Mal I COl'T' d
The only constrvctive appr-ch to a sltuation that Is
subject to chang• is a form that Jtarts out from this
changefulnes1 as o pe. .r1anent • that is, essentiolly o
stotk • given fadar: a form which is poly valent. ln
other worcls, a form that can be put to different u1e1
without hoving to unôergo changes ita.lf, so that a
minimal flexibility can still produce an optimal solution.
ln our cities of todoy we are canfronted with large
numbers of dwelUngs, the construdion of which entoils
production methad1 when,by enormous quantitie1 of
components can be supplled • which, however, ore
uniform. By equating the uniformity of dwelling units •
the result of those production methocls • with lhe
equality of the inhabitonts, we have come to the point
where unlform dwellings an, assembled in
monotonous, uniform building blotks.
The uniform urban plan and the uniform floor·plan are
bosed on the s99regation of fundions, and it Is the
blind obedience to the dictates of these fundions that
•
hos resulted in toking the distinctions between llving
and working, eating and sleeping etc. as the starting·
point for concemng the spoces for different purposes in
cfifferen.t wayt, on the grounds that different Clctivities
make different 1pecific demands on the 1poces in which
they are to toke plo<e, This is whot we have been told
for the past twenty•flve yeC1rs, but even if living and
working or eoting and sleeplng could justiflably be
tenned activities, that still dou not meCln that the y
make speclflc demands on the space in which they are
to tClke plClce • it is the people who make specific
demands because they wish to interpret ane and the
some fvnction in their -n specific ways, accorcllng to
their own specific tastu.
lf, ln the functional city and the functional floor•plan
the identity of those wha concelved the idea in lhe flrst
place is lo1t without trace, that cannot be blamed on
the unlformíty of the dwellíng units, but on the woy in
which they are uniform, namely in such a way that
they tolerate one paniculor function exclusively ln one
prescribed and strictiy standardized concept. The
houses and clties that are being built nowadays cio not
and will not permit any fundamental changes ai alll
By collectively prff<ribing where people will have ta
put their tables and their beds • generation after
generation · we are actually cauaing that unlformity.
This collective coagulation of individucil freedom of
action has asslgned a pre-determined pwpoH to every
place in the horne and in the city allke • ond hat done
so in such on uninspired way that all the variations
that make up ldentlty are radi<ally nipped in the bud.
What malces the old canal·houses so livoble is that you
can work, relax or sleep in every roam, that each room
kindle, the inhabitonrs ímaginatlon as ta haw he
would rnost like to use it. The 9reater divenity in the
old city-centff of Amstwdam, for instance, is definitely
not caused by richer or more diverse unôerlying
prindples (the principies underlylng twentleth-century
buildings are certaínly more cornplexl, but by
sequen<es of spaces in which, althaugh they are not
usually very diffe,.nt from one anothw, the potentlol
for individual interpretation is inhffent due to theír
greater polyv alence.
Coltedive interpretations of individual living paltems
must be abandoned. Whot we need is a díversity of
space ln whlch the different fvnctions can b e
sublimated t a become afflletypol farnu, whlch make
individual interpretatlon of lhe communal living·
pottern possible by vim,e of their abili1y to
o<commodote ond absorb, and lndeed t a induce ev..-y
desired fun<tlon ond oltON1tlon thereof.'(1)
autor
 What the foregoing, and ali the examples that have
been citff, boil down to iJ a plea to design in 1uch a
way that buildings and cities possess the ability to
adapt thenuelves to diversity and change whlle
retaining their identity.
What we are loaking for Is a way of thlnking and
acting that can lead to a dlfferent 'n141chanl1m' (ln
linguistic term, yau would say a paradigm) which is
less fixed, less statlc, and which is therefore better
equipped to meet the challenge that twentieth century
society in all its compleiúty puh to the orchitect. The
point therefare i, to arrive at an architecture that,
when the users decide to put it to different uses than
tha.1e originalJy envisaged b y the architect, doe, nat
get upset and confuled and consequently loses its
identlty. To put it even more strangly: archltecture
shauld offer an incentive to it, users to influence it
wherever possible, nat n141rely to reinforce its identlty,
but more especially to enhance and affirm the identlty
of its users.
Strvcturallsm has shown how effective this process is in
language, and my persistent reference to this is
becau1e it thu1 indicGte1 a dlrectlan for archltecture.
fven thaugh architecture Is 1till 10 often conceivtd as a
system of communication, it is not merely a language,
although there are a number of analogies, such as the
concepl1 of 'competence' and 'performance', which do
not relate to language exclusively b.ut which are just as
approprlate to the use of form • a.nd from which we
310 1,i
148 lfSSOKS 10! SIUDIJHS 11 IICHlll([Ulf
must, ln principie, also be oble to derive form.
lt goes withaut 1aying that efficacy m.ust always coffl41
first and foremost, since that is the only criterion that is
beyond ali dispute • although it is of the utmosl
importance to establish what exactly i, meant by the
tenn. Certainly, there are objects and fonns that have
hardly more than one slngle purpose · usually ttchnkal
appliance,, and these must indeed simply function,
they must just do their job, na more and no less,
lut most objects and forms have, besides that single
purpose for which they are designed ond to which they
generally owe their naffl41 at the most, an added value
and potential and hence great efficacy. This greater
efficocy, whlch we call polyvalence and which comes
clo,est t a 'competence', is the characteristic I want to
emphasize 01 a criterion of design.
The foUowing eJlcerpt of a text hom 1963 deals with
the some basic principies. lt also serves as an
intloductlon to the next chapter,
'fite reciprocity ol fonn ond p,og,amme' form musl be lnterpretoWe ln the 1en,e tltot it mu,t be
topoble ol toking on dilt.rent role,. Md it con only
'The mon importam cltc,n,c,-ri•tic ol o city ;., perllop,, tolre 011 tfiose different rol., if the diffwent meoning1
fM conthwou$ chons,e inlNrltftt ln on urfton ore conto.ined ln tlte tuence of tfte lorm, so tlrot tltey
environment, wlúch we experl.nce o• o nonnol, ore on impli<it provocotion rother tfton on eJCPlicit
flYerydoy tituotíon. ffle dty i• subject fo constont su,s,estion,
"'°"P, the city ltcrs MYM complied and nill doe• not
comply witl, the ,.,,.. ol or,onic powt#I ond lunctionol A form dive,,-d oftfte meonlnt• tfiot - ottoched to it,
evolutlon, occording to wftlch man ltcrs trled to give it wftlt. poUH.1ing pfurotlty &ecouse eodt meoning con
fonn. fwry doy, ewry HCUon, ond in the long term, be dtrived from it, is reduced to ih most primory
fempo,ory ond lo1tlng, lnciclentol ond regulor cltcrnge, purpose.
tolce ploce: people move from one t.ou .. to onofft.r ti we wanf to rflPOnd to the multiplirily in wfti<lt
ond bullcllnt• ore oltered, wlfh the rtiult tltot shfft1 sodety monile,b ihetf- mutt libe,ote '°''"
ffom tire
cxcur in the foci oftfte -& of re/Gtiorultip, whicb in 1hockt.s ai coogulohtd meanings. We must
milts
""" tive ri.se t o offt.r ln inten.lty. Jhus _,. contÍJ!uouJly seord, for orchetypol form, wftich,
lntwvention ln lod bri11ff obout o chons,e ln tfte becoute lfley con bt 01soclohtd wlth multiple
•Íf rim«Jnce of the otlier built forms to o fl'Mfw or meonins,,, con not only obsor& o ,wos,romme but con
,u.., ute11t. olsos,enero1e-.
ln order tltot every citlffn ond everythlng of rlte city fonn ond pros,romme evoke one another.' [3}
reto&, lt1 identity ot oll tímes, it 1, nec-,y for tbe
,itvotion lo be compl.te in it1elf ot every moment in
,;,,,.,.
1'he pn,ce,1 of chone- mud conno11tly oppeor to u, 01
o pevmonent situotion, ""1t i• why tfi• chons,eo&ility
ltseff must come fim ond foremost os o connont foctor,
wflkll contrilwtes to fite slgniffcorw:e ofeoclt Individual
fonr,. ln arder to witliltond chonget built forms mu•t
be mod. i11 1uch o way thot lfN,y permit muftiple
lnte,pretorion,, /,e, tfHJt tftey COI! l,otlt ob1orft ond
exllft muftipN meanlng,, witltout, howr.w, losing
tfieir idelltíty in the proces,.

Any uniform dwefling,, t#terefore, mu,t in rlte some

period oftime, lilce ony p/oceJ in tire dty in different
periods ofti,,,., 1N copoble of occommodoting
ohemoting meoning,.
rhl, onofoty mof<e, it ct.or thot plM• ond time con be
efiminoted and wh,fitvted h y o 1Ht9t., l«ol point ol
deportu,., i.t. thot meonlngs ore copohi. ol chonglng
lftelr ol,ode.
li Is ec,vally deor tltot nelther neutrallty, wftlch Is the
i� re,ult ol fle1ô&ility (tolenible for ol/, just
right for no -one}, no, specffidty whklt 1, the
tonMque,K• of too muth IIJCP'fl'Íon (j111t rigltt • &ut
for wftom1}, con yield on od«Jvote solutíon. lt Is not
somewfte,e &e,-en "'-•• two ,.xtNme• ol tfte lodc of
c-ommhment ond too lffllffl ..H-os,vronce tftot tlie
po1sJbllity of o solutíon H.s, but quife OJide from tftem:
nomely ln o nondpolnt tftot eve,yone con relote to in
1111 or fwr own way, o dondpofnt tlterefore tfHJt con
raf<e on o dJfferent • ond ltence divergenf • meoning for
_,. Individual.
f n ord.r to be o&le to fKrw diffetent meoning, eoch
7 FORM ANO USERS: THE ln 1<1rlier examples,•·li· the arenas, we also dealt with
accommodoting <opacity ln the literol 1en1e, but what

SPACE Of FORM
we have now termed 'competence' • namely the
lmpllcation of accommodating capacity for meanings
sheds a cliffwent light on all forms in whi<h
architecture is involved,
lnthe foN9oh19 the notion of 1tructure was uH<I as a '.., 10 heNI we are not talking obout a notion of form
•fron-Olic' (of con1tant Nlationmips) with the tflat presuppases and maintains a formal and
potential ability to evoke fre1dom of lnmp,etotlon unolterable N11otian betwNn object anel 'liewer. We
anel hence scope • per lncllvlduol sltuatlon. are not h- c,oncemed with a visual appearance as a
Up to now - hcrve deolt malmy with urban fonns that shell around the obje<t, but with form in the sense of
were intwp,-eted by ••veral people simultaneou.ty, accommodatlng capacity anel patentiol blGrer of
anel camequently ín collldln sltvatlons, appomrtly meani119- Form can be vested with meaning, but con
collective assodatlon1 _,.. lnvolved. alio be difflted of lt by the use to which lhe form is
ln mms of t he slnlcture and of íts designer, ovr main put anel by lhe values that are attributed and added to
cone.em Wfl the relotion between designer and it, or lndeed removed from it • all depenellng on the
strvcture, with the UMJS ln effect playlng a wblel'Vient way in whith users ond form interoct.
rol., more af objed than of 1ubject • for whUe - can What - -nt to atote ia that it Is this copa<ity to
eftablish that a forn, ha1 been interpreted as structvre, absarb and c.ommunicat• meaning that determines the
that does not explaln what lnduced people to do so in effect form can have on users, and, conversely, lhe
the fim place, effect af UIIN on form. For the central i11ue here is the
Now by taking fonn in a general sense to be a sort of intffaction between farm and users, what they do to
strvcture, the relatio11ship between fotrn and users each other, anel how they oppropriote eoch other.
becomes conceivable, once more, when the users are
lndlvlduols, and thus the notlon of fonn can thraw off
the yoke af abstroction. This shift in the attention to
what a fonn can mean to those whom it concem• (and
wha enter into relationshlpt wlth lt) lndlrectly ralses
the questlon of the relation.tiip between the creator of
the foun, the designer anel the users,
Storring ovt ftom lnt11tpretablllty as an lnherent
characteristlc of fonn, - come to the quettion af what
makes a fam, • a• atfvdure · interpNtable.
The answer must � th1 a«ommodotlng copocity of
the farm, sholl - say ib 'competence', which ollows it
to be AUed with asJOClations anel thus brin91 obovt a
mutual depeJMlence wlth the users,
5o what - are c oncerned with hera is the space of the
form, ln the ,ame woy that a muskal iMtrument offers
its P'°yeJ fr11dom af action,

Mal I COl'T' d
Deaignlng should be a matte, of Of9ClNfflll material in
s4ICh a way thot its potential is fully explottecf.
herythlng thot hos i,..,. deRbetately shoped should
fvndion bettw, i.e. it shovld be bett9r pareci to cloing
whcrt b upected of lt, by different people ln cfiffemit
situationa anel at different �. ln whcrte'HI' w• Ht
out to mob - must tty to not only -• the
requnments of the functlon in the strict HIIH, but also
that mo,. thon - purpose may be serwd, so thot it
c,an play 01 mony diffwent rales as postlble for tfie
benefit af the clift.nnt indiviclual ut«t. fadl user wiJI
tt.11 be oble to reac.t to lt ln hls or her own way, to
in..,,.... lt pe,wnally so that it may be integnitecl into
hi1 faniilktr lllff'OUlldinp.
Just 11b words cmd _._., forma cle,-nd on how
they - •read• anel whkh imoges they ore aW. to

""°'"
confure up for the "reade,.. A form can •vob dlffeNnt
ln dlffeffnt people anel in cliffwent situations,
anel thus toke on a dlfferent -•int, and lt lt the
phe-n of this upe,;-e that ta the key to an
olterecl crwa,.._ of f.rm, whlch wlll -ble u1 to
-k• thinp that a,e be"9r suitecl to mote lifuotion1.
l1le ablllty to obsotb mecmlnp anel olso to obondon
them agaln without asentlally changint ltMff mokes
form a poteMiGI bearer of ptnificcmce • in short,
11gnlfiable •••' (4)

IUIIG \PAC!, tUYIIG s"rr 1 SI

autor
 8 MAKING SPACE,
LEAVING SPACE
W• 1hould go about de1ignin9 in such a way that th•
re1uh does not refer toa au_tspokenly ta an unequivocal
goal, but that it 1tlll permits interpretatian, sa that it
will take an its identity through u1age. What we make
must constitvte an offer, it must hav• the capocity to
elicit, tim• ond ogain, speclfic reoctions befitting
specific 1ituotion1; 10 it must not be merely neutral ond
flexible • and hence non•1peciflc · but it mu1t posMU
thot wider efficociou1ness that we coJI polyvolence,
ltt ltl
311
152 l[SSOIS rot S[IO[WIS li •tCHIIICIUII
WEESl'ERSTRAAT STUDENl ACCOMMOOATION (lt1'3941
The living-streel on lhe fourth íloor is illuminoled by meons
ol lorge concrefe light-blocks. These blocks ore dose lo
lhe ground so thot the light does not bolher lhe inhobitonts
while their view from the high windows is not obstructed
either. The primory funclion of these blocxs is illuminolion,
bul by virlue of their form ond plocement they offer
opportunilies for o voriely of other uses.
'As for os shope ond siling ore concerned lhese blocks
were condilioned, os it were, to ploy o voriety ol roles,
ond they ore in foct inlerpreted os benches, work-surfoces,
ond - in worm weother - os pícnic lobles. These light­
blocks hove been ploced so cenlrolly thot they ocl os local
points in oll sorls of circumslonces. They or1;1 líke mognets,
to which lhings lhot hoppen in the communol wolkwoy
ottoch themselves, ond so they con become on incentive
for street-life, thol multicoloured blend of monifestotions ol
individual ond collective interests.
Nol moking ony provisions meons, in theory ol leost, thol
plenly of opportunilíes exisl for sponloneous improvisotion
with lhe spoce ond • certoinly for the orchitecl • plenly of
scope for dreoming. But then • we feor - thot so long os
the environmenl is 019onized occording lo fixed meonings
ond the concomitont form-symbols in lhe sense ol 'whol is
right' ond 'whol is nol righl', the inhobitonh themselves
wíll nol be copoble of doing very much ol their own
occord.' (4]
MONlESSOlll ScHOOl, DELFT l!�II
The panes wlth exlro wlde ledges over the doors, between
class-raams and hallway in lhe Monlessori School in Delfl
con be used for plocing potted plonts, books, models,
cloy figures, ond to put owoy ossorted odds ond ends.
These open 'cobinels' lhus conslilute o fromework thot con
be lílled in occording to the specilic needs ond wishes of
eoch group in its own particular woy.
The central polnt of lhe school holl is lhe brick podium•
block, which is used for bolh formal assemblies ond
sponloneous gatherings. AI firsl sight il would seem thal
lhe polenliol ol lhe spoce would be greoter if the block
could be moved oul of the woy from lime lo lime ond, os
wos lo be expected thls wos indeed o point of lengthy
discussions. li is the permonence, the immobility, ond the
'being in the woy' thot is the central issue, becouse i t Is
indeed thot inescopoble presence os o local poinl thol
conl01ns the suggest1ons ond ,ncenlives for response ln
each silualion os it crises. lhe block becomes o
'lauchstone', and contributes to the orticulotian of the
spoce in such o way that lhe range ol possibilities ol
usoge increoses.
ln eac:h siluotion lhe roised plotform evokes o particular
image, ond since il permlls o voriety af interpretollons, it
can ploy a voriety ai diffe1ent roles, bul conversely olso
lhe children themselves ore stimuloled ta toke on o greoter
voriety of roles in lhe spoce. The children use it lo sit on
or lo loy out mole1iols during handwork classes, music
lessons and all the other octivilies which toke ploce ln lhe
sc:hool ho11. lnc:identolly, lhe platform con be exlended in 315 396 lt7
all direclions wilh o sei of wooden sectlons, which con be 3'9
drown out from the interior of the block to turn it into o 398 41>)
real stoge for proper theotricol dance and music:
performances. The children con puf lhe differenl paris
- ·-..:...a.,-
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MUIIG SP�CL lfUJN� SPlCI
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111
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êl
logelher ond toke lhem oporl ogoin lhemselves, withoul
help from the teocher. Ouring lhe lunch breoks lhe
children ploy gemes on il ond oround il, 01 lhey huddle
logelher there to look ai their piclure books, while there is
in foct plenty o f spoce oll oround lhem. To lhem il is on
islond in o seo o f shiny lloor•spoce.
The fl oor ln lhe holl of lhe kindergorten seclion hos o
squore depression ln lhe middle which i s filled wilh loose
wood blocks. They con be loken oul ond ploced oround
lhe squore lo form o sell,onloined seoling orrongemenl.
The blocks ore construc:led os low stools, which con eosily
be moved by lhe children oll oround the holl, or lhey con
be piled up lo form o tower. The children ciso use them to
moke lroins. ln mony respects lhe squore is lhe opposile
of the bric:k plolform in lhe olher holl. Jusl os the block
evokes imoges ond ossociolions wílh climbing o hill lo get
o beller view, so lhe squore hollow gives o feeling of
seclusion, o relreot, ond evokes ossociolions wilh
401 401 descending inlo o volley or hollow. lf lhe plolform-block is
403 on islond in the seo, the hollow squore is o loke, which
401 401 the children hove lurned into o swimming pool by cdding
10, 101 101 o diving boord.
The spoce behind lhe school building is orticulcled ond
divided lnlo o number of seporote ob long spoces by low
wolls·. The strips between the porollel wolls ore inlended
primcril y for gordens ond sond-pits, but lhey could ciso

• ,,•
be used for other purposes. Uke eoch seporote
comportmenl, lhis wolled oreo os o whole moy be seen as
•• o fromework, thot con be filled in, ln differenl situotions.

154 l!SSOIS fO! SJll0U15 "U!KIJICJUI!

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comporlments thot con be used in dlfferent woys. Some ol 109 00 lll

This ordering constilutes o lixed lrome of reference, for
individuol ond collectíve initiotives.
The moteriol thot hos been used for the low wolls lo mork
off the seporote comporlmenls consists ol perforoted
building blocks, which in turn provida smoller openings or
them, for instonce, become Rower ports surrounding o lll lll
smoll gorden plot, while others, oround o sond-pit, for 113
instonce, turn into conloiners sunk into o counter for the Ili H! 01
sole ol 'ice creom'. Or sticks con be puf ln the holes • ond
there you hove the beginnings o l o tenl ... ln shorl, lhe
hondy formal of lhe perforotions lhemselves offer endless
opporlunilies for informo! usoge. These low wolls were
demolished not so long 090 ond reploced by the kind of
ploy equipmenl thot leoves nothing to the imoginotion.

/tll(tl, SfJ,(I, lUV115 SUCI JSS

1
 Trees go well wilh morket ploces, ond lhey moke lhe oreo
less bore ond desolole on lhe doys when no morkel is
being held. Since lhere wos olreody o cor-pork under the
squore roised boxes of bricks were constructed to hold lhe
minimum omounl ai soil needed for lhe trees to grow in.
The size of these boxes ond lhe díslonces between lhem
were determined on the bosis of lhe morkel-stolls, so thol
lhe lrees would serve os fixed poinls for the posilioning of
lhe rows of stolls w ilh suffident spoce in fronl ond behind
eoch row.
The morkel vendors who were ollocoted, or who chose,
spoces next to the tree-boxes, use lhem for extro, informo!
disploy-spoce. As o resull, the boxes often toke on quite
on exotic oppeoronce, which even, in o woy, recolls lhe
lemples of Boli.
The conslruction of lhe lree-boxes served os o good
opporlunity lo lnsloll lhe necessory electrlcol focilities for
lhe morkel os well os for slreel lighling in lhe some
operolion. The tree-boxes hove been designed in such o
woy thol lhey províde seoling in lhe shode on doys when
lhere is no morlel • lhe principie of mulli-purpose design
1h01, os for os we ore concerned, should underlie
everything we do to lhe urbon environment.

411 VtEOENBURG SooARE (411-4111

º' 411 When lhe decision hod been loken to re-orgonize lhe
◄10 411 spoce of Yredenburg squore in Utrecht to occommodote
lhe morkel which hod trodllionolly been held there, it wos
proposed lo plonl trees on the squore.

156 IISSONS fOt SIUll#IS li UCMIHCIUII

The examples clted ln the fo nt90in9 centred on the
applkation af camponent1 which fvnction temporarily
in certain 'u1Gge sitvations', after which they re\ltrt to
their original atole, anly to undergo new
metamorphoses loter, as the need ari•••• You could
,ay that the relationship between those feotvre, ond
the users is temporory, with the appropriotlon by those
usen belng slmllarty temporary and therefore ca,ual.
ln a context of area1 thot r.quire looking after, you
could go o step further by lecmng quite a lot of the
component1 in an unfini,hed 1tote, IO a1 to offer the
uHrl the opportunity of flnl1hln9 them ln the way mo1t
sulted to their particular neecb and preference1.

DIAGOON 0WElllNGS (◄!l41SI skeleton is o holf-product, which everyone con complete

'The ideo underlying lhe skele1on houses, eight prototypes
of which hove been buill in Delft, is lhot lhey ore ln
principie unfinished. The plon is, to some extent,
indefinitive, so thol the occuponts themselves will be able
to decide how to divide their living spoce • where they
wont to sleep, where to eot ond so on. lf the fomily
circumstonces chonge lhe dwelling con b e odjusted
occordingly to meel new needs, ond even to some extent
enlorged. The octuol design should be seen os o
occording lo his own needs ond desires.
The house consisls bosicolly ol two lixed cores, with
severo! split leveis constituting the dwelling units which
con occommodote o voriety ol functions: lívíng, sleeping,
study, ploy, reloxing, dining, etc. ln eoch unil, i.e. levei, o
section con be portitioned oFI to moke o room, the 473
remoining oreo lorming on indoor bolcony running olong 424 11S
the entire living-holl (voidl. These 'bolconies', which con
be furnished occording lo lhe tostes of lhe individual

vi
provisional fromework thot must slill be filled in. The members ol lhe fomily, constitute the living oreo for the
fomily os o communily of people. There is no slricl
-IJ divi�on between living ond sleeping oreos (with the
�
imposition of 'going upstoirs'). Eoch member of the lomily
_,
1
('
�
hos his own porl of lhe hou�e • the lorge communol living­
• room.'(4)
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.IIUIIG suei. IUYII� SUCI 151

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'Architects should not merely demonstrate what is never penetrate lhe thick skin of conditioni119 which
passlble, they should also and especially lndlcate the has formed thal behavlour and whlch suppresses a
po�sibilNs tho.t an illherent ln the design and wilhin truly persono.l exercise of the will. lecause we can
ev•ry-•s reach. lt is of the utmosl importance to never learn what each per1on really wants for himself,
rNli:re th. a t there is a lol to be INrMd from how no one wlll ever be co.pable of lnventing for olhers lhe
occuponls respond individually to the suggestions perfect dwelling. ln lhe days when people still built
126 contained in lhe design. Housing is slill designed their own homes they were not frN either, because
according t o what local gavemmenl bodies, lnve1ton, every society is, by deflnition, no more lhan a bosic
soclologists and archilects think people want. And pottem to which its members are subservienl. Everyone
who.t they think cannat be other than stereotyped: such is doomed lo be as he wanls olhers to see him • that is
solutions may well be roughly adequate, but they can the price lhe individual must pay lo soclety ln arder to
never be whally Jatisfactory. They are the collective
interpretation by a few of the individual wishes of a
muJtilude. What do we reolly lcnow about everyone's
individual wishes, and how shauld we set out lo
dlscover what they are? lhe stu.dy of human
behaviour, however paln1takin9 and lhorough, can
. �., ...
..

()

----
7� •

>
JS, LISSOIS 101 SIUOtllS IM AHKIIICIUII
belong, and sa he is both pcuM1sar of and possessed
by collecm,• patlern1 of behaviour. Even if people build
their own houses th ey cannot escape from this but,
everyon• should at leoat be ft'ff to give his personal
interpretation to the colledive pattem.' (4)

How much one hos to do with one's neighbours depends

to o greot extent on the type of boundory lhere is between
the gardens. A fence is essentiolly o means of obtoining
moximum isololion from eoch other. Absence of oll
boundories, on the other hond, meons being seen
constantly by one's neighbours, being unab le lo ovoid
one onother. Simply providing the rudimenls of o portition
between odjocent premises, by woy ai on invitotion to
which everyone can respond os he wishes, provides on
incenti ve ond legitimotes the meosures whlch everyone
would like to toke, but which they would otherwise
hesilote lo toke on their own.
A low base of perforoted blocks provides the loundotion
for o bríck woll, but il con olso serve os the support for o
wooden fence.' [4)

The roised terroce ai the bock creoted possibilities for

personol ínlerprelalion. firstly lhe stairs, which were
reslricted lo lhe obsolute minimum during construclion, C))

could be repl oced by olternotive orrongements for occess CI)

to the gorden. 13) ◄JJ

Secondly there is the open spoce under the smoll terrace,

deliberotely left unenclosed in spile ol the usual decis,on
lo shut off such oreos • o decision thot orchilects tend to
toke in arder lo ovoid dutter ond untidiness, withoul their
reolizing the potential advanlages of such an extra,
sheltered little ploce. Finally, this smoll terrace, bounded
by walls on three sides, is eminen�y suitoble for o lateral
exlension lo lhe living-room.
'Adjocent roof-lerroces focing eoch other ore in this case
seporoted by o metal bar structure, by way of o summory
demorcotion between lhe two oreos. Roilings ond bors
invite one lo hong things Iram them ar lo otloch things,
especiolly l ightwelght, temparory materiais such os convos

•1111, 511.ct. unia, sucr JS9

1 1
 ,.<

4ll 431 or reed molling. He,e ogoin, we find the bose of

os perforoted blocks, which con very well be used lo put
43' picais in them.' [4]
◄31 º' The chollenge ollered by these unlinished roof-terioces
yielded o greot voriety of solutions • one inhobitont even
used his lo build o complete greenhouse (which resulted in
o pilched r-ool ofter ali!). This particular ídeo hod not
occurred lo the orchilect himself. The structure wos
dismontled offer a few years to make space for an extro
penthouse-room • lhe imporlant 1hing being not so much
the ingenuity of the conslruclion os the octvol focl lhat

\ - ·-.-.
"'"
-

160 IESSO"S IOR SIUDE,rs IM lUHtllClUII

 ••

ollerolions of lhis kind ond on 1his scole ore indeed

feosible.

-
AI lhe lronl, nexl lo the entrances, o liny 'yord' wos
su99esled orchileclurolly by lhe presence of o verlicol
conc,ele beom. Becouse lhe beom ilsell serves lo supporl
lhe bolcany obove ond the spoce behind the beom is
open, there is nol on octuol shellered porlico, ollhough il 'ID ◄◄I
would be quile eosy lo conslrucl one by, soy, inslolling o 111
gloss roof. And depending on the individual inhobilonl's 113

needs ond losles, ond on whol the situolíon inspires in his

or her imoginolion, the spoce con even be closed off
complelely lo serve os o bicycle shed, bul i t con oho be
used lo moke on exlension (odmittedly o very smoll onel
lo the entrance hallwoy inside.
\
Viewed from lhe living-room obave, lhe concrele beom
morks o spoce lhal could, in principie, be turned inlo on
• ouldoor living spoce lo which occess is provided by lhe
'window' - deliberotely posilioned ond proporlioned in
such o woy thot, depending on personol inlerprelolion, it
con be used eilher os o lorge window or os o smoll door.
Goroges were nol formolly provided for in lhe plon,
olthough this would nol hove been unusuol in lhis lype of
housing. But the corport-like spoce ot slreet level con be
used os such, ond even goroge-doors con quile eosily be
inslolled • bul this spoce con equolly well be used to
creote on exlro room: on office, study or workshop which
con be mede directly occes.sible from ouIside if necessory.
So mony people leove lheir cors oul of doors onywoy,
ond o greot mony people ottoch more imporlonce lo the
luxury ol an extra room lhon lo prolonging lhe lile ol their
cor by o few yeors.

'Windows con be designed os o lromework thot çon be

lilled in occording to lhe choise ol the occuponls with
either gloss or closed paneis. lhe lromework ilself is

•1111, SIA({, HOIN6 sr&(L

1 16}

o conslonl foctor, ond represents, you míght soy, lhe
conlexl and arder within whích each índividuol's liberty
and all libertíes together can be token os an integral pari
ol lhe whole. lhe lromework is devised to occommodole
oll conceívable ínfills within lhe límíts of certain
regulotions, in the sense that lhe sum af all lhe dífferenl
4◄1
infills will alwoys amounl lo a coherent whole.'[41
'One could draw the condusion from ali this thot all we
hove to do is deviM bore cartridtes, as unemphatic
and neutral os posslble, 10 as to allow the inhabitantt
optimol freedom to realize thelr spttlflc dti1ire1.
However porodoxicol thi1 moy Metn, it is hlghly
questionable whether such a degree of freedom would
not result in a ,on of porolysi1, because while 10 very
mony alternatives present themselves, lt is still
extremely difficult to make the choice that will prove to
be the best one for you. lt is rather like those huge
menu■ that offer such an inflnite variety of dishes that
one's appetlte is d.ulled ratlte, thon whetted. When
there are too mony pos1ibilitie1 to choase from lt con
become vlrtually impoPible to reach a cleclsion, let
alone the bes1 one • too much can be just as bod os too
llttle.
Not only is it a prerequlslte for every cholte thot the
ronge of po11ibilities can be grasped, (and is therefore
llmlted), but also the ch-Mr must be oble to visualize
the alternatives one by one in term1 of his own woy of
thinki1t9, he must be able to conceive of them in term1
of his own experience, in other words, they must elidt
a11ociation, so that he can compare them mentolly
with propositions of which he wos olreody <ON<ious or
which can be raised from his 1ubcon1cious experience.
ly comparison of the lmog• evoked by the new
1timulu1 witfl the images already collected in previous
162 l!SSOIS fOI Sldt!IIS li IIC�ll!CIUII
experience, its potential can be a1SH1ed and can
consequently become an e.xtension of his fomiliar
wOffll, and thus of hls personality. 5o if the mKhoniam
of MIKtion nece11itate1 recognition or idetltification of
images alreody stontd ln experience, it is of the uh,IOSf
importance thot everythi1t9 thot is ofmed should
evoke os mony auociations as pos1ible. The m­
auociations con be evoked the more indivlduol, wíll
b e able to respond to them • thot is, the more chance
there is thot the associations evoked wlll be of spaclflc
relevance to the user in a glven situation. Each form
therefore, rother thon being neutral, should contain the
greatut possible variety of propositlon, which, without
imposing any one specific dlnKtion, �an thus constantly
bring about associations. An incitement i s necessary to
mativate and 1timulate mon to adapt hi1 environment
to his own needs and to make lt hl1 own. And '° -
mu1t confront him with stimuli that will ellclt
interpretations and u1age1 in the way best sultecl to his
own purposes.
These 'stimuli' must be so designed 01 to evoke imoge1
in e-veryone's mlnd; lmages which, through belng
projKted into his experiential wortd, will result in
auoclation■ that encourage inãrvidual use, that Is to
JOY, the very use that is most appropriate for his
1ituation at that particular tlme.
11,e focal point in this whole story, and the examples
dtecl here are intended to emphasize thls, ic1 thot
people in their dependence on themselvu and on each
other, and the fundamental restrictions thi1 imposes,
are unable to liberate themselvn from the systems of
signification and the underlying 1y1tem1 of values and
valuation which confine them, witflout ,_ help from
outs.ide. freedom may well hold great potential for
many but there must be a spark to get the engine
runnlng.
Take, for instance, a dark space or niche • for mo1t
people lt will suggest a seduded and 1afe comer, but
for each individual it has a different signifkance, a
relevance to his particular circumstances: it can be just
a secluded comer to relcut in, for qulet study, for aleep,
for use 01 a darkn,om, or ju1t as storage for food cw
other prlvate bela1t9ing1.
lf a houM is to have the capacity to evoke ali these
diffflent kinds of associatlons and be able to
accommodate them, it must hove 1uch a secluded
corner somewhere • and in the JOme -y, smaH
room1, to_, raams, attks, tellars, and wlndows
under ecive1 lnduce other klnds of a1sociatio111. The
rlcher the variety of what is offered, the greater the
capacity of the houM to meet the most richly
variegated dtisires of the inhobitants.
 I / •

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◄ IS

The starkness and poverty of most new houslng

manifests itself in this rupect, sodly controsting with
whol o n old house hos to offer • possibly in
contravention of the building regulations. One need
anly think af lhe infin�e posJibillties lho! old houses
offer for converting and furnishing in as many woys as
there ore people. Even if, os ln a new building, they
are based an a stereotype, they still have much more
to offer becouse of the greoler richness of stimuli for
new asJociaJions, whkh make il pas1ible for its
inhobitonls la truly oppropriote lhe spoce,' (4)

1 63 1
 9 INCENTIVES sklll, Is the o� "'""' af geftlng thNM19h to whot-an·
ln fact bosic focts: the programme behind the (buildlt,gl
programme.
How one shovld go obout pr«esslng aU these focts,
which must ultimotefy ruult in a design that will
lnd,ed be capoble of lndudng auaclatlona amang the
Design geared to maximum 'incentive' quafity calls for users, is a cftfferent story, but some of the more
o n- ond different apprvoch on the port of the conaete oapectl of this proceu, which pemrin to the
ard\lnlct, Whot Is required Is a shl� ln the fows of 'anotomy' of a builcllng, can belp to explaln cllN<tly o,
attention: the orchíte<t must switch his habitual lncllredly the 'inducement' or 'lncentlve' quaUty af the
concentrotlon from the buildíng pl"ClfNll!HM, wlúch architectural feotures cleolt with ln the exompl.s g1"n
uwally reflecta only a collecrive inhlrpretotion, to the in the previoua chaphtr,
multiple situation, indlvlduol or colledlve, 01 lt orises ln
the eve,yday reality of everythlng that we build. Certalnly ln thote cosea wheN - cletibera ..ly leave
To bring this variegated assomnent of doto to the something unfinished becouse we expect the users to
surfoce the archítect hos only one mecins at hu be capable of dolng a better joll at flnlshh,g lt than -
disposot: hu imoginotion. He must use bis imoginotion would, the bo1ic form that ia employed mu,t, on the
t o the full to be able to identify himself with the u..ra technlcol and proctlcol level, lend ltHlf to such
and thus to undemand how his design will come purposn.
acroas to them ond what they wlll upect from lt. Tkh Anatomically speaking all mcomplete pam must not
s,,.clfk lmaglnative capaclty, whlch moy be 1Mn 01 an only be rece,tive to odaptotion ond addltion, they
lndispensable port of the architect's normal campeten<e must olso, to a certoin extent, be ,c&.slgned to
and which should as such be acqulred Bke any other o«ommadate variou, sotut1ona, ond dlould morwver

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clomour to be completed, so to 'fMOk, Parts that ore

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r■fationshlp with other cornponents, must be fo. med ln
such a woy that they con indeed be fitted together or
combined, ln other wonb thot they induce the user to
toke such actlon. ln the most litei ai MnM, too, the
• • semi-finished product mvst consi1t in an incluc.ment •
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446
ond that is somethlng whlch con only b e ochleved lf
• • • • that was your idea fram the very sfort•
The mosf eJ.,nentary principia, ••li• that it b eosier to
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curved plane, ploy o major role here, ■speclotly when
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orchitect oround to help when the deciJion must
lt Corovsle, • • ' octualty be token,

164 usso•s 101 SIUDOíS IW UtNilHIUlf

Mal I COl'T' d
COtUMNS
for lhe erection of wolh or porlitions rectongulcr columns
ore not necessorily beller os o slorting-poinl, but lhey ore
cerloinly eos,er lo wosk wílh thon round ones, ond it is 1m•
por1ont lo beor thol in mind, especiolly ln coses where lhe
columns conslitule lhe cotnerslones of lhe orgonizolion ol
the spoce. And lhis is indeed neorly olwoys the cose •
excepl 1n lhe eorly 'plon libre', where free-sronding col­
umns define lheir own spoce irrespective o! dividing walls.
lhe columns m 1he Centrool Beheer olfice building os well
os ln De Drie Hoven were profiled in such o woy thol they
hove o moxímum 'slotting' copocity lo occommodofe
odjoining wolls ond low potiilions, while also lhe
proporlioning wos wholfy geored lo such purposes ln lhe
Music Centre (which moy be chorocterized as o sequence
of lorge spaces mergíng lnto one onother with relatívely
few porlitions) lhe columns ore round. u1.«1, Round, lree­
slonding columns ln o lorge spoce where mony people
come togelher lunction mosl sotisfoctory in o crowd,
where they ore unobslructive ond do not stand in lhe woy.
ln the Apollo schools squore calumns were used wherever
odjoining wolls occur, while the four lree-stonding columns
in the holl ore round t4i01. They stand, rolher olool, in lhe
midst ol lhe bustle of oclivity, where they con be reod os
ínlersections of lhe spoliol construction. 148 ◄◄t
◄lG

Not only the form but 0110 the dlmen1ion of component

porta and of cour1e the dimen1ion of the spoces
betwNn the different port1 determine thelr occommo­
da1ing capodty, which in tum Jtrongly influences the
rcinge of po1sibllitie, 01 to the cfispo,ition of the
fvmlture. Consequently lt l1 often better to make a
column ,lightly largar than 1trlctly neceJIO,Y for the
con,truction, if thot yield, more 'attachment aurface',
then1by increa,ing the pos,ibilities of utili&ation.

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(will o bed lit in the niche, or is it just too big?I,

ln the skeleton dwellings which ore 'conditioned' os much
os possible to occommodote odditions ond olterotions, the
piers on either side ol the floor section thot could be
designoted os goroge spoce were positioned ln relotion to
one onother i n such o woy thot there ore mullíple potentiol
solution-S in the woy of lrontoges or goroge doors. A leu
obvious solutlon hos been chosed here with o vlew to
increosíng the ronge of possibilities. Such o 'storting­

,..._
point' poses o problem, to which eoch user con find the
solution thot suits his purposes best.

Oiogoon Owo/llogs P1ERS
ln oddition to columns, especiolly piers, which occur in
every building in mony lorms, con serve o voriely ol
purposes, depending on where they ore locoted ond on
the spoce lhey leove open: loke for lnslonce o chimney
breost, the kind thol you find interrupting one of the long
lll 417 wolls ln so mony old houses, ond which you connot
411 ignore when you ore furnishing lhe roam; indeed, lhe pier
lll 4S4 os such morks the spoce ond provides o storting-point,
since the spoce on either side strongly offects the
possibilitles ond limitotions of the room os o whole
lf you have an eye for these things you can '"
examplH everywhere of alterarions and additions to
hou1e1 which the inhabitant1 themselves have macle ln
lhe course of time, probably without prior permission
from the authorities or landlords, and usually very
successfully.
Such additions are especially llkely to have been macle
in places that affered incentives ln that diredlon, such
as balconies which 'damoured' to be roofed, Gnd
particularly '°9gias, wflich could quite easlly be
enclosed.

De Orte Ho,-en,
HOJ1te for /�e Eldody r","•
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Of6ce Bullcllng

166 llSSOII fOI lllltllll U UCHIHCIUH

 Heft1s.0111dluog.
Se,//n-Sntz. 1925-27/
B Toei

4S4 151 ◄SB

459 460

HOUSING, BlRIIN 1925-27 / B TAVI ,41�1�1

li does nol seem llkely thot lhe feotures thot encouroge
thol wrl of oddition or olterolion were deliberotely
included by the orch1tecl, olthough you would be inclined
lo think so in the cose of Bruno Tout's housing complex in
Berlin • which reolly looks os il il wos designed to
occommodote oll the olterotlons lhol the inhobitonts hove
mode since the houses were built.
Bruno Toul, in the eorly doys ol ononymous moss housing,
wos undoubledly one of the first orchitects to side
unequivocobly with lhe users. li wos not unhl much loter,

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when we hod got to know oll lhe oppreuive eflects ol

endleu rows of idenlicol dwellings, thot proposols slor1ed
lo be pul forword to try lo cio something, os on
orchitecturol principie, obout thot soul-destroying
ononymity

llllN& sr.t.ct, )UYl•r6 SPHE l67

1 1
 PERFORATED 8UILDING BtOCKS
Such incentives ore inherent ln concrele perforoted
building blocks, representing os they do o bosic ond ot
lhe some lime extreme exomple of reciprocity ol lorm ond
usoge. The holes in these blods jusl os literolly demond
lilling in (ol leo$I if lhe block$ hove covitie$ on one side
on ly • otherwise they become windows).
ln situotions where perforoted building blocks were
opplled, os o n the living bolconles ln lhe home for the
elderly De Drie Hoven, or in lhe oporlments in lhe
o. o,;, H,,..,,, Hoorlemmer Houttuinen housing scheme in Amsterdom or
Home for the Elder/y
i n the Kossel housing project, they were olwoys soon pul
to use • mostly os ffower pois, 01 course, people who
wonted potted plonls or window-boxes onywoy would
eosily hove lound olhe, solutions for their greenery, but
since these blocks look unfinished on 1heir own ond
clomour to be put to some kind ol use, so lo speok, lhey
ore on incentive lo do somelhing wilh them.

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By adopting the principie of reciprocity of form and
usage as a starting-point, lhe emphasis admittedly
shifts to what one could describe as greater freedom
for the users and inhabitonts, but this should not be
taken to mean that the architect should, as a
consequence, follow the instn,ctlons of those users os
to whot he must do · and especiolly os t o whot he must
not do.
When we indirectly odvocate giving the users a greater
role to play in the shaping of their surroundings, the
objective is not prlmarily to encouroge more
individuality, but rather to redress the balance
between whot we ought to moke for them and whot
we should leove up to them.
Offering 'incentives' which evoke assoclotions ln the
users, which in turn leod to specific adjustments to suit
specific situations, in fact presupposes •
notwithstanding the shift in emphasis • a more
thoroughly considered design based on a more
detailed and more subtle progromme of requirements.
The point in creating incentives is to raise the inherent
potential as much os possible, in other words: to put
more into less, or to make less out of which more can
be drawn. for each situation the following could be
said to apply! incentive + association = interpretotion.
ln this question the 'incentive' itself is a sort of
constont, which produces o variety of interpretations
through varying associations. And if we substitute
'competence' for 'incentive' and 'perlormance' for
'interprettltion' we find ourselves back with lhe
linguistic anology again, as described on page 93
(lncidentally, who can help noticing the miniature,
rudimentary arenas in lhe perforated blocks?)
Just as the architect's stand 'vis à vis' o collective
structure Is int•rpretative • i.e. thot of the user · so his
stand 'vis à vis' the users of his architecture is that of
making his design interpretable for them. An architect
must be quite ele-ar abaut how for he should 90 and
where he should not impose: he must make space and
leave space, in the proper proportions and in the
proper balance.
10 f ORM AS AN
INSTRUMENT
""• moN inffvenc. you con ,-lty exert on the
things Ot'OUncl )'OU, the fflON you w1n '"' emotionolly
involved with thtm cmd the more ottention you wi11
poy to them, cmd olso, the fflOff you will be lndined to
la..,ish care and 1o,,. on the thlngs around yov.
You can only dwelop an offection fw thiftts that )'OU
can idemify with • things on whlch )'OU con pn,jKf so
much of youl' -" identity anel in wflich you con invMt
so much core onel dedkotlon that they become pon of
you, obsorbed imo your own ,-1-rtd. Ali thot
core ond dedkation mokes lt -m ot lf the ob;ect
ne1d1 you, not only con you cledde to o large extent
whot hoJ111en• to it but the obj.ct lt..tf pb o ,oy in
your llfe 01 well; this klnd of relotionthlp too moy
evldently be Men os o proce11 of mllt\HII
oppropriotion. lhe more lnvo!ved o penon i, with the
form anel conhnt of hi:s 1urN1undinp, the mON thaff
surroundlnp become OppNlpriotecl by him, cmd just os
he takes posnsslon of his 1urrouncli1191, so they wlll
toke posseuion of him.
ln the llght of thi, reclpN1Col oppropriatlon of ,-opie
and thinp it Is fail' to mate thot the lncffltlves thot oN
offered by us 01 architecb represem an invltvtion fw
comp1etion anel 'colouring' by the people who rive
then, wflile on the other hanel the people too extend
an lnvltatlon to the thinp to complete, colow and fltl ln
riteil' own exi,tence.
Thus uHr anel form reinforc:e eoch other cmd lnteract
and such a relotlonthlp 11 analogou1 ta thot bel'Wffft
Individuo! and cot11munity. UHrs project themsems
oftto the fofm, just os indivictual1 thow thtiir tn.le colour
in their variou, relationthlps wlth others, whlle playlng
and Ming plcryed upo,i, and the,eby beco- who they
ON,
form díncted to_,ds a gmn pvrpoH functiont os an
apporatu1, anel where form and pl'09romme are
mutuolly evocotift the a,parotul ltteH becomes an
instrument. A properly fundioning apporotu• does the
wortt for whlch lt 11 pl'09N1mmed, thot which is
expected of it • no i.,,, but also na m-. ly pl'Hsing
the ritht buttons the expeded results are obtolned, the
some fw everyone, alwoya the some.
A (mualcal) lnstrument essentlally confoin, 01 mony
poatibíllties af usa91 a, u••• to wflích it iJ put - on
instrument must be played. Wrthin the llmlts of the
in1trument, it is up to the player to dniw whot h• can
170 l!SSO�S IOf. SfUDEUS li U(Kll!(IUtl
fram lt, withln the llmit1 of hi• -n abllity. Thua
in,trvment anel plcryer reveol ta eoch other their
l'ffpective abQltlet to complement and fulflO one
onother. Fonn os an instnlment offett the 1cope for
each penon ta do what he hm most at heart, Oftd
abfte ali to do lt ln hls own way.' (4)
lhe followlng text frocn 1966, orlglnally publlshed ln
Forum 7·1967 under the � 'ldentity' ca:n Hrve a, a
summing upl
'ln th• des.gn of each bvildlng the orchitect nwst
can11antfy bear in mind that the UHrs muat haw the
fr11dom ta decide for themselves how they want to UH
-h pari, each spoce. Their pwsonal lntefpretafl9n li
lnflnltely more lmportont than the stereotyped
appraoch af the archited strictly adhering ta hia
builcling p,ogramm,. lhe COfflbination of functioM
whklt toeether co,utitute the prografflffle b geared to o
standard poHem of living • o sof't of highut cofflfflOfl
fador, more or te., sultable for every- • and
lnevltably resulb ln everyone being fo,ced ta fit the
imat• that we are expeded to prolect, accordltlg ta
which we are expected ta od, to eat, to ,r..p, to ,ntw
our homes • on lmage, in lhort, wflich eadi on• of us
only very folntly ru.nbles, and whkh is therefore
whoUy inadequate.
ln other words, lt lsn't at all dlfficult ta ,reate a luclcl
arcliltecture if lhe requftlMnfS that it is suppo11d to
meet are obscure enovghl
lt is the diKrepanciu thot ariH fram everyone's
lnd'rnclual n,ed ta ilfflff1)f'lt o speciflc function,
depencffng on lhe drcumsl'Oncu and place, in hls or her
own Wfl:y, thot ulti-tety provide eacli one of u1 with
on ldentity of -•• own, and becouH it is impoulWe
(anel has alwoys been lmpossll,le) to toll« everyane's
circumstance, to flt exactly, we must c,eote thi,
potential for persollOI intwpretotion by de1i9ning
things in such a woy thot they can lndeed be
lnterpmed.
lt is not enough merely to t.ave roam for penonol
lntetpretotlon, ln other -rd• to stop clfflgnl119 at an
eatUer state, Thi.t would aclmittedly NSUlt ln a greaNH'
clegr11 of flexlblHty, but flexlblHty does IIOt nftffsority
contribvte ta a beNer fundioning of thinga (for
fle.xibillty can never prodvc:,e the best imagínable
resulta for ony glven sltuatlon), As lo119 0.1 thlfe Is no
real exponslon of the chokes open to peopl,, the
lhreotypecl pattern wlll not cllsoppear, and this
u:pan1ion can only be achieved if we atart out by
-klng lt posdble fw the things around us to play a
variety of clifferent roles, La. to take on diffeNnt
coloun whlle remalnlng trve to them.selves.
Only when on theH cllfferent roi.s ha..,. been tolten
autor
lnto contlcleNltlon by givlng them prlorlty ln the design
•tate, l,e. by inclucling them as lmportant issues in the
pragramme of requlrements, can we expect that each
Individual wlll be incluced to form hl1 or her -n
intet'pretotion of the i11ue concemed. The diffe-rent
rale,, being 9lven priorlty by way of provocatíon, wlll
be 1ugge1i.cl without being macle explicit.
Within the framework of the conclitioning that ha1 been
given to the form, the UMf' galns the freedom to choo1e
for him1elf which pattem ,uits him be1t, to 1el.ct hi,
own menu as it _,., he can be truer to himseff, hi,
ide;1tily it incnased, loch place, each c:ompanent, will
have to be attunecl to the pragramme in it, totality, i.e.
to ali the exp.cted pragram- tafether. lf we
condltion the form to accommodate an optlmal
dlversity of usoge, then lnflnitely more po1slbllitles can
be utracted fram the totality, wlthout thí1 nece11arily
cletractlng in any way from the primary clesltnatlon of
the praject, The 'retum1' can be increased by the
pouibilities of usage which are embedcled in the
cle1i9n as intention, uncler the 1urfoc1,' (3a)

Porís, Pare des Bvttes Choumot1I

IUIIM& Stl(l, IUYll6 SPJC! J7f1

 /

/
-­
,-
-

••
C INVITING FORM thot crises, in other words, it musl not only be
accommodoting but also sfimuloling • and íl is this
fundamental ond aclive odequocy thot I would like lo coll
'inviting form': lorm wilh more sympathy for people,

When you look ai one of lhe vos/ number ol books on

orchiledvre thot are being published nowodoys ond you
see ai/ lhose 9/ossy photogrophs, token without exceplion in
perfect wealher conditions, you con 't help wondering whot
goes on in lhe orchitecfs' minds, how lhey see lhe world;
sometimes I think they practice o different profession from
minei For what con archileclllre be olhe, lhon concerning
oneself with silllofions in doily life os lived by o// people;
it's rother like clothing, which must ofter o/1 no/ only suil you
well, but olso Fit praper/y. And íf it fa the foshion nowodoys
to concern oneself with outword oppeoronces, however
cleverly vested with references to higher lhings, lhen
orchiteclllre is degroded lo sculplllre of on inferior sorl.
The painf is thol whotever you do, wherever ond however
yoo organize spoce, it wi/1 inevitobly hove some degree of
influence on lhe situolion of people, Archítecture, indeed,
everything thor is buíll, connot help ploying some kind ol
role in the lives of lhe people who use it, and it is lhe
architect's moin fosk, whether he likes il or no/, to .see lo il
thot 11VerythiT19 he mokes is adequo/e for o/1 lhose
silvo/ians. li is no/ only o moffer o[ efficocy in the sense o(
whether il is practicol or no/, but olso of whelher whol we
design is properly olhJned lo normal relotions belween·
people ond whethe, or no/ il offirms lhe equolity of oll
people. The quesfion whether orchitecture hos o social
function is tofolly írrelevont, becouse sixiolly indifferent
solutions simply do not e.xúl; in olher words, every
intervenlion ín people 's surroundings, regordless of the
orchitect's specific oims, hos o social implicotíon. So we
ore not in loct free to ga oheod ond design exoctly whot
we pleose - everything we do nos consequences for people
ond their relolionships.
There is no/ thot moch on orchitect con d o, which mokes il
oll the more importont lo molce sure thot Few oppartunities
lhere ore ore no/ missed. lf you think you con't moke the
world o betler ploce with your work, ai least make sure you
don 't moke il worse. The ort of orchiteclure is not only lo
molce beoutifvl lhings • nor is li only to molce usefvl things, il
is to do both ot once • /ike o toilor who mokes e/olhes thol
both loolc good ond fit we/1. And, if ai o// passible, e/olhes
thot everyone can weor, not jusl the Emperor.
Everything we design musl be adequo/e for every situotion

174 llSSOKS IOl SIUDl81S 1W /.t(Hllf(IOH

autor
1 lhe Hobltable 5poce betwMn Thint• / 76
Roísed Siclewolk, Buenos Aires
Weespentroot Student Accommodotion, Amsterdom
lo Copelle, Fronce
High Courl, Chondigorh, lndio / Le Corbusier
Vredenburg Music Centre, Utrecht
De Evenoar, School, Amsferdom
Apollo Schoo l-&, Amsterdom
St. Peter's Squore, Rome
2 "-• and Artkulation 190
Right Dimensions
Hoorlemmer Houttuinan Housing, Amsterdom
'lhe Pototo Eoters 1 / Vincent von Gogh
De Drie Hoven, Home for the Elderly, Amsterdom
Montessori School, Delft
Centrool Beheer Office Building, Apeldoorn
Home Conversion, Amsterdom
SI. Peter's, Rome
Vredenburg Music Centre, Utrecht
3 vt-1202
Montessori School, Delft
Weesperstroot Student Accommodotion, Amsterdom
Povillon Suisse, Paris/ Le Corbusier
Bolconies
Povillon de l'Espril Nouveou, Paris/ le Corbusier
Documento Urbano Housing, Kossel
LiMo Housing, Betlin
Thou School, Barcelona/ Mortorell, Bohigos & Mockay
Vredenburg Music Centre, Utrecht
De Overloop, Home for lhe Elderly, Almere
Porc Guiill, Barcelona/ A. Gaudí, J.M. Jujol
Sociology of Seoting
Apollo Schools, Amsterdom
4Vlew112l6
Von Nelle Foctory, Rotterdom/ M. Brinkmori, L.C. von der Vlugt
Rietveld,Schróder House, Utrecht/ G. Ríetveld
De Overloop, Home for the Elderly, Almere
De Evenoor, School, Amsterdom
S vtew Ili 226
World Exhibition Povilion, Paris/ F. le Ploy
Cineoc Cinema, Amslerdom/ J. Duiker
Vredenburg Music Centre, Utrecht
Villo Sovoye, Poissy, Fronce/ le Corbusier
Pedestrion Underposs, Genevo, Switzerlond/ G. Descombes
Chapei, Ronchomp, Fronce/ Le Corbusier
Alhambra, Granado, Spoin
Masque, Cordobo, Spain
Privote Home, Brussels/ V. Horto
Moison de Verre, Paris / P. Chareau, B. Bijvoef ond l. Dolbet
Van Eetvelde House, Brussels/ V. Horta
Costel Béranger, Paris/ H. Guimord
Apollo Schools, Amslerdom
Bibliotheque Ste Genevieve, Paris/ H. Lobrouste
6 EquiYalence246
Open Air Schoot, Amsterdom / J. Duiker
De Overloop, Home for the Eld&rly, Almere
Villo Rotando, Vicenzo, ltaly / A. Pallodio
Hierorchy
Mosque, Cordobo, Spoin
St. Peter's, Rome
Dutch Pointers
Le Corbu$ier, Formo! ond Informal
Porliomenl Building, Chondigorh, lndia/ Le Corbusier
Woter Reservoir, Surkej, lndio
IOllll' rOh\ 175
autor
 1 THE HABITABLE SPACE
BETWEEN THINGS
By approoching the de,igned object as an instrument
rather lhan 01 an apparatvs, as we did in lhe previous
Hctlon of lhe1e studies (part 8), we were ln fact
already advocati119 what amounts to a greater
efficiency. Havln9 cflscus,ed e.xample, of the abillty of
form ta play different roles under cha119in9
circum1tance1 not only by creatin9 lhe nece1sary
conditions but al10 by actually encouragin9 such
dlfferentlated u1a9e, this section will deal wilh
extendin9 this idea to a ge.neral principal. for what we
need 11 an e.xpansion of lhe pa,1ibilitie1 of all the
things we design so thot they wlll b e more useful,
more applicoble, ond 10 more suited to lheir purpase,
or suited to more purposes.
lf somelhin9 is geared very specifically to o certain oim
it functions the way it has been program1Md to
function, i.e, as it was e.xpected to function. This is lhe
- -----
- --
•
176 llSSQ#S IQI SlUDl#IS IW At(HIIHIUII
sort of functionolism lhat the functionalists talked
about, but it is also the mlnlmum of utilíty thot can be
expected of orchitecture. And in arder to ochleve more
than that minimum in the diversfty of sitvotion1 as lhey
orise I am pleodin9 for form ond space with o greoter
'accommodating' potential, like a musical ins�ument
thot 1ound1 lhe woy the player wonts it to sound. lhe
point is to increase this 'accommodatin9 patential' and
thus to make spoce more receptive to different
situations. Once yau start lookin9 for them it i1 eosy to
find even in the most une.xpected comer, e.xamples of
usage that lhe de1igners (if any) certainly never
envisoged.
People use their surraundings in every sitvation as best
they con, and quite often the thin91 araund them, quite
unintentionally, offer unupected opportunitles which
are lhen 9rasped 'in passin9' os it were.
• •o
"lrr19ularities' such as differences in levei occ11r
everywhere, and hmecid of going to g,-at lengths to
mlnlmbe them we should ralher concentrate on trying
to form them so consdously that they can be
maximally exploited. Parapets, railings, post and
gutters are fonns of articulation and repruent
increcued passibilities for attachment. They can be used
as primitive elements of what we could call the basic
grammor of archltectvre. Occurring a1 they do in
diverse 1hapes and ajxes they are o constant 1timulu1
for uMtge in everydoy life.
The most elementary provision to enable people to
take possession of their direct envlronment is probably
the provislon of seating (the oppartunlty to seat oneself
hcrving everything to do, linguistically, with
ntffement). A place to sit offers an oppartunity for
temparary appropriotion, while creoting the
circumstances for contoct wlth othen. Not only would RAISEO StOEWAll(, BUENOS Arn�s IUII
an ordinary dome1tic sofa or chair be incapable lf 'There where lhe sidewolk is so high thot you con sit on it
withstonding such varied and casual usa941, it would or leon ogoinsl it, in streets with o steep incline, for
also fall ta stimulate such u1oge. instance, such o ploce, if fo.,ourobly situated los on o
Objects that present them1elve1 explicitly ond corner), con become o p loce where people meet ond
exclusively for a specific purpase • e.g. for 1ittln9 on • linger. This is where young footboll ployers lindo reody
appear to be uruultable for other purpose1. Extreme oudience, ond o ploce ony street vendor wonting to drow 418
functlonality in a design makes it rigid and lnflexible, the ottention ol possers-by will wont to malte use of: on
that is, it leaves the user of the designed object too obvious spot, but with lhe nolurol odvontoge ol some 169
little freedom to lnterpret its function as he plea1e1. lt seclusion for the disploy of his wores.' (4]
11 as if it ha1 been decided a priori what is to be
expected of the user, what he moy and what he may
not do. The u1er is thus 1ubservient ta the form and the
concomltant a priori 'agreement'; he is only capa_ble of
using the object, of appropriatlng it tempararlly ln a
way, if what he wants ta do with it correspand1 to
what the form dictates.
What a sofo dictates can be regarded as the sum of
what tha1e respansible for its exlstence hove to oH.n
the fumlture maker1, the buyer,, an ideolagy, a
society, a culture. The conc.ept 'bench' is maintained by
a series of a11ociations which are so pawerful that the
user ha.s little chance of seelng beyond tha1e assoei·
atlons to plck out what h e need, mast at that mament •
ond that may well be a table rather than a bench, or
just a place to put down a tray wlth coffee thlngs.
ln the case of a chance encounter that need may be no
more than an opportunity to rest one's foot1 a smaD
gesture which can be a sign t o 1om-ne alie that you
are not avene ta the idea af more penanal contact. lf
the rupanse to this first te.ntative ond as yet non·
committal gesture wa, not displecising, then bath
partie, can 1uccu1ively assume more perrnanent
pasitions, always in kHping with the degl'ff of
commltment or non•commitrnent that _,h wants.' (4)

11y111J6 ,10111 177

1 1
 t
ss
1
410 411 WEESPERSTRMT ST\JOENT ACCOMMOOATION HI0-4121
•n 'A long, brood poropel should look loirly unoblrusive of
first sight, jusl somewhere to pouse, lo leon ogoinst or to
413 sit on, for o fleeling moment or for o longer conversolion
os the cose moy be Sometimes il !tl!rves os eoling-spoce
when the reslouronIs is crowded, ond ti wos used for
loying oul o buffel supper one Chrislmos.' (4]
For con!Qct to be e11Gbl11hed 1pon1Gneou1ly a certain
ca1ualne11, non•cammittalne11, is indispensable. lt 11
the �•rtainty that you can b...ak aff con!Qc:t and
withdraw OI soon as you like that enc,ourage1 you to
carry on. lhe es!Gblishment of contact is in a way
rather like the p�••1 of seduction, with both 1ide1
maklng equal daims on the other ln the knowledge
that retreat is possible at any time.
Here too the as.sociations that are evaked in us by the
171 l!SSOIS IOt SIOO!.IS li .U(fflllClUll
images we all store in our consciousness • collective
associations, we could say • ploy a decisive role. Just
think of a courling cauple which i s readily imagined
sitting on a bench, with all the attendant associations
of bonds for the future ond the situotions that appear
lo arise inevitably, as a result.' (4]
IA CAPElLE, fRANCE 14131
'li does not loke much for things lo serve os o sort of
slruclure lo which everydoy life con oltoch ibelf. The
simple roiling where elderly people find supporl when
going up or down o slepped slreel Is, for every child in
lhe neighbourhood, o chollenge lo demonstrole ils ogility.
li serves os o ployground climbing-frome ond, in summer,
is sure to be used for building huts ond hldeouts.
ln Hollond, moreover, you con be sure thot housewives
would use such o roiling for beoting lhe dust out ol their
corpels. A slroighlforword iron roiling is literolly 'ol
hond', for o wíde range of uses, for ali sorls of ordinory,
everydoy situotions, ond it tronsforms lhe slreel inlo o
ployground.
The designed, purpose-.built ploygrounds which ore
scottered throughoul the city ore, for lhe lime being,
indíspensoble ploces ol refuge for children. Bul, like
pro1theses, they ore olso o poinful reminder ol how
severely the city, which should itself be o ployground for
ils cilizens ond children, hos been omputoted in this
respecl.' (4)

H IGH (Olli1, (HANDIGARH 1951 •55 / LE (ORBUStER (114·4/ll
lhe 'BrisirSoleil' conslructions which ore leotured in so
much ol Le Corbusier's loter orchitecture, consisl of o
fixed concrete grid mode up of horizontol ond verlicol
plones; besides screening off the sun, of course, lhe
honeycomb-like slruclure with ils deep niches serves other,
less obvious purposes too. Whot foscinoted le Corbusier
himself oboul this structure w□s no doubt primorily ils
slrong plosticity, ond I would nol be ot oll surprised if he
never reolly considered the possibilily thot il could prove
useful for o voriety of olher reosons besides ils e)(pressive
plosti city ond ils screening properlies, thereby odding on
extra quolíty lo the building os o whole.
� .---f
• T!..
7 I
·.
'.:.!
1 ]
�k�l() •
•
ln the foregoing examples lhe quality aros• from more 414 11i
or less chance factors, ln any case lt did not result from
deliberate design, but it must also be passible to turn 416 111
such quality into an explicit requiremenl of lhe design
brief. Meeting this extra qualltative requirement nHd
not cosi much extra money, it can ensue as a matter of
course once you put your mind to it. What this amounts
to is dolng more wlth the same material, organi1ing it
differently, giving more prominence to what was
alreody there · it's a matter of priorities.
•
-�--.
l�YlrllNG 10!1. 179
1 1
 •

1
••
•

•
•
•
•
•

l/8 VeEOí1>.BU�G Mus,c CENTRE "' l!Z
A lhealre labby can never have loo much seoting. Only o
H9 4� comparalively small proportion of the oudience find on
'officiol' seat during lhe intervols, so the more informal
seoling occommodotion there is, lhe better.
ln order to meet extra seating requirement mosonry plinlh
courses were conslructed wherever leosible: less
comfortable than on upholslered bench, no doubl, but no
less serviceoble for thot. Another typicol problem during
on inlerval is linding somewhere lo put down cups,

180 IIS�O�S 101 SIUDl�IS • UCllllll�tl

M
 -- --- - ------

glosses ond bottles. The solulion lends to be lo use ony rh, o.ire� Roi/woy, lto'l'O o ,_,.,.,,,,fftl to
Rol surfoce 1h01 is ovoiloble. Providing such spoce "''"º'°'"'"9 ....JówgMd ond deon p,,1,1,c
premi.., n.. � numbo,. ai >""'"9 peoplo
exclusively for thol purpose would probobly be loking horrging o,o.md ln loi,t<doift•, Ctn1tof S!olion
things too for, il is sufficienl lo moke lhe top of poropels, ....,. ,ec.,,ry a,ofro,,r«/ w,i/1 o 'd,,co•ragN>.,,i'
polky lOllog 1M /o,m ol, o-.g o/1,-, d11ng1,
bolus1Todes, porlitions ele. wíde enough, e.g. by odding o poi,.-d Jloel rod, fi� - ,,,_ ''°"' ,eori•g
wooden ledge, for lhis minar ohhough persistent problem spoce l'l,í, roill,, d,,. od1vslfr1nl /1 po,1 o/ h
On the upper levei of lhe shopping orcode lhe metal O.lo� loi/w,,y's º"'" compo1gn ogolrul li� ond
dofocemenJ/ (So.,w 11, 1987l
bolustrode curves outwords ai regular intervols to provide
spoce for o smoll bench, Iram where one con jus! oversee,
looking from slde lo side, lhe orcode below ln bolh
directions. The roised bock • o little too mojeslic perhops •
wos lhe conceuíon 1h01 hod lo be mode lo lhe building
oulhorities, since the regulolions opplying lo lhe heighl of presence of less desiroble guer.15,. Once you open lhe
poropets hod to be strictly observed; lhe more natural ond door you must let everyone inl lhe lendency lo moke
somewhot more elegont design of the model thot lhings os impersonol ond unossoíloble os possible is nol
preceded lhe definilive veuion wos lurned down. surprising, bul lhe consequences ore often obsurd.
At presenl lhese seob ore now removed becouse they
supposedly ottrocl too mony 'vogronts' who moke
lhemselves ol home in lhis shellered moll, especiolly ai
nighl; lhey leove o lol of rubbish behind ond lhere ore
mony comploinls by poners-by oboul horossmenl. This is
o problem in cilíes oll over lhe world ond il musl be o
bitter porcdox lhot o welcoming gesture olso invites lhe

IIJ

10 111
 t

·---­
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..·---­
-
■-----·

!lm•e■••
- •
-
DE EVENAAR, SCHOOI, OJ�!1'1
The sloirwoy up lo lhe entrance ai the new primory school
'De Evenoor' in Amslerdom hos been given on extra
orticulotion lo moke lhe occess from streel levei to the
school more fluent. lhe juxloposilion ai the two Aights of
sleps thus suggesled bending the roil"ng componenls vis o
◄M
...
•IS vis eoch other This gove rise lo the decision to moke lhe
poropert efements on the londing curve 1n such o woy os
◄li ... 10 produce rwo smoll ploces to sit. Cerloinly lhe lorm here
llike lhe comer seols ín lhe Music Centre golleryl is rolher
dommonl ond by no meons fortu1tous, yel in both coses il -
is quite o logicol outcome of the given siluolion. Here the
lorm 8,l(plicitly olfers ,ts function, unlike in the cose of lhe
curved perloroled sleel sheeling on lhe upper londing,
where, however, children soon discover the irnp licit
seoting opportunit1es
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182 l!SSO�I IOP Sl�OUIS li UCHll!(IUII

Matcr I o
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-----e--!
,

Arouo 5CHOOLS (01-41!)

'Window sills, shelves ond led9es in a clossroom ali affer
opporlunities to disploy the children's hondrc1olt products
which ore not only usuolly fragile, but olso numerous. li ,s
espedally this sort of thing tho1 enobles chlldren to
oppropriole o spoce, to moke themselves ot home in il.
Thol is why we odd ledges etc. wherever leosible and • .,"º
suitoble.' 11 O) .,,

f• Tll!lli fOf/1 113

1

• discs ore used to leove coots ond bogs on • o better ploce
-
t..
'Colums todoy seldom hove o either o seporotely delineei
bose or lhe troditionol capital ol the columns ol the
closs1col orders. They simply dissopeor into lhe íloor. But
there ore situolions where o widened section ol lhe
column jusl obove the l loor olfers 1n1eresting el(tro
odvontoges AI the entrance to o nuuery school, e.g,
porents gother lo woit for their chuldren to toke them
home. li would be a bit exoggeroled lo instoll speciol
benches jus! lar these wointing porenls, and li is even
doubtful whelher lhey would be reolly wonted.
Ali lhe more oppropriote, then, IS lhe informal seohng•
spoce ollered by these discs, which one yau míght well
be grotelul for when il lurns aut lhol one hos lo woll
longer thon expeded. During lhe children's recess the
for lhem lhon on lhe ground in o corner, surely.. And losl
but by no meons leosl this column inevilobly serve1 os
'home' lo hide-ond-seek ployers '(1 O)

◄91
◄!J

-- -
--- ---
- - -
184 IISSO•S 10! SIUO!MIS Ir llCllll(lUII
Sr, PmR'S SouARE, ROME, SINCE 1656/ G.H, BERNINI 1◄91,0S)
'Eoch of the countl ess columns of the fourfold colonnode
of Bernini's Piazzo Son Pietro in Rome hos o squore base
lorge enough for one to sit on quite comlortobly, while lhe
columns themselves ore so thick os lo provide shelter to
those seoted there. These multiple 'seots' bordering the
oval, just where lhe most seclusion is províded, offer
informal hospitolity to everyone, even when the rest of lhe
piozzo is deserled. How mony of the columns now ot the
design stoge oll over the world oHer o like odditionol
quolity lo those who will loter hove to live with them�• [6]

SI, PtJft 1754/

G.P. fonini

4'4
4'5

IKYIJla6 FOIM 11$

 DE EVENAAR, SCHOOl (OH!II
Paropets bardering sloircases ore very olten ploced
slantwise, following the direction of the hand-rail. This is
indeed in mony coses the most obvious solutlon, whereby
on indicotion of the presence of this lhe stoirs is given in a

--
quite logicol woy. But in o situotion where o poropel is so
posilioned 1h01 il offers o view of something, os in 'De
Evenoor', it invites people to leon their elbows on lhe top,
or even to sit on it. Wherever something is going on
people wont somewhere to pouse ond wotch • ond thot
itself Is enough reoson to try to let the orchitecture of the
locolion contribute to potentiol seoting copocity. So in this
cose it wos o good ideo io have, insteod of the usual
slonting poropet, a poropet divided into sfepped sections
with horizontal coping thot ís wide enough to leon your
elbows on or to sil on. And if, as in this cose, lhe wall is
of mosonry, lhe stepped design is much eosler to execute,
since lhere is no sowing of bricks lo be done. So lhe
execulion, quite unintentlonolly, recolls eloborolion of
Berlage ond Loos.

APOllO SCHOOLS 1491.SOl-503)

'Every kind of step or ledge by o school entrance becomes
a ploce to sit for lhe children, especially when there is on
inviting column to offer proteclion ond to leon ogainsl.
Reolizing thls generoles form. Here ogoin we see thol
form generotes itself, ond lhot is less o moller of invenling
lhon of lislening ottenlively lo whot men and objecJs wont
to be.' [ 1 O]
Of some kinds of spoces we know beforehond that they
will be grotefully used, ond beoring thot in mlnd it Is
importont to moke lhe periphery of lhe building os inviting
os possible, by oclivoting each component wherever
possible - ond thot includes, for inslonce, the spoce in
front of the kindergorten entrance under the staircase
leoding up to the school proper. Such spoces very olten
deg enerote into dork and smelfy corners where only
rubbish collects ond cais roam, but no people. By moklng
the flight ol steps rise from a roised platlorm this situolion
con be avoided, while giving the areo under lhe stoircose
o more positive vaJue. li is the mos! lileral lorm of moking
the spoce between lhings more hobitoble.

We must talce care not to leave any holes and comers

behlnd which are lost and useless, and which, because
they serve no purpose at aU, are 'uninhabitable'. An
architect must not waste spoce by the way he
organizes his material, on lhe conlnlry he must add
space, and not only in lhe obvious places lhat strilce
the eye anyway but al.so ln places thot do not
generaJly anract attention, i.e, betwHn tfúngs. The
foregolng examples 1how how you can increase lhe
functionarity of an arc.hitectural design by con1i1tentfy

186 IESSOIS 101 SIUDINIS IN U(ffllHIUtl

..

M l�VIII'� fCll 181 u

a rai o I
 ----
• •
Mo.th!uorl SdiooJ, taking account o f the in·between space.
O.fh Admittedly we came acrosa instancu of thi, ldnd of
extra qvolity quhe often in our surrouncfings without
any ardtltect having deliberately lntended them, bvt
still it is fair to 1ay that we should on the whole try to
make objects more 1ub1tantial, le11 two-cfimensional
soo by thinking mo,. in t.rms af zanu. f,..stan.ding
iOI walls, if they don't reach the celling and are sufflciently
507 S03 thick, can ,erve as shelvu for puttlng things on. One of
the striking things about ltalion churches in particular
Is that they have a knee-hlgh projecting stone pllnth
111 IESSONS fOl SIUUNTS li UCIIIHJUIE
running raund much of the wall, on whlch you wlll
always au some people 1ittln9 or lylng. Ancf the
motorcars of the old cfays had running boards to
facllitate gettlng ln ancf ovt which aba made excellent
extra Mata during a picnic.
The extensian of the usable spoce by the additlon of
(lnfanno.lJ extra hori.zontal planu ,.,,..ents the
reward for making mo,. explicit what was in fad an
lmpliclt requl,.ment. And lf thls added value Is sun
primarily a1 yleldln9 an enlargement of the �apocity
for seating and for putting thln91 on, thiJ may lffffl a
somewhat limited advantage at fiBt sight. lut the
polnt here I s the designer's or archltect's commltment
(bath ln general and in pomcular) to create thil added
value whe,.ver pos,ible, as the u1ers will tvm such
extras to further advantage.
Such inten1lflcation of the material 1hauld, ideally,
become second natu,. to the architect, a question of
hancfwriting rather than an extra, less a matter of
what you design than af how you design it. lt is to the
content that we should be adding, and a, little as
passible ta the design (the cfange, of auperfluous
projections and fu11lne11 i.1 ever-preMnt).
A p,.requiJite for creating invitin9 form i1 empothy,
the way hospitality i1 ba1ecf on anticipating the wiahes
o f one'• guests. lncreasl ng the 'accommocfatlng
potential' amounb to a greater suitability for what is
required of farm; a form th.,.fo,. which is more
orientated to peaple's nuds in diffe,.nt sitvations, ancf
whlch consequently has more to offer.
The habitable space between things rep,.sents a shift
in attentian from the offlcial levei to the informal, to
where ordinary cfay-to-cfay lives are Jed, ancf that
means in the margin, betwNn the e,tabli,hed
meanin91 of e. xplicit function.
 ·f,c•.c o• to\e l>toch',
f/o,,do /19411

-
- I

SOi
SOS
S06 501

8�10ndorp, Am.1•1da"' 1922/0 Gre,oo,

'lot domu dv bo••

dtt Bovlog�•· /1925/

..,
1tt..
-.
C.ló loc/,str,�Ut
190/.04/T Go,...,

INVIIIN� 101•, 1189

 2 PLACE AND having everythi119 you need around you within ea1y
reach. Dlfferent activitiu and u••• require dlfferent

ARTICUlATION
Ri9ht Dimen1ion1
The fir1t consideration of decisiva importonce ín design•
i119 a space is whot that spoce is intended far and what
not, and consequently what the proper sln, i1 to be.
The fir1t and most obviovs concluscion is: the bigger the
space the more possibillties it will offer. This would
imply simply maki119 everything as big cu pouible.
Of ,ourn that does not work. ln a kitchen that i s too
bi9 you have to fekh and c:arry much more thon stríctly
neces10ry, lt's simply a quesrion of expedience, of
spatial dimensions. A space big enovgh for plcrylng
pl119po119 is not necessarlly auitable for a 1mall group
of people 1ittin9 round a table holding a conversation,
for instance. What dlmenslons to glve a space is
always a question of sen1in9 the required dlmnce and
proxlmity betwffn people, dependi 119 on the 1ituation
and the purpose of 1pace. The right balance betwNn
dístance ond proximity is an i.mportant point in seating
arrangements, especia.lly nating around a table1 not
so far aport a1 to discovrage intensive contact when
that is called for, nor so dose together os to make one
feel crowded. feeling crowcled con even have a
poralyzcing effect: in a full elevotor shared with mostly
strangers yov will always flnd that conversations
become stilted and soan peter ovt.

HAA�LEMMER HOUTTUINEN HOUSING lSO.SlOI

The smoll povemenl gordens ol lhe front, enclosed by o
low brick woll, ore no bigger thon lhe livlng-bolconies on
lhe upper floors. They could hordly hove been even
smoler, of course, but il is by no meons cer1oln lhot they
would hove been belter il lorger. They ore jusl big enough
SC3 to offer sufficienl spoce for o smoll compony of people,
so, ond lhe needs o f dilferenl fomilies in this respect do nol
oppeor lo vory much, There hos lo be enough room for o
few choirs oround o smoll toble, which con be round,
squore or oblong but which seldom devioles from lhe

'� -- J. ...... ........ ..

.. ...... .. .. ..
_,�_-... ..- .... ... ............
il

,-�,.. �

190 lESSOJS fOt SIUDOIS li ltCHIIHIURI

 •••••••••••

standard size. (All lhis is jusl os predictoble os the focl
thot lhe widlh ai lhe overoge povement is inodequote.)
lhe bolconies ai the upper-lloor oportmenls ore relotively
spocious, unlike the usual situotion where the people
downstoirs with fronl gardens hove more space ai lheir
dlsposol thon lhe occupanls ol lhe upper lloors. Holf of
the orea ai lhese living bolconies is roofed: portly by o
gloss owning ond portly by being sei bock in lhe laçode.
An odded odvonloge ai lhe lotler is thot there is jusl
enough room for a door on lhe side leading to lhe
odjoinlng kitchen, which further contributes to integraling
exterior ond Interior living spoces. lhe porlition between
two odjoining líving-bolconies is lowered lo poropet-height
over a dislance of 60 cm. ai the lronl, so 1h01 neighbours
con eosily communicote with each olher il lhey wish.
that it nece1sarlly flts property so as to glve the people
in it the right fffling • llke clothes whkh flt well,
neither so tight as to be uncomfortable nor 10 loose as
to hamper one's movements, Most architects, when
they are not restricted b y rules and regulatians, tend
to mak• 1paces too large rather than too 1mall.
Everything is kept as open and spacious as passible, 510 111
thereby precluding the usual and understandable 111
objections, but the archite<ts fail t o realize that there 113
may be passibilities that are ln fact taken away by
theír grand gesture, that they are maklng more thlngs

VtNCENT VAN GOGH, 'lHE POTATO EATERS', 1885 (517)

Rother thon toking lhe rules of minimal dimensíons drown
up by housing oulhorities and building regulotions olficers
os o spotiol standard ol meosurement, you could loke lhe
spoce occupied by people sitting oround a table os o sarl
ol unil. lhis theme is frequently deolt with by poinlers,
who wilh lheir keener eye for composilion oken loke súch
o unil os lheir spoliol slorting-point. A lomp honging over
lhe toble occurotely defines lhe centre of ottention. lhe
light it sheds oround it mokes lhe people ond lheir
ottribules logelher shope lhe spoce, so thol lhere is
ultimotely o fusion between people ond ploce. lhe woy
this 'losl supper ai lhe poor' shows how people ond spoce
complement eoch other mokes li o porliculorly inslructive
lesson in orchitecture.

A room thot is too ama.li for it1 purpo.1• is inaclequate,

but so is a space that is too large, bec:aus. although lt O. O,io Ho..,,,,
may be big enaugh to hold a lot that does not mean llo<Jte lo, lhe flck,Jy
 impos1lbl• than poulble. The larver the dimen1ions,
the more diffkult it i1 to u1e them to but adva_ntage.
Ploce Clem-enceo11, Aren't all thoH urban pkinner1 and on:hitects
Vence, FroMe constctntly trying, under political pre11ure or not, to
& R«lor.lltr Plo:o.
N•w Y01k
reHNe more and more spoce for Hparate tram 1one1,
Bíb/ioll,"'l.. bicycle 1one1 and other area1 de1ignat.d to traffic • all
Notlonolo, Pari,
& AmphIJ!ioo1ro, Aríos,
th••• facUiti•• having in common that the houHI have
Fron<JJ to be placed further and further apart as if they were
children'1 clothe1 that have to be let out?
Wherever traffic space is squondered the buildings
becorne lsolat.d, standing for a,art. This moke1 it
SI◄ SIS impo11ible for crn urban space to evolve organically
Sl6 S17 fram building height, and dlstances and thus to creote
a 1MC11ure of intimacy and seclusion. That atmo1phere
of intimacy does exist in som• old city centres, where
the traffic is not allowed to reign suprema. And unle1s
th•re is more contact and unchrstanding betwNn
opposit. ,Ides of the strNt (can they stiU hear them·
Hlve1 speak with all that troffic noiH?) WIJ can fars•t
abcrut reosonobly functioning public space altogether.
DE 0RIE HOVEN, HOME FOR THE EtDERlY (113l
'lnstead of the usuol seoting accommodation by lhe
window in ha,pilal wards, every fwo bedrooms share a
sltting-room in the space crealed by widening lhe
corridar. Low brick parlitions enclosing the fixed seals
ieparate the space from lhe actual corridor I giving some
seclusion from lhe people wolking lo ond Iro while
192 1!550l5 fOI SIUIIMH ,. ucalH(ll!E
olfering o view of whal Is going on. This orrangemenl
encourages casual contact between lhe staff, even when
lhey are very busy, and the resldenls. People sitting there
have o sidewoys view down lhe corridor, while the
windows of lhe bedrooms ai the bock con be opened,
thereby ciso allowing for some conlacl.
Tese niches, which were smuggled through lhe borrier ol
stricl squore-rnelre standards, can eosily occommodote
four people (ot the most sixl. li is o place lo receive
visitors, to eol o meol, ond quite oflen lhere's o TV sei or
radio. lhe reor woll hos os much shelving os possible,
which olfers spoce for lhe residents to put treo,ured
pos$essions for whlch there is no room in the bedrooms.
The size of these spoces ond the woy of furnishing creote
on impression ol o basic living-room, just right for the
number o! people living there. li lhey hod been much
lorger lhey would certolnly hove been less lunctionol.' [7]
What use is to be made of a space decide, whot the
right proportlant are to be, and slnce the architecturol
and spotiol conditlans of a ploce encouroge certain
forms of usage and discourage others, architects have
a tremendou1 influence, whether they Uke it or not, on
what can and will take place in a spoce. Their
declslans as to si1e alane are enough to di.ctat. what a
1poce is right for and what not.
Spoces such as the arenas described eartier (in parts A
and 1), Rockefeller Pleno, the public squares of Venice,
and also such interior spaces 01 the libliath•que
Nationale ln Paris, are of a sii:e that is ottuned to
usag• ln a vari.ty of situatlons which, however
different, resemble each other in that they are focused
one common activity. Of cours• the skaters on
Rockefeller Pina, like the readen in the 11.bllothêque
Nationale, tend to be immersed in their own activititts,
but just as the skat.r1 share a common audience, the
readers 1hare an all·pervadlng atmosphere of
concentrotion.
This applies to large spaces and small ones alike: the
dimensions have to matth what iJ going to take place
there (or conversely, what goes on there has to match
lhe dimensions). We must see to lt that the dimensions
of spoce, large or small, are appropriat. for the
functioru they may be expected ta Hrve.
Pravide that place
Although architects have alwoys been preoccupied by
'ploce', it was Aldo van Eyck who first formulat.d the
,oncept in such a way thot you cannot ignore it. Fram
among the many of hi1 texts thcrt deal with place and
space, two well•known statements are quoted here.
'What•v•r space and time mean, ploce ond occaslan
mean more. For space in the image ol man is p/ace,
and t/me ln the ima9e ol man is occosion.'
1
'Make of eoch o place, a bunch ol places ai each
house and eoch city, for a house is a riny city, a city a
-
-- � .
hug• house'. Ak!o van Eycl, 1962

MONTESSORI SettOOL, DElFT ISl8•11Dl

'Whenever o cios� ol nv,sery-school children ore leh lo
their own devices lhey tend lo lorm smoll groups, smoller
thon you mighl expecl; ond il so hoppens 1h01 1hese costle­
builders ond p,eteod-lothers ond mothe,s leel much mo,e
ai home in smolle, spoces thon in lorge ones. Beoring this
in mind il seemed o good ideo lo hove seve,ol smolle,
sond-pils insleod of one Jorge one. (Whenever you see
nvrsery-school child,en ploying logether in o lorge group
you con be sure lhol o leocher is behind il oll, moniloring
lhis communol octivity.)
The Monlessori school in Dellt hod o sond-pit divided into
severo! smoll comportmenls • íusl right for sondcostles.
Children ol sondcos�e oge usuolly ploy on lheir own, ar
in twos or lhrees; lour toddlers ro,ely ploy logelher in o
group, ond live or more seldom or never.
ln lorge sond,píts lhe more exponsionisl•minded
- .. .- .. .. - .. -
. '"" �
youngsters con oll too eosily disturb the concentrolion ond
" • -'-
511
intimocy of lhe olhers, simply becouse lhere is no • 519
demorcolion ol doimed spoce. So here lhe size ol lhese
smoll sond-pits motches ond even enhonces their use. The - • 570

righl size is mode up of lhe lololity of dimensions thot ore

olluned lo lhe expected usoge, while conversely o cerloin
size will ottroct the usoge thot is besl olluned to it.' (7]
This sond-pit os o whole, hoving been subdivided inlo a
row of comportments in arder lo occommodole the use il
is designoted for os well os possible, presenls on
elemenlory exomple of lhe principie ol orticulotion.

Articulatlan

Space shauld olways be amculated in such a way that

places are created, spotial units whaH approp�iote
dimenslans ond carrect measure af enclasedness
enable them to occommadate the pottern af relotians
of thase wha will use it.
Haw a spoce is articulated is a.decisive fadar: it will
determine to a high degree whether the space wiU be
suitable for a single large 9Mup af peaple, say, or for
o number af small, Hporate graups.
The more articulatian there is the smaller the spatial
unit will be, and the more centres af attentian there are
the more individuolizing the overoll effect becomes
that is, thot sevenil activities can be pursued by
seporate groups at the some time.

INYtlU6 J Oll
 That ao much emphasis is lald on the arliculation lnta
small spotial unlts is often interpreted 01 a disregard
for the lorger scale, but this is o misconception. lt i1 not
ao thot a large boldly articul� 1pace ne<e11arily
diHOUl'Of" un by o single central group, ju1t as,
Aroo is 11,e"'"'°
lo
A, 8,CondO
conversely, a lorge unorticuloted space does not
nece11arily create the condition1 for different uses at
the some time.
lt i1 in fact po11ible ta articulate a spac• in such a way
that it is 1uitable for both centroliud ond decentroli1ed
usoge, ln which coae we con adopt both the large•1<ale
concept and the 1mall·1cale concept, depending on how
we wish ta interpret the space.
lut what we ore talking obout is merely the principie;
lt goes without soying that the notvre of the
articulation, such as its 'wavelength' ond its quolity •
that is, how the principie is put inta pradke •
5?1 determines the potentlol of the space.
512 523ob 'We must articulate thi1191 ta moke them smoller, thot
514 is to say no blgger thon necessory, and more
monageable. And H<ouse articulation increases
applkobility, the space ex:pands at the some time. So
whot we moke has ta be<ome smoller and at tfte 1ame
time bifler; smoll enOU9h to be put ta use and bif,
•"OU111h ta offer moximum patentiol for use.
A.rtkulotion, then, leods t a 'e,ipansion of copacity' ond
thus ta 9reoter yields from the material ovailable. leu
material is therefore needed, thonks ta its greoter
intensity.
■ Ali thin91 should be given the rif,ht dimen1ions, ond
the rif,ht dimen1ions ore tho1e tftat enoble them ta be
as workoble as posslble. lf - decide to stop moklng
things of the wrong 1i1e it will 1oon become cleor thot
almost everythlng should be mode quite o bit smoller.
Things should only be bi9 if they consi1t of o ma,sing
tagether of 1moD units, for over1ind proportion1 soon
creote distance and detachment, and by th.tr
persistence in designing on too lorge, 9rond ond empty
o S<Ole, architect1 hove be<ome large-1cole producer,
of distonce and alienation. Lorgeness baseei on
multiplicity implies 9reater complexity, and thot
c.omplexlty enhonces the lnterpretotive potentiol thonk1
to the 9recrter diversity of relations and the interoction
of the individual c.om.panents thot tog.ether form the
whole. [4]
194 IIS50tS 101 SIUDUIS li 11CNIIICUII
CENTRML BEHEER Ôff1CE 8UILOING (Sll-5111
lhe or1iculotion ol spoce wos the prlnciple underlying the
design of the Centraol Beheer insuronce ollice. Point of
deparlure wos lhe tenet thot oll work, as well os all
recreational oclivity, takes place in small groups, not
individuatly but not colleclively either. A sludy of the
sltuolion showed thol oll the diHerenl components ln lhe
progromme could be interpreted as spoces, or ploces, of
3 x 3 m, or ol multiples thereof. And becouse thíngs ln
proclice are never so precisely numerical, lhe necessory
margins were taken into occount lo ollow for overspill inta
lhe circulation areos. lf this building con be soíd to hove
the potenlial not only to absorb far-reaching internai
changes bul olso to give the lmpression thot il could ciso
be designated for quite differenl purposes, then that is due
to the orticulotion. So, when for instonce on ort exhibition
is mounted ln the building jos is dane regulorlyl, lhe
environment con quite simply and easily be tronslormed
into o space with gollery-like quolities.
However, lhe dreom of a conslructed spoce ottuned to
every conceivable progromme ol usage wos not fully
reolized here, although íl seems within reoch.
lhe secret ol orticulation inlo o diversity ol places is,
indeed, thot lhis dreom can never be lully reolized. For
lhe size ol the spotial units we call ploces is based on the
spotiol needs of whol we might call lhe potterns of social
interoclion. lhe building, then, can serve os o bosic struc•
lure only for lhose purposes thot more or lels match li. lhe
range of posslbilities ai o building is determined by lhe
-
1.
-
5 3
.,. .
IJ T
�li 4
►
j i
..J ] ,_
__

!IS
116 511

l#Yll116 fOtl 19S

r 1
 Foy•r Vr«lonbur9 obstades in arder to obtain a 1ingle, large 1pace.
Mwc Ce,,Jre
H-ever, th ey found that the new blgger spoce was
not only for more difficult to organi1.e and fvmish, but
also that the extra space providecl by the new
arrangement pravecl ta be disoppalntl119, The old,
articulated, amingement had offered more stimuli for
the creatlon of placas as well as more spatial
differentlatlon. So by articulating a space there
appeors to be more raom, while the 'place«apacity'
can bé increased as the accupants' need for
differentlated usage grows.

sia density of its structure ond the articulation derived from it.
While it functions very well os on office building, il
529 530 provides quite on unsotisfoclory environmenl for o
compony porty with oll the staff, for inslonce, so it is not
surprising thot for such evenls use is made ai the lorger
hol�spoce of the odjoining building. This holl lorms an
átflnm.,. integral pari of the complex os o whole ond is fherefore
oloce eosily occessible.
,ouibfe Ona could measure a ffaor•plan accordint to tha
,loc,
capacity it hos for creating places, and with thot an
lm,.-.asian 11 abtalnecl af the patentlal of the floor
space for accommodatint more or le11 1eparote
activities.The traditional floor•plan ln Dukh houslng
camprile1 twa connecting rooms, separatecl from each
other by built•in cupboard1 endosing sliding doors.
Many people over the years decided to remove these
Owelling, Amsi.tdom
A: origino(
o the dimensions of the placas and the degree af
HOME CONVERSlON,
A smol�scole ond by no meons spectaculor conversion ol
o standard dwelling wos undertaken to odjust the
downstoirs lloor to o more differentioted usoge, so thot
more octivities con toke ploce there independenlly ai one
onother. The original floor plon followed the conventionol
pottern of kitchen, dining roam ond l iving roam; alter
adjustment to the needs ol a fomily with more difleren•
ti oted occupalions the ground floor contains ot leosl three
extra workspaces os well os an extra table and chairs in
lhe kitchen. lhe additional spoce ai lorgotten corners wos
used to increase the number ol ploces, thereby increosing
the copocity ol the communol living spoce os o whole.
'Place•capacity' is a quality of that part of the floor
space that is not needed for getting from one placa to
another. A major criterion for the quality of a floor
plan 11 that the available floar space is uaecl as
efficiently as possible, that thffe is no more cim,lation
'space' than drictly neceasory, i.e. that the space it
organiud in such a way that optlmal place-<apacity i,
ochievecl. lt is easy t o test a floor plan for its place·
capacity, by che<king ta see whlch areaJ are essentlal
a, circulatlon 1.ones or which areas will in all
probability be used as auch, and subsequently by
establishing which remalning areas meet the minimum
requlrement, of 'place'. Then you can consider whether
openness or seclusion da lndeed correspond with the
ldnd of use thot will be made of thase placas.

<> ly continually assessing your floorplan by means of

o such place•chart,, increasing the place capacity of your

1pace1 becomes secand natura.
8: aher con•efSi0<1
Privai. bouse V . Horlo

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196 lESSOWS IOl SJWDEUI li U(ttlJICIUII

1at nal c-om d1 autor" s
 l'fan, lar Sr Ptlflr',,
Gv,1/ano do Sangalo
P=w (ai rightJ

Mkl>m,g.lo
&am<>nlo /ai righr)

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St. Pctu's, RoME, SINct 1452 (S31·S3C) lhe construcled plon of Michelongelo is, it is true, "lhls plon was p,obo,
essenliolly the some in principie, but lhe meosuremenls bly deslgntd in collo­
When we look ai one of the finl plons ottribuled to bo,01,on with Bromo ..
Boldossorre Peruzzl" preceding Michefonge lo's plon hove been oltered which creoled different proporlions i.. lhe many plons of
occording lo which lhe church wos eventuolly construcled, wilh the result thot lhe central spoce become domlnonl. St P*ter's have been
we ore slruck by lhe focl thot lhe orliculolion is inlricote lhe other spoces hove been given o subordinote role ond 0111lb111ed to os n10ny
dilferent orchlt«1$, oBd
ond imoginotive even ihough the plon is nol much more their enclosure hos been reduced to such on exlent thot i t ri ,1 lmpou[ble to soy
thon o diogrom. We see o series of spoces which yield on Is extremely unlikely thot onybody would still toke it into e•actly who designed
omozing ly rich pottern without the brood lines of the his heod to use them independently ai the moin spoce. which pio•, os info,mc,,
1ion lrorn dlffe11n1
whole being lost. lt seems os if we ore deoling with o This moln oreo seems to obsorb lhe resl, ond lhis effecl SOIIICOI show,
completely differenl scole from lhot ai lhe plon ai would undoubted ly be increosed if we olso took the Sourus: l 8e•evolo,
Michelongelo. seclíon into considerotion, by comporing the heighl ol Storlo dtllo Ci11o/
Michelongelo's plon wilh on imoginory one in lhe some No,berg Schulz,
lhe pari which you would initiolly be inclined lo coll the MeanJns tn Wesre,n
moin spoce is hordly different in ils orticulotion ond heighl•widlh proportion for lhe Peruzzi plon. A,ch/1ectvre/Pi,vsner,
proportions Iram lhe spoces situoted nexl to il. You con see here whot o chonge of orliculolion does lo An Ou,I,·,.. ol Europoon
Consequently, one con not reol ly speok ol o moin spoce spoce: how lhe interploy ol o few chonges ol A,c/r/recflJre/ Von Rcvt­
lleyn, 'Ot doorb,00�
or of secondory spoces ony more. No single pari meosurement is oble lo alter o spoce lo such on extenl noo, de St, Pitlfl< to
dominotes ony other here. thot il Iases ib enclosing copocity where smoller seporote Rome', ln Forum 1952

INYlílH fOl» 197

r 1 1
 groups ore concerned.
This concept of enclosing copoclty or 'ploce quolity' is
concerned with the degree lo which o spoce is copoble of
being tnviting to lorger or smoller groups, depending on
its proportions ond lorm. This seems lo be bosed on lhe
exoct balance of endosure ond openness, inlimocy ond
outlook, which ensures thol there Is sufficienl focus on
vorious ploces to enoble people to be involved with eoch
other, even lhey realize thot they ore oll together ln one
lorge spoliol whole.
'lf we compare different plons of St Peter's such os those
otlributed to Bromante, Peruzzi, do Songollo ond
Michelongelo, we olso see thot whereoi they hordly differ
from each other in principie, lhere 01e definite differences
in orticulotion ond ciso ln the extent lo which the central
spoce dominoles.
The diflerences between these plons ore subtle but rother
vital, as for os ' possibilities' for use ore concerned. So lhe
proportions of the central spoce in relotlon to lhe rest in
the 'officiol' Bromante plon ore jus! thot bit dilferenl lrom
those in lhe plon of Peruzzi, moking lhe central spoce ol
the lormer much more imporlont. Moreover, the lour
spoces in between lhe lowers ond the centrei spoce •
churches in themselves os i l were, miniature copies of lhe
su whole . which ore so typicol of the Peruzzi plon, ore
missing. lnsteod, these ploces become os il were the
entrance holl ond thus more of wolking-through spoces.
The lour semi-circulor northexes ol the exlremilies of lhe
central spoce hove ciso disoppeored (they reoppeor, by
198 llSSOIS 101 SIUD!IIS IN UCUIIIIUII
lhe woy, in onolher plon ottributed lo Bromante).
Ali in oll, thls does meon o greot loss of enclosing
copocity for distincl groups. Thus you con see thot the
exceptionol quolity of the Peruzzi plon is derived primorily
lrom this insertion ol onother complete spotiol world in
between the towers ond lhe moin spoce. Moreover, the
proporlions ore inler-re loted in such o woy thot both the
independence ol oll the ports ond their interdependence
remoln in perfecl balance.' 16)
VREOENBURG MUSIC CENTRE (SJ5-SJ7J
As o ploce where people come together o musíc centre
represents on exceptionol venue for meeting ond
mointoining contocts. The building moy be expected to be
spotiolly orgonized in such o woy thot it ot leost offers
omple opporlunity for social contocts. (This Is espedolly o
motter of carreei orticulotion, thot is, the odaption ol
proportions thol will occord with the pottern ol
relolionships between users lhroughoul the premises.)
The dimensions therelore hove lo motch the size of lhe
groups lhot people form nolurolly, in different ploces ond
situotions. One must be lree to choose whether lo join o
group or to remoin clone, to be seen or to stoy in the
bockground, lo 90 ond tolk to certoin people or lo ovoid
them.
While oll ollention i n the ouditorium is locused on thot
one central evenl loking ploce before o single group,
belore ond alter the performance thot single moss
disintegroles into o lorge number of smoll groups. ln

➔ ➔
spolial lerms this colls for o lorge number of ploces,
inlerconnecled yet wilh some degree ol seporoleness,
qulle unlike lhe situolion in the ouditorium. The locl thot
lhe number of people using the building ol the some lime
is very lorge colls for only one vost undivided spoce. lt is
only in lhe auditorium ihelf thot o single, undivided spoce
is needed to occommodate a very large number ai people
ai lhe some lime. lhe sealing orrangemenl consists of
bolcony-lile comporlments inlerspeued with o lorge
number of oisles ond stoirs following lhe omphilheolre
shape from top to bottom; exils ore locoted ot mony
points, lhrough which the visilors ore led nolurally lo lhe >lo
foyen on oll levels. S)l
There is o lorge number of buffel counlers divided over
the different floors, so lhot it does nol tale too long lo be
S38 11,
served during inlermissions. ln oddition to lhe sloirs inside
lhe ouditorium, the differenl levels ore connected, outside
lhe oudilorium in the foyers, by stoircoses locoted
symmetricolly in poirs ot lhe four corners of the central
volume. lnsleod of o few lorge sloircoses we opled once
ogoin for o lorger number ol small sloircoses jusl wide
enough for lwo or lhree people lo use wilhoul inlerrupting
their conversotion. ln designing the foyer orea, which
encloses the moin ouditorium like o lenuous skin,
moximum use wos mode ol the pouibilities offorded by
eoch ploce, such os o view of lhe squore oulside or inlo
the orcode, or conversely seclusion oll round.
tNVIIU6 IOllt
 ln lhe early sloges of lhe plon, it looked os if lhe spoce
sunounding lhe moin oudilorium would be loid oul slmply
surrounding lhe ouditorium in lhe convenlionol monner.
Bul in lhe course of lhe design process it wos groduolly
fronslormed lnlo o succession ol spoliol units wilh o
voriety ol quolilies, where doylighl olternoles wilh
ortificiol lighl, high ceilings wilh low ones ond the
occosionol concove one, where lhere ore niches wilh woll
topestries ond wider oreos olong lhe roule • oll ol which
conlribule lo the creotion ol o rich ossorlmenl of ploces.
Even someone loking lhe norrowesl possoge from one
point to onother posses through on area thot is much more
thon o mere circulotion zone. The foyers ore dotted with
ploces to s11: informal ones like law walls but olso proper
wooden benches with smoll lobles os well os the more
lnlimole niches with cushions. Where lhe foyer widens
there ore lorge round tables wilh choirs oround lhem. The
diversity of quolities wos occentuoted in ploces by linlng
lhe timber liníshings with so� moteríols: the topeslries by
Joost voo Roojen, which lend intensity to lhe smollesl
corner.
Wolking lhrough lhe building, lhe ossorfrnent of ploces
range Iram introverted corners where you con wilhdrow
from lhe crowd, and placas where you have on averoll
S40 S◄ 1 view ai everything lnol is going an, lo oreos from where
you hove o view of lhe interior of the oudilorium or of the
town outside.
ln lhis woy orticulolion increoses lhe range of spotiol
perceplions. ln oddilion, the voriegoted design of these
essenliolly smoll spoliol unils contribules to the
occommodoling copocity of the whole, os people ore
more inclined lo spreod out lhon in, soy, the
undifferenlioted open spoce of o holl. [5)
200 l!SSOWS 101 IIUOUII JN AICKIIICTUII
The concept of scole, which Is used indiscriminately
merely ta denote ain, haa ta da with whether a
deJigned spoce or buildi119 is thought of as too large or
too small, whether lt is larver or smaller than what we
are used to. The adjectives 'large·scale' and 'small­
scale' 1ay nothing about actual measurements; some
thin9s are very larg e ctnd others very 1moll 1imply
becaun they need to b e JO, which dae1 not moke them
neces1arlly too torve or too smoll.
lhe important thi119 ta bear in mind i s articulatlon
thu, the confusion surroundint the concept of scale
need n o longer claud ou, vi,ian.
Take an oceon liner · i1 it a la rge·scale o r a small-scale
construdion? tt is of «iurse a very large vesnl
(although a mere speck an the oceon), and would nat
rrt in a street, say, but still it is made up of a lorse
number of small cabins, cubicles, corridors and
stairways • ali of them units of for smoller dimensiona
than their counterpart1 on lond.
ly 'articulotion' we uaually meon: the rhythmkal, or
rather metrlcal, definitlon of walls and façade1 giving
ríse ta a certaln plctstidty. Thl1 l, a recurnnt theme
throughout the history of architecture, and not without
reoJOn, for it is the element af plasticity that has
proved, time and again, a most effective meons of
expressi 119 the externo! charocterlstics of a building
and a particular architectural atyle. And, a, metre ín
music arranges the piece into 1egment1 thereby giving
lt lucidity, JO the metrlc element in architedure makes
di1tance1 and si_1e1 lntelliflble. The aiie af abjects is hrr
more difflcult to guess if they are flat and unartkulated
than if they are dlvided up lnto unlts whose ai:i:e is
familiar to us, 10 that we can ... the whole as the sum
af its parts. That i1 alJO the reason why somethlng of
very large dimensions can be reduced by graphic arti·
 -
,

----""I* ••

-
culation to proportlans thot are more eosily grosped,
10 that it 1Nm1 leis vast and more perceptible• in
other words, less like a massive monolith. Artlculotion
' -
·-- r,
can, therefore, serve as a meons of increosing legibi·
llty, and can thus moke an essential contribution to the
-,,.r;s
perceptian of space. lut it can only do &o on one con•·
ditian: namely that whot we perceive on the grophic to mere urbon decor. lt is only when graphic and/or S!oru• o/UliHl'f, 1883,
H«tf.d •• Pom l,,!o,e
level corresponds with the spotial organiz:otion plostic elements rn the fo�ade octuolly refer to the
b,,,ng 11oM!)0(1od IO
suggested by the overall imoge. So if the exterior of a divisions of the space inside that they help us to NrwYo,l
building indic.ates a division into several smaller spotial understand how that spoce is orgoniz:ed and what sort 1 >rtvclure, G. fiflol,
5 ff/
iculpJor, 8artlio/dl
unlts which beor no relotian to the interior arranv-· of pattem is followed.
ment, os is still oll too often the case, this type of ln architecture all meons must be aimed at forming and
artlculation serves no other purpose thon to decorate consequently conflrming the enclosed space in such o 1◄1 SCJ
the �ade, and consequently to introduce an element woy that it is ready to accommodote a social pattern of
of meoningless plosticity. lncleed, the historie façades the utmost variety and richness.
of old houses thot hove been drown together and
converted into offlces or hotels, soy, ore thus reduced

Son Morco Sqt10re,

Venfc•

l�YHII' IOll 201

, 1
 3 VIEW l

We mv1t alway1 loalt fcw the right balonce betwNn

view and sedu1ion, in othff wonb for a 1potíal
orgcani1ation thot will enoble everyot,e in eve,y
1ituotion to talte ln the po11tion of hl1 chake vis à vis
the others.. ln the Hdion devot.el to articulation the
ConffPt of portition lnmtably recelveel moN attention
than that of comlNMtian, Hparation maN than unifi•
cation, Yet the openMII of th• cfiH.rent places Is just
as funclamentol as their 1epoNltelw11, inele1d the two
aN complementary, ao that enclo.seclnu1 anel open·
ne11 can each exi1t only by the grace of the other;
they Nlate to eac h other cllalecticolly, 01 ít _,.,
10 The elegree ln which ploces aN 1eparate or open vis à thot is NquiNd, while the range of vi1ion of 'the other'
146 l◄I vis each other, anel the woy ln which that Is done, li•• does not become too ,.,tricted.
ln the honels of the cle1igner, and consequently you ly introducing differences in level the scope of
con regulote the dNirecl contad in a particular ponibilities is expandecl, but wlttl differenl levels we
1ituation in 1uch a way that privacy il enwred wheN must tolte into account that thoH who a,. higher up

-
• e1o

202 IISIOil IOt llUtlNll l• AICMIIHIVII

look clown on lhe ones 1tandin9 below; lhe poaltiona
are therefore not equal, anel we mun '" to i t thcrt lhe
'low.,.clowna' have lhe opportunity to avoW the tu•
of the 1higher-11p1'.
MONTE�SORI ScHOOl, DElfT (S4�◄9J
lhe ídeo behind lhe difference in levels in lhe clossrooms
Is lhot while some of the children ore pointing or
modelling ln lhe lower seclion of lhe room, the children in
lhe other seclion con do work thot requires more
concentrolion, undlslurbed by the olhers who ore engoged
in leu orduous octivities. The leocher, slonding up, con
eosily oversee lhe entire closs.
Although it mlght hove been better, from lhe teocher's
vlewpoinl of keeping on eye on whot is going on, lo pul
lhe 'workers' ln the lower section, this wos nol done so os
lo ovoid glving lhe hord workers the leeling of being 'senl
down'. ln this cose there were odditionol reosons for this

- . - ���-L.....J.
- -
orrongemenl, such os the location of lhe 'sell-expression'
oreo dose to ond flush wilh lhe corridor, ond olso the
requiremenl thot lhe 'normal' closs section be illuminoted
�
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'L....:.-4----,J.�

directly through the windows in lhe foçode.

WfESPERS�MT S1\JOENT ACCOMMOOATION (SSO-SS2)

Obviously il is the lines of vision thot govern o proper
division between areas thot stimulale visual conloct and
those thot olfer more privocy; the woy we deol with the
height of spaces, especiolly in spoces wlth roised
seclions, is therefore ol prime impor1once. lhe spocious
londing on the stoirs Is just so much higher than the lower• sso
lying dining seclion (this oreo is currently in use os o ss 1
disco) thot people sitting on the low poropet ore on the SS1
some level o s the people wolking post in lhe dining oreo.
This mokes il easier to enter into cosuol contacl.

l�Ylll M, ,ro11 203

r 1
 ] l
PAVlllON SUISSE, PARIS 1932 / lE (ORBUSIEl, llSl-5511
lhe possoge-.fike landing alter lhe lirsl slx lreods of the
slairs • which seis boc:k lhe ocluol sloirc:ose - provides o
spoce from where you con see over lhe woll of lhe
communol living room, ond so olso be seen. This opens up
the view ol onyone going up or down lhe sloirs, while
oflering o certoin degree of privocy lo lhose in the living
roam from lhe goze ol people enlering lhe holl.
BALCONIES
Bolconíes ore often mode to extend olong the lull width ol
o building, ond lhol is nol o bod ideo from the point of
SSl ss• view of cosi ond construclionol conveníence. A disodvon•
559 foge, however, is thot such bolconies connot be very wide •
SSS SS6 for one thing becouse they toke light owoy from the under­
lying storeys.Although such on oportment in such o bui�
557 558
ding hos o respectobl e number of squore metres of extra
204 lfSSONS FO? SIWOEUS IN Jt(Kll!ClUtl
spoce on the bolcony, there isn'I very much you con do with
this long ond norrow spoce. li the spoce were ol o different
shope - more like o squore, for instonce - it could eosily
hold o loble ond severol people sitting oround it hovlng o
meol togelher in lhe open oir. Squore bolcony spoce olso
offers more seclusion simply becouse of ils deplh, ond con
olso eosily be portiolly screened off. Besides, pari ai lhe
living roam thus comes to lie direclly odjoining lhe exterior
loçode, which results in o spoce with plenty ol lighl but
ciso one from which you con see directly onto lhe street
insteod ol hoving to go oul onlo lhe bolcony lirsl.
ººº
PAYlllON Of l'ESPRíl NOUVEAU, PARIS l 925 /
LE CORBUSIER C561J.56lt
li there wos ever on orchitecl wilh o keen eye for this kind
ol elemenlory spoliol orgonizolíon then it wos le
Corbusier. AII over lhe world lhere ore exomples ai how
he, looking through different spectocles, os il were, took
old clichés opotl ond turned them into new 'spoliol
mechonisms'.
Oon'I lorgel thot in his design for lhe 'ville rodieuse' •
ohhough it hos since been repudioted, nol wilhout
reoson, for the lock of urbon spoce provided for in lhe
plon • dwellings oll hove loggios, lorge two-storey-high
exterior rooms. He showed on exomple ol such o loggio­
like bolcony in the 'povillon de l'esprit nouveou', built for
the lnternolionol Decorolive Arts Exhibition in Paris in
l 925 ond now reconstructed in Bologno ltoly. However,
when h e wos foced with the procticol requirements ai
designing lorge housing projects such os the 'Unité' in
Morseille, he wos obliged for financial reosons to settle
for conventionol norrow bolconies, but these, too, were
well lhoughl-oul ond more spocious lhon is usual
nowodoys.
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Morse / o
1945/
l� Coroe,,.,

160 s,c
561 s,s
s,1
563 566

Pa•1II011 de I E,pr ri
Novve-ou,
fl!COIIJ'nl,recJ ln
Bologoo. /•oy

liflll.6 IOtl
1
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,_ 1
 lmpo... social contact, bvt at tho some time wo must
nover impose the absence of social contact eithor. The
archltoct Is not only a bvllder of walls, he is also and
oquolly a builder of oponings that offer views . 80th
walls and openings · aro crucial.

,. _.
•
•
511 .L - DOCUMENlA URBANA HOUSING, (161•5101
518 SIO xln lhe section of this housing projecl, lhe theme of
s" stoirwells by woy of 'verticol streets' wos combined with
lhe principie of bolconies os eitlerior rooms. The very
spocious bolconies ore juxtoposed on eoch floor in such o
woy 1h01 lhey ollernotely projecl to the front ond lo lhe
side so thot lhe verticol spoce is not restricted by on
overhonging bolcony ol the floor obove.
• So these bolconies comprise o l oggio�ike secluded port os
- well os o more open ond exlroverled terroce-like porl
• eilher with two sloreys of verticol cleoronce or open to the
sky. The secluded porl is screened off on one side by non­
U1ing elementary principies of spotial organization it is tronsporenl gloss bricks. This design enobles you lo sil
po11ible to introduce a great many 9radatíon1 of outside wilhoul being observed ond wilhout being obliged
MClu1ion and openno11. The degroe of 1eclu1ion, liJco lo loke notice ol lhe neighbouts, or, li you preler, lo
the degroe of openno11, mv1t bo vory carofully doHd, choose o more 'outgoing' posilion with o view ol the other
so thot the condltlon1 are created for a great varioty of bolconies ond in full view ol lhem, too. So you ore free lo
contoch ranglng fram lgnorlng tho10 aravnd yov to decide whelher you wont to be olone or perhops lo chol
wanting to bo totether, so that pooplo can, in 1patial wilh lhe neighbours • il only to borrow some sugar or lo
torms anyway, place themHlve1 vis à vl.s others as comment on the weolher.
they chooH, Auo the índividuollty of all must of course
bo re1pected 01 much 01 po11iblo, and wo mu1t indood
see to it that tho con1truded onviranment novo,

206 lfSSOIS FOI STUtEUS IW IICKIIICTUII

 I.JMA HOUSING, tllJ-Slfl Hovsing,
S,élllonu1odt, 8otlln
lhe themes we hod developed in Kossel were token up 1929·3 f/H Hãriog
ogoln in the linderufrosse buílding project ln Berlín, the
city wíth the lorgest ond most intensívely used bolconies,
where Hugo Hõring desígned hís lovely spocíous
bolconies. The number of dwelling uníts wos greoter ín the
Berlin projecl thon ín Kossel, ond lhe different demonds ol Sll SII
the specilic siluolion resuhed in o voriely of juxtoposilions SIJ
ond olignmenb which exploil the dilferent odvontoges of Sl4 SIS
• • the locotion to the full .

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201 l!SSONS 101 Sl9DOIS IW AHHIIIC!tlll

THAU SCHOOL, 8AJCELONA 1972.75 / MARTOREll, BOHIGAS & lloor is cleor ai o glonce; there is conslonl conlocl
MACKAY Cl�SS3J
'The moin sloircose of lhis multi-sloreyed school rises in
one direction olong the foçode, giving occess lo lhe
successive lloors ol differenl poinls in lhe building: lhe
entroncas o,e nol locoted one obove the other vetticolly.
As lhe sloírcose extends ocross lhe enlire lronl, lhe spoce
overheod is highest ol the bottom of lhe stoirs. Since the
differenl floors ore open focing the stoirs, eoch Roor hos o
full view oulside through lhe gloss foçode • ond hence
olso of the people on lhe stoircose. lhe loyout of eoch
between people wolking up ond down lhe stoirs ond
others pousing jsilling or leoning). lnsteod of lhe SSI
convenlionol superimposilion of spoliol unils we hove, sa1 sai
here, o unified whole with lhe stoircose serving os o
meons of bonding lhe Aoors togelher; it is on illustrollon
of how you con offer spoliol supporl lo whol lhe children
in different cios.ses hove in common. So here bolh comlng
ond going becomes o communol, doily octivity, wilh o
reosonoble chance for everyone lo colch o glimpse of o
friend in o differenl closs.' 191
JJVlll»G fOll 2R 9
T 1
li i li i :tI
•:•:•:•:•: -;.;.;,:.:, This con be regorded os on otlempt on o limited scole lo

\�::::\:{:1:i{\�:i:�����
bridge lhe gop between everydoy life on lhe slreet ond o
spoce lhot is usuolly lucked in omong lhe other service
·············· ·��
•'· •••
••• ·'·
•.!'
oreos ín lhe bockground.
ll
············�-•.,.,-..
The point is to drow the oltenlion of lhe people who work
in the building to lhe visitors ond vice verso. A similar
sítuolion is to be found in lhe Cenlrool Beheer oflice
building where you con see inlo lhe dish•woshing orea
......•'... ......•. ond wotch your plotes being cleoned, while the people
,:,.❖•
••··· doing lhe cleoning - nol the mos! oltroctive of jobs - need
... •.·
;.

tb :�: *:-:..-.-.i ... not feel bonished ond excluded from conlocl. (1 J]

DE ÔVERIOOP, HOMf fOi lHe EtOERlY 1181.�SSJ

like De Drie Hoven, the other housing projecl for lhe
elderly, De Overloop, hos o villoge-squore-like spoce in
lhe cenlre where ali the communol focilities ore locoted.
ln lhis cose lhe residenls con olso loke their meols in lhe
central oreo, or leo ond coHee ol vorious limes of lhe
doy. ln short this is where everything hoppens ond where
on escape lrom lhe isolotion of lhe individual dwelling
units is ollered.
We storled oul from lhe ideo thot oll lhe 'interior slreeb'
wlth dwelling unils should converge on lhe cenlrol spoce

VREOENBURG Mus1c CENTRE (58◄-586)

lhe unofficiol heorl of lhe building is lhe orlisls' foyer.
This is where lhe musicions ond technicions get reody for --lt---,,,------41-
S87 lhe performance, ond olso where they unwind ofl�!,
o�en unlil very lote. This spoce, which is olmost-tomton�y •
used, is siluoled neo1 lhe dressing rooms, store rooms·õnd
olher service oreos.There is o visual link with lhe public t
possoge obove, so lhoi possers,by con colch o glimpse of
whot is going on behind lhe scenes downstoirs in the
Music Centre, while lhe people in lhe ortlsls' loyer need
only look up lo see lhe world oulside.

so thot the residents need to wolk only o shorl distonce to

gel lhere. And since none of the floors wos lo be
exduded, this cenlrol spoce hod lo e�tend verlicolly up lo
lhe top of lhe building. The Jorge void lhus creoled olso
conloins lhe lif1s with vertical windows through which the
residenls con be seen enlering o r leoving lhe central holl.
The lilts ore lhe mosf commonly used meons of vertical
lronsporl, bul there ore·olso sloircases.
These sloircoses ore differently situoled on eoch floor,
their locotion being determined by voriotion rother thon
by repetition of direclion ond visibility in lhe spoce. This
seis them opor! from lhe secondory sloircoses situoted ai
lhe end o! eoch wing which follow the normal sloirwell
principie.

210 IISSO!i FOR �IDDEJTS 1� AlCHIIHIUIE

PARC GUÊll, BARCEtONA 1900-1.d / A. GAUDÍ, J.M. JuJOt
(S89-Stll
Goudl's meondering poropel bench enclosing the moin
terroce in Borcelona's Porc Guéll curves in such o woy
1h01 your view depends entirely on where you choose lo
sil. Where lhe paropel curves inwords you con sil focing
each other in a semicircle, ond where it curves oulwards
you hove o view ol the lorge central oreo which, although
enclosed by lhe sinuous poropel, gives on impression ol
being lhe outside. The 'lurning,points', thot is, lhe ores
morking the lronsition Iram concove lo convex, oller on
ambiguous vantage-point. lhe bench with its conlinuous S-
, shope conslilutes o constonl succession of exlroverted ond
inlroverted ploces in oll gradolions ond with odequole
bock-supporl throughoul; seen i n its entirety il embodies a
wide range ol quolities which make il jusl os suiloble for o
family picnic as for o momenl ol more solilary reloxotion,
e.g. lo conlemplole the scene on lhe moin terroce in front
ol you, or lo woit for someone. This bench consists of o
conlínuous fascinaling ribbon ol coloured pottery sherd
designs (probobly not only by Goudí himself bul olso by
his student Jujol) o lwenlieth<enlury colloge ovonl lo
lellre. Regordless of lhe colour ai their clothes, everyone
who sits there is token up quite noturolly inlo lhe lorger
whole, thereby for o while becoming port of o mognilicent
composilion.

SOCIOIOGY OF SEATING
There ore mony slluolions where you lind yourselí focing
olher people or wilh your bock to lhem - which is
somelhing lhe designers ol vorlous meons of public
tronsport, such os lroins, troms ond buses, must toke into
occounl. This proximily lo people who ore for lhe mos!
pari complete slrongers con leod to larced conlacts, but it
con olso leod to more animoled encounters, which moy be
very briel but which con olso be more losting. The woy of
orgonizing lhe seoting in such situolions is essenliolly no
diílerent from lhe woy on orchiled deols wíth lhe
orgonisolion of o building. ln lhe old doys the troms hod
benches olong bath sides of o wide ohle, so thot
everyone sol with their bock to the windows locing the
central oisle; the result wos o communol spoce like o sn s,o
woiting-room where you could cosi o casual eye over the Stl
other occuponls without ony emborrossment.
But more often lhon nol the oisle is crowded with stonding sn sn
possengers who obstruct your view entirely. The greoter
possenger copoclty wos no doubl the moin reoson for this
orrongement, which is slill to· be seen in the subwoys of
New York ond Tokyo. An odditionol odvonloge is thol
both sitting ond stonding possengers con move cloUlf
togelherãs lhe need crises lo moke roam for more
possengers: the spoce ollotred to eoch possenger is not

IWY11U6 101i 21 J
1
l
 prescribed bul depends on o Ructuoting demond,
Troins usuolly hove benches ocross the corrioge for two or
lhree people locing eoch other or bock-to-bock in poirs.
The design ol the troditionol D•lroins, with theír seporole
comportmenls like so mony smoll rooms with gloss­
ponelled sliding doors olong o norrow corridor, enobles
you to moke o more leisurely choice of your lrovelllng
I componions • for this remorkoble orrongement meons thot
you moy hove to spend severo! hours in foirly dose
contoct with strongers. Once you hove found o seot you
see little of whol goes on ln the rest of the troin except for
possengers joining or leoving lhe compony in your
comporlment ond others wolking posl in lhe corridor in
seorch of o seot ond ol every slotion.
Once inside lhe comportment you hove o lull view ol your
•
• fellow possengers sitting ocross the norrow oisle, or you
con took out of lhe window or ot the pouengeu in lhe
' sizes mvst be seoled at lhe lables - wauld suil the paltern
W_peNJ,ool
Sludenr
Acccmmodotlon
Ce11trool 8eheer
Office Build/09
/lar right)
212 IISSONS IOR SIWOOIS IM AlCKllfCIUR!
corridor, which offers lhe only slonding-room on lhe troin.
Modern lroins ond buses, like plones. hove rows of seols
oll locing lhe front, os in o trodilionol clossroom. Even
though you ore sitting quite cio� to the other possengers,
you will probobly nol hove ony conlocl wilh lhem excepl
perhops wilh your immediote neighbours. The growing
populorily ol this kind of seoling arrangemenl whereby
conloct with olhers Is virtuolly non-exisfenl reflecls on
unmistokoble lrend loword indlviduolism in olher
environmenls, too. The some is to be seen on roilwoy
plotforms ond ather public ploces where there is a
concenlrotion of people woiting: the old,foshioned long
benches hove neorly oll been reploced by individual seols
seporotely mounted ol 'café' dislances from eoch olher.
This new form o f silling side by side in o row yet
seporotely wos invented lo protect users from being
bothered by those sitting nexl lo lhem, ond lo preveni
people from lying down on the benches. Bul lhe result is
olso lhol two people connot sil close together onymore,
nor can people move up la moke room for olhers:
distonces hove oll been fixed belorehond, ond so the use
thot is mode of lhe seoting is no longer flexible.
Ploces lhot ore used by a lot of people over o shorl period
of time, such os cofês, counters, compony restouronfs etc.
ore lurnished with o lorge number of identicol lobles or
counlers which hove been designed with spoce-soving in
mind. Consequenlly you olways sil in o compony of six or
elght people, the size of the group being dicfoted by lhe
size of the loble. However, even in these situotions more
voriety • os in normal resfouronls where groups of diHerenl
of social inleroclion of the users, better too.
Mony people would prefer o smoll toble, mony others o
large one: o smoll toble for 2, 3 or 4 people when you
ore in lhe compony of lriends or o lorger one for 6 or 8
people il you wont lo be more ononymous (so thol ol leosl
you don't feel you hove to introduce yourself to the others
or osk their permission to 'join' lhem]. And then there musl
also be placas where you can sif on your own in svch o
woy lhot il is obvious to lhe olhers, so thol you need not
leel emborrossed oboul reoding your newspoper or just
remoining silenl. Tobles by windows ore especiolly 'bolcony'. The locolion of this leochers' corner, ond its
suiloble for lhis kind of usoge becouse, even li lhere is no open ond invlting nolure • the children con go right up lo ,
view to speol of, you con eosily sil focing owoy from lhe lhem ol ony lime - gives lhe holl spoce os o whole lhe
olhers, lhereby indicoting your wish for privocy quite quolíty of o lorge líving room. The gloss skylight paneis
deorly. For those people who ore clone but would like to provide moximum visibility when looking down from the
enler lnlo contoct with others, very long tobles would be o bolcony inlo the holl, even when the clossroom doors ore •
good solution. The contocts 1hot toke ploce ot such o toble shut. The stoirs to lhe uppermosl levei were designed lo be
ore rondem in lhe sense tho1 il Is nol its length lhol os tronsporenl os possible so os to ovoid obslructing
determines which groups loke their seols there. visual conloct ond lo lei lhe doylighl enlering lhrough lhe
01 course the shope of o toble, too, con exerl o slrong skylights penetrote into the recesses of the spoce,
influence on lhe pollern of social interoclion. Think of lhe
equolity o! posilion offered by o round loble os opposed
to on oblong one. ,
APOuo SCHOOIS tlt/"871
Schools ore slill being built lodoy olong lhe old Unes of o
row of clossrooms olong o corridor with coot-pegs ond lhe
'
occosionol 'work-corners'. There ore often externo!
reosons for such o plon, ond the clossrooms themselves
moy be well-designed ond moy funclion occordingly. Bul íll
you musl realize thot, wilh lhis type of orrongemenl, eoch
clossroom becomes o selí-contoined, seporole unit with ai
',
besl o reosonoble relolionship wilh ils immediole
neighbours. Children in differenl classes see eoch olher in
lhe corridor when lhe lessons slorl ond íinish - ond ol 1,1
i9�
lhose limes il is usuolly very lull - ond, if they ore lucky,
there is olso o communol holl where lhey con meel. o
ln o siluotion where lhe clossrooms ore grouped oround
lhe communol spoce, so thol the children leoving the
o
clossroôms oulomoticolly converge in lhe centre, there
would be much more opportunity for casual ond -
1-
spontoneous contocl between children of different ages. li 1
would stimulote ideos for doing things together, if only o
becouse both leochers ond children of different classes
would gel to see more of eoch other. The school holls in
the two Apollo primory schools hove o splil-level
omphitheotre-like orgonisollon, whlch greotly increoses
the range of visual contoct. Situotions of ployers ond
oudience crise eosily ond sponloneously: children sitting
on lhe lreods of lhe stoirs conneding the two leveis soon
stort behoving !ili.e on oudience, thereby chollenging the

,
ployers on lhe lower levei to give whol you might coll o
performonce.
The split-level desí9n of the central spoce nol only gove L
"
'
rise lo the odoption of the omphitheotre ideo, it olso .,
provided o poinl of otlochmenl for lhe six dossrooms, G
dlsposed in two groups of three wilh moximum mu1uol
visíbility. This visual link drows oll the clossrooms logelher
,
J
in o woy lhot would not be pouible wilh o slrid division
inlo superimposed sloreys.
The holl spoce functions rother like o big commvnol h
clossroom, where the te<>chers olso hove lheir own ploce
(wilh o corner screened off for the school heod) on lhe top
 Whatever an architect does ar cleliberately leoves
undone • the way he concems hinueH with enclosing or
openlng • he always influences, intentlonally or not,
the mos! elementary forms of social relatlons. And even
if social relations depend only to a limited extent on
envlronmentol factors, that is still suffldent reason to
aim consciously at an orgctnization of space thot
enables everyone ta confront the other on an equal
footing.
lgnoring this patential of architecture amounts in the
end to less freedom for the lnhabitants. However, the
aversion ,hown by mony architects to ,ociological and
psychol09ical approaches is ln a sense unclerstancloble.
For here w e are, 1utTOunded by the fallures of a pasl
period, with its social utopias such as 'spaces for social
interadion' and other romontic, useless lat Clny rate
never used) notlons invented by architects wha believed
they could simply pr.dkt the behaviour of people.
Stf Architeds in general have a predílection for theatrkal
simplifications. Attvnement ta psycholagkalty and
sadolly inescapable factors was never a prime concem
in architecture. Carefulty calculated dimensions, a
correct artkulation and the right proportion of openness
214 IISSOMS fOI SIUDEMlS 1� U(IIIHrnU
and seclusion are the starting•paints far the shift ln
attention to the 'habitable space between things'.
Social architecture does not exlst, but that does not
mean that we can ever afford ta ignore the implkatlons
of how people relate ta each other, and how they re«t
in different situations.
lhe mere choke betwffn a daor open.lng outwards or
inwards is in itseH an indication of this inescapaW.
responsibility • for the direction ln which the door opens
will decide whether everything that goes on in the roam
can be seen ln one glance upon entering, or whether
those inside the roam have the lime ta prepare
thenuelves for your entrance.
Admittedty - have only talked about details up ta
now, but there are so infinitely many details in every
building that they might well all tagether be just Cll ·
important as the grand gesture of the architecture in its
entirety. For us a building Is the sum of all those smoll
gestures whkh, like the thousands of mu,cles in a ballet
dancer's bacly, tagether create a unified whale. lt ia thi,
grand total af de<isions, pravided they are taken with
proper consideration and due care, that can result in a
truly wekoming archltecture.
 ,,
·,I
''
- :,, .,
'

.•
'
.... I
- .
...
-

·, '
• .• •
� J
�

•
•\'
•... 4.

.
• '.._.,,.
... �,,. -�. ,
.a:·.. _...- ..,_
.··
-- ._.'I ._
......,,.

'ºº .01
,02
 4 VIEW li
lringlng the out1ide world in1ide.
'lt 11 lhe principie of 1helter thot receives special
empha1i1 ln the history of the origin1 of archite<ture,
os it gradually acquired an increa1ingly orticuloted
form, from hui to house, in the course of human history
and of the rise of the city, For us the history of the
view ís just as important a:s that of shelter. And what
we mean is, opart from hoving o view of one another,
hoving o view of the outside world. Ju1t 01 spatiol
relation1 influence person.ol relotions, so they
determine the woy we relate to the environment. lut
lnsteod of maintainlng the opposition of Interior­
exterior 01 o fundamental contnut, we know, ln the
twentleth century, thot interior ond exterior ore
relotlve conttpts, ond therefore depend on where you
stand, and in which direction you look.
603
216 lfS50NS rot 51Ut!Nl5 IJ U(fillf[IUH
lt i s no coincidence thot the choracter of twentieth·
century architedure is so much more open thon lt hos
ever been in the post. Not only do we now hove the
meons with whlch to ochieve this, there Is 0110 more
need for openness. We hove opened ali the window1
and so we hove embraced the outside. And if Hol.lond
con be soid to have ployed o remorlcoble role ln
modem orchitecture, as it developed along with the
new twentieth·century con1ciou1ne11 in o natural
'
proce11, 01 it were, then that is hardly 1urprisin9
considering the openness that has always been ond
still is a choraderistic feoture of Dutch society.
That you can look straight into Dutch living•rooms and
can olmost toke port in what goes on in:side is o
tradition that never fails to oman visitors to this
country, ond it show, thot the Dutch ore less hompered
by feor of the outside world thon people in many other
countries, where privote property ond homes tend to
be seoled off fro.m the outslde world.
The e.xceptionally large expan1e1 of glass in our
buíldings, whkh ore possible thonks to the mild climote
and perhaps to our feeling of mutual dependence, at
ony rate refled an extroverted interest, an open·
mindedness about the opinions of others.
lf Hollond is a country of openness ond of smollness,
then that is the expression in terms of form and space
of the woy we relote to one another, of how we treat
each ather and how we have manoged, lnside and out,
to mointo_in a reasonably harmonious social
environment, ln the sum ond in the portsl' [7}

VAN NEllf fACTORY, ROITTlOAM 1927,29/ M . BRINKMAN, lhe commond,bridge o f o ship. But this híghest poinl with •'The chocolate-box 011
top ol tbe foctory woi
l.C. VAN DER VtUGi IICl-601)
'One of lhe most lucid exomples ol the Nieuwe Bouwen
ils imprenive view of the horbour insiollotions on the hori·
z:on is not lhere only for those ín commond but olso for oll
ª"º
designed draw" by
me, much ogoinst my
jos lhe Modem Movement wos colled in Hollondl, ond lhe foclory worlcers. lhe building os o whole, originoting own w11hu. NO< did 1
certoinly the biggest in this country, is the Von Nelle os il did from o sorl ol rotionol bul wide-ongled opprooch, ho•e much iymporhy f0<
lhe concovt woll of 1he
foctory in Rotterdom. lts huge dimensions ore never signilied o cleon breok with lhe post, ond offered o office ..ction • bul Van
overwhelming ond the building not only shows whot is glimpse of o new world, wilh better relotions between der Vlugt wa1 ln
going on insíde but is olso designed so os to gíve those people.Whot moltes this building so spectoculor is, cl,arge.' (From o leJte, to
8okemo, l O Juno 1964,
who work inside os wide o view os possible, nol only ai besides lhe foct thol it looks like o greol lronsporent 01 c 1ed in: J.8. Ba\emo,
i
lhe world outside but especiolly of eoch other. The curved mochine, thol it brings lhe principie of un-hierorchlcol l.C. YO• der \/1091,
ex.terior ol the olfice section connol hove been solely due relotionships into rotionol orchiteclurol orgoniz:olion.' (7] Am11erdom 19681
to the odjocent troflic route, nor wos the loyoul ol the
building volumes the determiníng loctorin this porticulor
solulion. Thot Von der Vlugt opted for this mognificent
enclosing curve• thereby going ogoinst lhe convictíons ol '°' 607
his colloboroteur Mort Stom • is impossible to exploin in
rolionol terms*. But whol he succeeded ln ochieving this
woy, ond thot is whol concerns us here, is 1h01 oflice ond
loctory ore within sight of eoch other.
This ideo recurs in lhe stoircoses, which project so lar
Iram the building thot you con see oll olong the loçode
Iram eoch londing. The stoircose on lhe righl of the
entrance lo the office seclion is quite unique. lt bursts out
os it were, culting ocross the loçode olmost os if lt wos •
simply too much for the building lo conloin. The stoirs toke
you oul of the building, ond olfer o view of lhe foçode,
lhe sports fields beyond, ond whot used lo be open
polderlond in lhe distonce. The widesl panorama of oll is
•
lo be seen from the circular roof structure, which recolls

When you reod Le Corbusier's description of lhe
building, which he visiled in 1932, you realize thot il
would probobly hove been impossible to moke thís dreom
come true onywhere excepl in Hollond:
The speclocle of modern /ife
'ºª
'The Von Nelle tobacco foclory in Rollerdam, o creolion
601 of lhe modern age, has removed ai/ lhe formar
connololion of despaír from thol word •proletorion•. And
this defleclion of the egolislic property inslinct lowords a
feeling for collectíve actian leads lo o masl hoppy resull:
lhe phenomenon of personol porticipolion in every stage
of the humon enlerprise. Lobor retolns ils fundamento/
maleriolity, hui il is enlightened by lhe spiril. 1 repeol,
everything lies in 1h01 phrose: o proof of leve.
218 llSSOIS 101 STUHNIS li UCfflHCIUll
(...) The gloss begins ai sidewalk or lown levei ond
conlinues upwords unbroken unli/ li mee/s lhe c/eon //ne of
the sky. The serenily of lhe ploce is total. Everylhing is
open lo the side. And lhls is of enormous significonce lo
ai/ those who ore working, on oll eighl lloors, inside.
Becouse lnside we find a poem of lighl. An ímmoculale
lyricism. Dozz/ing vision of arder. The very otmosphere o(
honesly. Everylhing is lronsporent; everyone con see ond
be seen os he works.
(...) The monoger ol lhe lactory is lhere in hís gloss office.
He con be seen. And he himself, lrom his office, con see
lhe whole illuminoted Dutch horízon, ond, in lhe for
dislonce, the life of lhe greot porl.
The immense refectory continues lhe potlern; The
monogers, lhe highesl and lowesl odministrolíve grades,
lhe workers, mole and female ai/ eol togelher here in lhe
some greot roam, which hos lronsporenl wolls opening
onto endless views af meodaws. Together, ai/ togelher.
(...) 1 faund li foscinoling to observe lhe laces af thase
foctory gir/s. Eoch one of lhem wos an eX,pression of lhe
life wíthin; joy ar lhe opposile, o reflectian of lheir
pouions or lheir difficulties. But, there is no proletoriol
here. Simply o groduoled hierorchy, cleorly estoblished
and respecled. Thjs olmosphere of a well-run, diligen/ hive
is olloined by means of a universal and voluntary respecl
for order, regulorily, puncluality, justice ond kindllness.
(...) An example af everydoy recipracily: 1 keep up the
place in which I work; my work interests me; so the
trouble token is o source of joyl A virtuous circle for oncel
AI/ ore united in a campocl salidarily; o// bear a larger or
o smaller share of lhe responsibility; porticipotion.
Porlicipotion. That was how lhe Van Nelle faclory was
creoted. The orchilec/ wos given a yeor in which to draw
up o provisiono/ plon; then they spent five yeors working
oul lhe final form. Five years of colloborotion: meetings to
discvss every problem individually. And il wos no/ only
the direclors ond lhe orchilecls ond lhe monagers who
were ai those meelings. The heods of lhe varíous
departments were also present, os we/1 os o shlled
workman or clerk representing each of lhe specialized
functions lo be performed in lhe faclory. ldeas con come
from an-ywhere. ln mallers of mass produclian, il is we/1
known how vitol/y imparlont o minor short-cul con turn oul
lo be. There are no smo/1 thlngs, lhere ore anly correclly
designed things lha/ wort
Participalionl
I con truly soy lho/ my visil to thol faclary wos one of lhe
mos/ beouliful days af my life.'
(te Cort.r�,. !oville rorte
r ,>t, 1933, pp. tn-179)
 --·
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RtElVELO-SCHRÕOER HOUSE, ÜTRECHT 1924 / G. R1ETVELO "º 611

1610.614) ,11 613
'At the very heart of the Nieuwe Bauwen in Hallond was 611
Rietveld's Schrõder House, hordly bigger thon a public
housing unit of todoy, orliculoted in components, eoch
one os if it belonged to o piece ai lurniture.
lhe design is often described os o three-dimensionol
Mondrion poinling, but quite oporl Iram the foct thot
Mondrion's pointings ore not concerned with exJending
beyond lhe flot plane, such a comporison does not do
justice either to Mondrion's ideas or to those of Rietveld.
While Mondrion tried lo harmonize the different weights

-1
of speclfk colours (as Schõnberg composed colour•
sounds), ond in so doing moy well hove pointed models
for true democracy, Rietveld on the ather hond, working
with building materiais which possess physicol weight,
mokes them weighrless, so that new interrelotionships con
be estoblished ond the new oims be ochieved. from o
dislonce ond from the outside these oims seem obstrocl,
intended os o sort of objective composition of planes ond
lines, ond indeed lhis is the quolity thot tends to receive
mosl emphosis in the mony publicotions devoted to the
Schrõder House. But from the inside oH the different
component-s, seporotely ond vis à vis eoch other, prove lo
be withln the reoch ol everydoy gestures.
The spoce is exploited to the full, nol only inside but olso
in the peripheries: eoch oreo is wholly ottuned to the
purpose it is expected to serve, with eoch corner, windaw
or doar being fitted with so mony benches, cupboords,

11,1111, rou1 219

1 1
 niches ond ledges lhot they blend unnoticeobly into the
furniture. Although the house is octuolly quite smoll - the
moin floor consisls ol jusl one roam which con be
subdivided when necessory - the inlinite orticulolion ai the
spoce mokes it both very large and very small.
lhis house, with ali ils fealures, big and small, working
logether la create a lruly hobiloble, lriendly completeness,
shows what kind of nesfs people would build il lhey could,
bul besides lhat it affers o balance of seclusion and
extraversion.
Since lhe Schrõder House Rielveld never built anylhing
1h01 come quite so dose lo o utensll. As for as this is
cancerned he may well have been strongly inlluenced by
Mrs Schrõder, for whom and with whom he designed lhe
hause. Thal he was so prepared to listen lo her shows hís
lrue nolure and his profoundly ríght ottitude lo
orchileclure.
lhe ideo underlying the design of the house culminales in
lhe glos�enclosed corner of the living slory. When the big
window in the corner Is opened il Is lruly o window on the
world. Becouse lhe corner is nof obslructed by any
supporl lhe space shaped by lhe wolls ai right ongles lo
eoch olher is ollowed to expond outside, 1hereby creoting
o unique spotiol experiente. lhe sensolion of being bolh
611 inside and outside ai lhe some lime- o greoter
relotivisolion of interior ond exterior is hord lo imagine.
This wos indeed o most radical breok wilh oll thot had
existed before, ond it symboliz_es for mony of us the
excilemenl of the new lechnologicol possibililies.
Yel this window, parodoxicol lhough lhis might seem, is
simply o producf of o corpenler's workmanship. Rietveld
himsell hod lo go lo o smilh lo arder on extra long
window fostener. Technicolly, in focl, the entire Schrõder
House could hove been conslrucled with lhe meons ol o
century eorlier. Unlike Duiker ond Von der Vlugl, who
sought inspirotion from new techniques, Rielveld mede
primltive ond timeleu designs: lhe corpenter's dreom of o
differenl world.
The smoll bench outside by the window of Rietveld's
study, under lhe bolcony, to the lefl ol lhe front door, was
designed for Mrs Schrõder, so sitting there she wos still in
contact with Rietveld when he wos ot work inside. lhe
woy in which the projecting planes ol bolconies and wolls
form o hobitoble spoce here lhonks to lhe right
combinalion of shelter ond contocl, with bath inside ond
the gorden, is actuolly clossicol: whot is new here i s only
lhe form il lokes'. [7}
T'hanks to the open comer ln Rietveld's Schrõder House
you are not, when insicle, 1eparated from the outside
world, you aN1 in the mlddle of lt all. Alio the 9la11
cirde on top of the Van Nelle factory brin9s lhe insicle
world outslcle and lhe homon inside. loth of lhese
220 llSSOWS fOt SIUOC�lS U UClll!(IOU
solutions are typicol of the Nieuwe louwen and both •
as radkal as they a,. · are band on the abnnce of
load·bearin9 construction elements in the periphery of
the buildin9. lt is the principie of the cantllever which
was mode posslble by the appllcation of ,.inforced
concret., that producecl this new, unprecented
experience of space.
lut however airy the constrvction of a building may
be, and however the oppasitlon betwNn inslcle and
outside is relativized by for instance ...cesses in the
fa�ade, that extraordlnary new sensation of
trctnspa,.ncy and li9htness can only exlst when the
constructive· comer-column is absent, and when the
façad.e i1 10 thinly constructed that it apporentty has
only itself to suppart, T'he most consistent, and al1a the
most beautiful, are the open comer• ln Duiker's
buildings. T'he way the load-bearin9 strvcture of the
Technical School in Scheveningen and of lhe
Zonnestroal Sanatorium, and of course of his Open Air
School ln Amsterdam complements the thin glc111
exterior hos never bNn '"" before or since, but the
lnfluence of these unparalleJed buildln9s Is stiU felt
today, ali over the world.
De ÜVERlOOP, HOME FOR THE ElOERIY (411ll9)
A residentiol building for lhe elderly constituling o self­
contained orgonizolionol unit (where mony ai the
inhobitonls tend to stoy on lhe premises due to impoired
mobility) olmost inevítobly assumes lhe noture ol o
bostion. ln lhis cose the locotion, not in lhe heorl of lhe
residentiol neighbourhood but on o residual site on the
edge of town ol the fool ol the dyke along the Veluwe
Loke, further emphosizes this undesirable effecl of
reclusiveness.
White the spotiol orgonizolion of lhe interior con be
 ...,...................

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designed with 011 eye lo moximum openness íor the

resídents, lhe design of lhe exterior should ol leosl see lo
i l 1h01 lhe complex os o whole does nol look more
withdrown lhon necessory.
Possers-by should be oble lo gel o glimpse of life on the
premises, bul especiolly lhe residenfs lhemselves should
hove omple opportunlty of moinloíning visual contocl ol
leost wilh the outside world. To express lhis ideo os
explicilly os possible lhe locolion of lhe communol spoce,
used for receplions ond festiva gotherings, wos locoted so
os lo hove lhe besl possible view over the Veluwe loke up
lo lhe horizon.
Wilh ils lorge windows on thrêe sides ond the suggeslion
of roundness due lo lhe semi•circulor roof projection lhe
slruclure looks more like o ship's bridge lhon o tower
room, lhereby referring olso to lhe ship-like buildings ol
lhe Nieuwe Bouwen movemenl.

IIYIIUG IOiM 22)

 ''
' I

That the angle af vislon is expanded by opening up a

comer is a defínite advantage, but it is not the only
one. Aft.r all, bays added to or projkting from a
fa�ade enable you to step outside, as it were, so that
6f7 you have a view up and down the stTeet below.
lut when this open corner is not an addition, because
it is the actual comer of the building that ha, been
opened up, the effect is that the building seems lighter,
le11 ma11ive at the very poínts where one would Opening up corners where woll ond ceiling meel, os ín
ex_pect strength. This change in the equilibrium results lne Dellt Monlessori school (611.,n.67!1 ond the conversion
in a shift of emphasis, and thus alters the rhythm of of o privole house in loren ruo, or lhe opplicolion ol the
the structure te become open at beginning and end, a, low poropel in the Amsterdorn student home 16131, rnoke
in many musical compositions an upbeat. 1'70) the ronge of vision expond • even when lhot is not literolly

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.J=-t .1-1...I_IJ
�

222 ll!SONS 101 51UOIJIS IM At(KIIICTUU

lhe cose • by virlue of the shift in focus of ottenlion, Ul

drowing the eye upwords or downwords 01 to lhe slreel 61◄

outside. The quolity of lhe lighl entering through tlte !2S

windows chonges, too: where it enters, unreflected, from
obove, il brings wilh it lhe quolity of the outside, which is

í
 e:: ,
especiolly imporlont in oreos lsuch os lhe communol oreo
ín the school) where you wonl lo relote more direcdy to
lhe world oulside lhon, soy, 1n the clossrooms.

DE EVENMR, ScHOOl !UW29)

By plocing lwo odioining clossrooms behind o curved
seclíon ol lhe foçode lhey become o sorl ol communol
boy. The woll dividing lhe clossrooms comprises ol one
end, where it meets lhe foçode, o sliding porlition. When
it is closed, the lwo spoces ore both visuolly ond oudibly
seporoled, but when i1 is opened lhe two dourooms
eosily blend inlo one oreo embroced by the boy. Besides,
lhe view of lhe outside world from eoc_h dossroom is
considerobly widened when lhe portítion is opened.

224 IISSONS IOt SIUDOIS 1• liCijl!HIIII

The effect of opening up the comer between two woll1
is even 1tronger when the corner between wall and
ceillng is removed1 thi1 revolutioniws the traditional
spatial paradigm as it manifesta itH1lf e.specially in the
structural framework (where wall.1 and ceilings/floors
meet). lhe 'windows' are no longe r openings in a wall
or roof•plane • and therefore basicalJy framed objects
but they actually constitute the open transitions
•
•
between planes, there.by rnaking the overol image less
massive and 'stabíle' and consequently less separate
fram its environment,

So the Nieuwe louwen braught the outside world

inside into our familiar surroundings, which were thus
dematerialhi:ed and rendered transparent. lhe
architectonk space was expanded, and if this modem
architecture reminds one of ships and bird.1, that is not
anly due to the formal idiom lnsplred by the
universally admired functionalism of modem naval Open Air School, Alfule1dom 1927-30/J. O.,iler, 8. Si/_, 6JO
architecture, there i1 abo and especially a deliberate 631
allusion to the sense of freedom evoked by a view
embracing endless space, and at the same tlme to the
lnevitable awarene1s of vulnerahility. Zan ne1/raal Sona10,,um, Hilv=vm 1926-31 /J. Ouiler, 8 81/votr, J.G. W,oben ga

-
 5 VIEW Ili has also enlarged the domain in which architectvre
manlfests itself, and h.nce also the space of
architecture, 'lhe truth' n o longer exists. Depending on
our standpaint and on our objectives we experlence a
layered reality, and so il is up lo architecture lo 'reveal'
more, to make the different levels of experience trans·
porent, as it were, and thus to shed more light on how
things work and how they are interconnected.
Whotever meaning is ottach.ed to the experience of
space, in the twentieth•century world it certainly
embraces more than a purely visual perception.
lhe expasvre of unsuspected layers of meaning by
twentieth-century art and science has changed our way
of seeing, and therefore olso the way we feel. lhe
world has changed bec,ause we now see things in a
way we did not see them before, or rather, in a way
we-did not realize we were seeing them. We are
capable of seelng so much nowadays that we cannot
content ourselve, with superficially pleasing
appearances and decorative architedure. lhe ,pace of
architecture also comprises an answer to lhe other
phenomena and layers of meaning present in our
plurallstk consciousness.

432
Window on the wortd
'3) 634
lhe expansion of the archltectonic space by the Nleuwe
louwen movement is only one part of the story of lhe
twentieth century. Our thinking in terms of relativity
Wouo EXHl&ITION PAVlUON, PARIS 1867 / f. LE PtAY 16311
More olten thon nol buildings ore portroyed in fufl
sunlight, but here the opposite is lhe cose. And with the
reverso! of doy ond night it seems os il interior ond
exterior, too, hove swilched roles. Like o greot lomp the
rounded slruclure illuminotes the spoce in which it stands,
stretching oul ils gloss overhonging roofs wilh lighb
suspended ai regular intervols in o welcoming geslure so
thol you ore virtuolly in lhe building even before you hove
possed the ocluol threshold. lhe overoll tronsporency of
lhe slructure in itsell is on invitotion lo enler this modern
poloce conloining o huge range ol goods for the new
consumer morket, like o rodionl plonel oflording o viecw of
lhe new world.

CINEAC CINEMA, AMslERDAM 1933 / J. DU IKER (633,6341

'lhe evocotion of o view ol o new world is especiofly
strong in lhe Cineac newsreel cinemo designed by Duiker
& Bijvoet. lntended os on informolion mochine thol you
con ecnter cosuolly, in-between visils (to the shops, lo cotch
up on who1 is going on in lhe world in pre-lelevision doys),
lhe building ilself ciso presenls itseclf os o lotolly new struc­
lure geared in every detoil to performing the funclion of o
window on lhe world, Apor! from the slorey-high illumino­
ted sign (on edifica in its own right) ond rhe smooth trons­
ition from lhe slreel lo lhe interior of the cinema (ochieved
by o gloss owning and by restoring to the slreel o precíous
corner of lhe premises), il is especiolly the curved gloss
façode obove lhe enlronce 1h01 ottrocts ottention.

226 L!SSOIS fOI SlUIIIIS U UCllllCIUI!

Thonks lo the gloss woll rounding the corner of the firsl
floor lhe room conloining lhe film projeclors becomes
visible from lhe slreel, while the operotors [in lhe doys
before outomoted projeclion] i n lurn ore offered o view o l
the slreet. Duikers prime concern, here, wos probobly to
demonstrote the lechnology ol the projectors, but os o
result, lnsteod ol being hidden owoy in o corner, the
people responsible for k8jlping things running ore given o
ploce in the centre ol ollention, within lhe cycle of
everydoy life ond in full view ol il. So here the orchilect's
concern for lhe essentiol requirements ol thís purpose-built
cinemo, situoted on o tiny, left-over, owkword site, gove
rise to o fundomenlolly differenl spoliol orgonizolion'.(7)
'lhe toll illuminoted sign wos demolished in November
1980, ond lhe gloss porch wos covered over wilh wood.
Only the curved gloss woll wos preserved, ex.cept thot lhe
original mullions hove been reploced with thicker ones los
olso hoppened yeors ego in lhe Open Air Schoolj. Thus,
the lost ol Duiker's greot works hos been irreporobly
mutiloted, ond the number of relotively intocl exomples
preserved from lhis period ol history, sponningborely
twenty yeors, is growing olormingly smoll.
Since they connol be pul in museums like old cors ond
even troins ond ships, ond ore not old enough to be
eligible for the proteclion given lo oncient buildings, only
o few photogrophs will be lelt to convey on impression of
these wonderfully light conslructions. Who will still be
oble, in luture yeors, to describe whot emonoJed from
them ond the feelíng they evoked�' [8]
63S 636
VREOENBURG Mus,c CEN!RE, (633-6411
'lhe lorge box-shoped skylíght on top of the Music Centre 63I �5
lets in enough light to be oble to give performances
during the doy wíthoul ortiliciol lighting • when lhe sky is
.' \•
INYlll�, IOIM 227
 deor, ol ony rote But even when odditionol ortificiol
lighling ,s necessory you s1111 hove some ideo ol whol lhe
weother is like ond whelher li is eorly or lote ln lhe doy •
ol leosl you con tel1 whelher the sun is shining oulside,
ond the musicions do not hove to reheorse ln on
ortific1olly ht spoce.
"' ••• The possibility of holding doylil performances odds yet
onolher olternolive lo the olreody generous range of
"' lighhng locilities, while conversely lhe skylighl olso octs
like o beocon 10 rhe outs,de world, o s19nol of lhe
octivilies lhe Music Centre hos to offer ' 15)
221 LISSOMS fOI SIUOEIIS IN U(RIIICTUII
The dominonl leolure ol lhe building is the moln
oudilorium with 1700 seots which, lollowing lhe
omph1theotre shope, ofler on excellent view of lhe central
stoge.
The holl 1lsell is vlrtuolly symmernc ,n design ln o concert
holl excelle111 sound is of course o prime objeclive, but o
good view is complementory to good soundl Seeing
musicio11s perform helps lísleners lo dist,ngu1sh tonal
subtleties, especiolly il those Usteners hove nol (yell
received ony musicol troining lhemselves. And if the
lísteners con olso distingulsh their fellow listeners thot will
enhonce lhe emolionol involvemenl of lhe oudience os o
whole, which ln turn inspires the musicions.
While lhe quolity of modern recordings ollows people lo
lislen in lhe privocy of lhelr own living rooms lo rendilions
thol ore seldom ocousticolly equolled in live
performonces, it is lhe shored experience 1h01 mokes
concerl-going such o speciol experience. Besides, li is in
lhe concert holl lhol you con see lhe heroes ond heroines
of lhe record sleeves ol work.
The design, more like lhol of o lheolre-in-lhe-round thon o
lrodítionol concerl-holl, mokes this oudilorium suiloble for
lhe numerous other types ol music in which lhe ocluol
performance ploys o more centrei role thon in so-colled
clossicol music. Besidas, lhe plotform con be enlorged lo
indude lhe ground-floor seoling oreo, thereby moking
proper in-the-round performance possible.
'lhe oudilosium is equipped with lhe full ronge of
lheolricol lighting focilities with conlrols instolled • visible
to lhe oudience • on lhe bon overheod. Besides being
suiloble for o wide ronge of musico! perlormonces, the
concer1 holl should, ideolly, octuolly conlribute lo the
quolity ol whol goes on inside il by enhoncing lhe general
olmosphere ond working conditions.
Besides olfering possibililies of odjuslmenl with respect lo
size ond posilion of lhe plotform os well os lo lhe seoling
orrongemenl ond copocity • i.e. technicol ond
orgonizolionol flexibility, lhe spoce must hove lhe
copdcify lo odopl itsell lo lhe degree oí openness ar
mtimocy colled for by o port1culor performance And whot
it olwoys boils down lo Is: whot is offered ln the woy ol
involvement of lisleners with eoch olher ond wilh lhe
musicions.
The omphitheotre shope of the ouditorium not only olfers
everyone in the oudience o good view of the musicions, il
olso offers members of the oudience o good víew of eoch
other, ond 1h01, in combinolion wilh lhe spocing of lhe
seots ond the orticulotion ol lhe spoce, mokes il possible
for on otmosphere ol unity, of communion even, to orise,
which wou ld hove been unlhinkoble in o more
convenllonolly designed concerl holl wilh rows of seols
behind one onother oll focing lhe some direclion. Thus lhe
buildíng odopts itsell to the specilic nolure of the evenl
loking ploce, nol only by moking the oudilorium ltsell
odoploble [flexible, in misloken orchiteclurol jorgon) but
olso by giving il polyvolence: nol only by providing o
suiloble environmenl for performances ronging lrom
clossicol orcheslrol ond chomber music lo jazz, voriety
ond circus (wilh live lionsl), nol to mention the
experimental performances wilh dilferenl seclions ai lhe
orcheslro posilioned in the extreme corners, but olso by
giving lhe spoce ilsell lhe role of on inslrument upon
which oll these dilferent evenls con be ployed.' (51
■ Our archltecture must be capable of accommodating ,,1
ali thoH different sitvatioru whic:h affect the way a
building is under,tood and used. Not only must it be
<-apable of odapting itself lo changing weather
conditians and different seosons as well being suitable
INYllt•G fOtM 279
r ,
r I
 for UM during both day and night, it must be delibera·
tely de1igned to respond to all these phenomena.
The archite<t must take into account all thase dlfferent
types of usage, a s well as the feelings and wlshes of
all 1ort1 of categories of people: of aU ages, ead, with
its specific pottem of eJlJHldatlon.s, its own pos1ibilitles
and restrictlon1. lhe definitive design must be attuned
to all the inteUectual and emotlonal data that the
architect can imagine, and it must relate to all the
sensory perceptlons of the spoce. The perceptions of
what you hear, feel, and even smell • 01 well as the
a11oclatlon1 thereby evoked.
Thus architecture is also capable o f showing that which
Is not a.ctually visible, and af elkitlng a11odatlon1 you
were not awetre of before. lf we succHd in praducing
architecture that i1 so layered that the divenity of
NK1lltie1 01 embedded in the dlfferent layen o f
consciousne11 is reflectecl ln the design, then the
architectural enviranment wlll moreover 'visualiie'
these embedcled r.alitie1 and will thu1 tell the users

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spoce consist not only of what you see, but also of something 'about the world'

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230 IISS08S fOt SlaDl•rs li JtfKIIICTSII

VIIIA SAVOYc, POISSY, fRANCE 1929-32 / lE COR8USlfR
(óll-641)
lhe lorge enclosed outdoor living room of this villo is
undoubtedly lhe most impressive exomple ol lhe
constructed exterior spoce which is to be found in neorly
oll of le Corbusier's designs. Thonks to the loct thot this
intedor londscape i s siluoted on lhe periphery ol the
volume ond thot it hos lhe some horizontal window•
orrongemenl os lhe odjoining living oreos, the lerroce
olso ollers o view ol the exterior londscope. le
Corbusier's roof lerroces ore neifher gordens nor interiors:
rhey represent o completely different spotial entity with o
highly specific quolity of its own.
lhe plant,boxes, too, create a mere illusion ol o gorden.
They ore cerfoinly too big to be treoted like flower-pots,
but they ore nol the some as gorden flower-beds either,
olthough in his sketches le Corbusier included o for richer
voriely ol plonts thon most olher orchitects, who lend to
think of plont-boxes in terms ol o mere detoil with which
to fill up emply porls first of lhe drowing ond subsequently
ol the ocluol building ... Here they ore more like lhe seed,
beds in nurseries that con be covered with gloss, ond thot
is indeed how they could be used by green-thumbed
inhobitonls. This ossociotion is lurther slrengthened by lhe
ínclusion in lhe plont•box ol o light, ond il is this us
integroJion ol two such opporently unrelated components ,.,
thol mokes the design so exceptionol.

Froming skylights in o lerroce lloor in this woy mokes

them less vulnerable, and ciso less of on obstocle. Looking
up lrom the spoce below, lhe overhanging greeneiy gives
you some idea of lhe terroce overheod. Unlike the
conventionol skylight showing o stark rectangle of sky to
lhe observer below, le Corbusier's skylighls fringed with
plants aHer o less obslroct view ol the world autside, ond
even, somelimes, o glimpse ol someone out on lhe terroce
looling down or tending lhe plants. What le Corbusier
did here, os he so often did in his outslonding works, ond
whot o mere detoil such os this illuslroles, is to combine
essentiolly modesl elements in such o way that they ore
complementory by virlue of lhe spoce eoch gives lhe other.
What we see here is a betler orgonization of the
component parts, so thot lhe reclangle of lighl, in ali its
abslractness, tokes on the quolily of o proper view. For le
Corbusier lhere was no gull between formal order and
informal opplicotion. He wos evidently jus! os concerned
with lhe orgonizotion ai doily roulines os with the
composilion of the grond gesture. lt is the interoction ol
len thausand minar detoils, like oll the elemenls moking up
o complex machine, thot gives tise lo poet,y. And thot is
precisely whot too lew orchitec1s tadoy seem to reolíze (or
too mony architecls seem lo be incapable ai creating).

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I\YIIII , FOI.li 231

PEOESIRIAN UNOERPASS, GENEVA, SWllZERWIO 1981 /
G. DESCOM&ES C64HID
ln Loncy, neor Genevo, Georges Descombes designed o
pedestrion underposs connecting the fwo seclions of o
pork cut ocr oss by o motorwoy. lhe corrugoted iron
conslituting lhe octuol funnel is exposed to view ot either
UI end. But there is olso o slender steel foolbridge in lhe
tunnel, under which o streom runs from one section ol the
pork to the olher. This bridge, much longer thon the octuol
lunnel, extends into lhe pork ol eoch end ol some dístonce
from the motorwoy,romp.
232 llSSOlS 101 SlUll�IS IN UCllltUUrl
So, only o relolively smoll porlion of the wolkwoy os o
whole connecting the lwo sections ol the wooded pork is
underground, whereby lhe possoge lhrough lhe octuol
tunnel is relolivli:ed to become o mere incidenl on o
longer lrojectory. So you wolk ot o sort ol safe distonce
through the corcoss ol o primordial reptile of corrugoted
sheet,iron, your sleps on the wooden boordwolk hollow­
sounding: o feeling ol secrecy. Besides, holfwoy olong the
tunnel there is on opening overheod, in the middle ol the
motorwoy (which is something more underground
possoges should havei, The tunnel itsell hos been reduced
to o mere seclion of o longer roule, o relotively brief
interlude in o stroll in lhe pork. lhe effect of the bridge is
to shorten lhe tunnel, simply by prolonging the crossíng
from one oreo in the pork lo the other. And, os so ofien,
the most eventful route is ciso lhe shortest connection
between lwo points,
 r

AtHA/.\BRA, GtANADA, SPAl'I, 1.dlH CENT\J�V A.D (61>611)

By canducting lhe woler over lhe stane sleps, where il
forms a sequence ol little cascadas down the chonnel lrom
ane lreod lo lhe next, these ílights ai sleps in the
Alhombro assume on ei(lroordinory form lhe light
reflecled by lhe surfoce of the streom os wetl os lhe sound
CHAPEI, RONCHAMP, FRANCE 1955 / LE COtaUSIER 1,n.uc, inlensify lhe imoge of o stepped descenl, ond lhol is ill 654
The chapei of lhe Nolre Dome du Houl in Ronchomp Is perhops why such o pedestrion feoture os o flight of steps ,ss
usuolly cited os on exomple of expressíonism ln buildil\9 suddenly slrikes one os somelhing speciol. Bul it is nol
by the moster of expre.ssionisl orchitecture, le Corbusier. onfy our owareness of the phenomenon of steps thal
The roof Is shoped like o huge bosin, Iram which lhe becomes more ocule, olso lhe phenomenon of water is
woter escapes lhrough o single spoul like those we ore
used to seeJng in colhedrols, bul more orgonicolly lormed.
11 tokes some lime for the collecled roinwoler lo droin
owoy ofler the shower hos moved owoy over lhe hill-tops:
it gushes forth wilh lremendous power, ils lall being
broken by pyramid•shoped poinls in onother concrete
bosin on lhe graund under the spoul.
The following excerpt is from o lext written upon lhe death
of l e Corbusier on 27 August 1965: 'Eve,ything on artist
lays his honds on changes its course, le Corbusiér was
never lnvalved ln lorm olone, he wos olwoys concerned
wilh lhe mechanisms of whol loy before him; he would
alter lhe bed of o streom lo chonge the directian of the
woter, so thot the woler woul d render thol dillerent course
visíble ond become o different body of waler; lhe woter
would lhus become cleorer ond more true to itself, while
ol lhe some tíme the direclion, too, would become cleorer
ond truer.
So lhe building tells us something obout lhe woter possing
over its roof and lhe woter lells us aboul lhe building;
ond in lhis woy both woler ond woter-covered surfoce
shope eoch other by telling us aboul lhe other ond about
themselves.' [2]
-
656 651 intensified by this felicilous combinolion - the some liquid
substonce thot we lend lo loke for gronted connol escape
651 notice in this pronounced form.
The smoll round ponds with fountoins corved into smooth
morble ore or1iliciol pools of woter like lhe pools thot form
234 IISSOIS IOR SIUDIIIS IX llCHIIICldlt
on ony poved surfoce, but here their presence hos been
formolized ond mode permonent by meons of o minimal
orchiteclurol intervention. A primory orchitecture with
woter • next to morble the riche_st ond most refreshing
material imoginoble in this worm Andolusion gordenl
MOSOUE, COltOOBA, SPAJN, 786-1009 1614.61"
The courtyord of the mosque in Cordobo is shoded by
oronge trees growing in circular deprenions in the
povemenl. These circles ore connected by meons ai
chonnels, thereby forming on ellicienl irrigotion system for
lhe lrees. ln lhe relotively Jorge hollows the woler hos
omple opportunity to be obsorbed by the soil; the norrow
connecting chonnel is only for eosy tronsporfolion of the
woler lrom one tree to the next.This design derives its
beoufy not lrom the simplicify of lorm os such, but from
the foct 1h01 the form shows so cleorly how it functlons.
You could soy thot form in this cose not only follows
funcfion, but lhol il octuolly is lhe funcfion, Not only does
the circular lorm combine beoutilully with the shope of lhe
lrees lo creote o grophicolly interesling design, ít olso
motches the swirl of lhe streom ol woter for better thon o
squore shope would hove done (which would olso hove
corners thot would be more dillicult to sweep cleon).
Architecture can ICJ)' something about certoin
phenomeno such os time or woter, whlch ín turn moke
o stotement about the orchitecture: they become
mutuolly explonotory. ly showing how things work,
and so by bringing them to the surface, the world
around us can be read, can be decoded, 01 it were;
atthitecture must explain, unveil.
Essentlolty thls omounts to o battle ogoinst reduction
and the olienation thot goes with it, the olienotion thot
we con see encrooching upon us on oll sides, making
us ever more sutnervient to an environment which hos
les1 and leu meoning for u1 and over which we have
less and leu control. We should oim for the most
readable form, i.e. form with the greatest expressive
force.
Rainwater troMported in pipes hidden from view tells
us nothing obout what is going on, ond so this remains
an abstroct system that can, ot best, be expected to
function noi1eles1ly. ln the same way, when we enter
o tunnel under o river we must simply assume that we
will get out at the other end eventually: we cannot see
what we are doing. Conver1ely, cro11ing o bridge is
always self-evident, while there may even be ships
po11ing below us, making u s aware of íts dual
functlon. Abstroction of form thus goes together with
recluction of lnformation about the way lt works.
Something slmllor tokes pl. oc e ln closed lifts: when you
an in them you con only rely on lhe number lighting
up on the panei to tell you where you ore, and even
that depends on the country you are ln, with the
ground floor being colled first floor in some countrie1,
and the confuslng use of inltials to indicate street level
in others. The entire system is bo..d on the relionce on
codes: you can't do much obout it yourself e.xcept wait
and see whether you will find yourself where you
want to be.
The tendency in orchitectvre to make form more
obstrod in an effort to ochieve simplification always
implies the risk of losing expressive force. This price is
all too readily paid fo.r a superficially pleaslng and
graphically aesthetic overoll image. The temptotions of
'le11 is more' ali too easily leods to too little being
achieved at too greot a cost. Opiniona may differ as to
what is superfluous and whot Is essential, but
simplicity con neve, be attained by mere omission ...
'du sublime ou ridlcule il n'y a qu'un pos'.
Regardless of whether the result l s sheer simplicity or
complexity, we must alwoys 1trive after the form with
the richest articulation of referenc.es, 10 that the
moximum scope of po1sibilities and e,cperiences is
offered. The eJ(ponsion of the architectural spoce in the
course of the twentieth c,entury hos meont thot the
materiais we use and the way we 0'9ani�e them
reveal more than there is to see.
The complexity of the task represents several realitles
slmultaneovsly, and alJ thase realltles must be
occommodated os aspe cts within the plan. They
constitute, so to speok, a multiple large-scale
lSt
IIYIIIM& fOtl
M 23S
1
 programme by way af o richly voriegated substance
underlying the specífic, straightforword requirements
stoted in the design brief.
lhe more levels of experience • os ospects · ore token
into occount in our design the more ossociotions con be
mode, and therefore lhe wider lhe range of
experiences for different people in different siluotions,
each with hís or her own perceptians.

PRIVATI: HoMf, BPUSSflS 1896 / V. Ho�1A ,�,

'As in oll the lorge pr,vote houses designed by Horto, th,s
house, whích he bu,lt for h,s own use (now the Horto
Museum). hos o central staircase around which the enhre
vertical struclure is formed. The moin living oreos on the
first Roor, w,th different levels lront and bocl, ore not
closed off from the stoircos-e· insleod ai hov,ng to wolk
down corrodors to lhe separote rooms, lhe sloircose •lsell

"º
111

236 lfSSOIS 101 SIUIIUS 1• IIC�llffJIIE

leods one lhrough lhe dilferenl oreos of the house.
The sloirs ore very wide on lhe ground íloor, ond become
norrower os they rise. lt seems quite logicol thol the sloirs
to the more privote oreos on the upper Roors need no! be
os wide, ond on odded odvontoge ai the stoirwefl
becoming more open towords the top of the house is thot
the light enlering through the gloss skylight con penelrote
deeper into the building. The proportions of the stoircose
moke one owore on every floor of lhe heighl of the
building, thereby glving the building os o whole spoliol
coherence ond unity.' (9)
We have become used to having electricity in every roem,
with the wiring hidden Irem view somewhere in lhe wolls,
but thar reduces rhe phenomenon ol eleclricity lo
somelhing we loke for gronted ond never stop lo think
obout. And lhe heoting, being reguloted oulomolically, is
somelhing we only nolíce when li doesn't work. 661 lU
The mosl slriking thing oboul the lomps Horto designed for
lhe holl o reo in his own home is ol course lhe similatity to 664
flowers. But lo Horta himself lhe plont-like form
represented more thon mere ornamenl: il wos o woy of
orgonizing lhe energy requirements in o functionol
monner, whereby the lood-beoring structure of lhe
building is combined with o distinct system ol conduits for
goslight ond heoting. Eoch component in rhis inlegroted
system functions independently of lhe others, ond can be
seen to perform lls own tosk within the whole.

-•

'tr
I , � . � ·
.,.'- 4--'
�

ll o
O 1 ;
 1. Matol lr><.d solid
sJiding ICIH•
1 . si..i �curred 9/ou
didlng�
3 Woodtt, g,,fde irocl

1 -t
-t

,, ·�� controst in moteriol between the gloss loçade ond lhe

&11
mouive stone wall beside ond above it.
But I cannat imogine onyone, upan enlering that house lar
••1 1111
■ ■ 1111! Ir.: the first lime, nol being awed by the spoce thol opens
■■■ 111
uli ilself up to him beyond thot wall of solid glou. To me thís
■■
■■
1
1111, li house • one single spoce really, like on orticulotion of

..
1111
■■ I li
1
'
li places merging and overlopping Iram one levei lo the

•••• •
■
11v,
■■ - �� t nexl, withoul distincl portítions • wos o completely new
experience when I first visited it. 1 entered o spaceship,

••••••
oul ai this world, with wonderful paneis of curved metal
1 ·Ili li
■ ■■
-

1
••••• ■ ■■ 1111
1111 IJ
which you could turn or slide oside just with your finger,

:1
1 mysteríously, lo open up o spoce which had tempororily
1 been hidden lrom view. Rather different, to say the leost,
Iram the normal world, where rooms are shut with heovy
wooden doors swinging on hinges in door.fromes sei in
stone walls.
And then lhe pair of parallel sliding doors,one of them
solid ond the other tronsporent, which you con move
'41 "'
"'
M>.ISON DE VERRE, PARIS 1928-32 / P. CHAREAU, 8. 8UVOET, independently to enable you to gel precisely those
l. 0AL&E1 !661� IIJ grodotions of sound and visual contoct lhot you wont in o

"' '" lhe most striking thing oboul this house is nol the exterior.
When you first see it, tucked owoy i11 o courtyord, it
certoinly doesn't look lhe woy you would ellpecl o house
of glon lo look. Besides, you con hordly see onylhing ol
lhe interior lrom lhe outside: the bíg gloss brick loçode
sits lhere, olmosl like o windowless wall, in the middle af
the ald orchitecture, adapling ilsell to lhe shope ai the
surroundings. Wilh its unempholic exterior, lhe house seis
itsell oport Iram its surroundings only by o spectoculor
spedfic situation. The openness with its acoustic
transporency mokes eoch remate corner oudible, and,
together with the unusuol quolity ai lhe fight lilte-ring
through the glass bricks, diffuse ond serene like indirect
lighting, evokes on extroordinorily peocelul ond airy
otmosphere. So this was how I envisaged the new world
of the twenlieth century: and it wos here thot I first
recognized, in orchitecture, the sense ol spoce that
Picasso, Broque, Léger, Delounoy, Duchamp, hod evoked
in me.
The ollusion to o new ero wos lurther offirmed, so il
seemed, by the mechonicol ond olten literolly mochine-like
charocter of ali the components in lhe woy they evoke
strong associotions with an industrial world, in which
paris of buildings, like lhe ports oí motorcors ond
oeroplanes, ore produced in foctories, and then
alsembled.
Vou hod olwoys wondered why buildings could nol be
ossembled in lhe some woy, out of perfected components •
and here thís wos octuolly what hod hoppened: the troin
windows thoJ slide up ond down, lightweight aeroplone

238 HSSONS IOt SIUIIMIS 1� UCrilll(JUIE

 •
g,ov�d Roor

Jft llr . �"' 1/oo,

rr
r4
,ecood /lo«

·l\�
.r
rr.r
�
[1
• •

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dl
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aIa Q...I.

sloircos�, cogs ond wheels exposed to view showing While there ore plenty of buildings with industrial 610.k
how lhe windows open and dose, and attention implicotions on the formal levei, ond which therefore 611 ,,,
everywhere for the smollesl detoil; every1hing invented perpetuote our dream, lhe architecturol components that
ond constructed on the bosis of entirely new principies. ore industriolly produced do not resemble them, and they 613
This is how you imogined on orchiteclure mede u p of lack the leeling of Choreou, Eomes or Piano.
prefobricoted slructurol componenls. The dreom thot such The inter�ls of lhe conslruclion industry ond lhe paths il
o wealth of solutions could be wilhin the reach of ali treods in proctice do nol alwoys coincide. The
seemed to be coming lrue at los!. conslruclion induslry would rolher produce trosh with built,
The technique with which this house wos designed and in obsolescence, or prostituta itself with perfect
constructed down to the smollest detoil colls to mind the prefobricoted concrete elemenls which hide behind o
symbolic perfection of a Rolls Royce and now, ofler more mosk ol ridiculous voguely clossicisl mouldings: we ore
thon fifty yeors, with every1hing still funclioning equally
smoothly, we still foll for il, And this is not reolly thot
surprising either, for ils delights lie nol only in lhe beouty
of eoch solulion os such, bul derive lrom the implicolion
thol it would be possible to repeat them.
So il all looks more like lhe form of o technique thon the
technique ol o form. And we con still imagine thot the
technology ol our lime will be copobfe of producing on
orchiteclure in which eoch elemenl within the composite
whole con be underslood for whot it is ond why it has
been mede thol woy. Bul why has the couue of industry
token so fittfe notice of the potentiol of this lechnique?

JIYl11�6 íOtM 239

1 1
 -
look ot lhe world oround us with díllerenl eyes: il is
lhrough lhe change in our vision thot il con change lhe
world. On second thoughts the 'Moison de Verre' is more
líke o complex of unique pieces, on exlremely delicole
equilibrium ai ideos such os con prabobly crise on ly

-
once, ot o síngle momenl in hislory; o hond-<:rofled
product, which, with more emphosis on the connections
belween lhe vorious elemenls thon on lhe elemenls
lhemselves, Is closer to Arl Nouveou thon to modern
industrial t hinking.
Toke, for instonce, lhe feeling you gel when you see lhe
woy in which the electricity is conducted through free­
copoble of so much • ond therefore olso of gronness. stonding vertical pipas ond columns on which the switches
No, lhe 'Moison de Verre' remoined o dreom, ond lhe ore mounted, ond which lherefore, insteod of coming out
new world of induslriol production still hos not leornt how of lhe woll rondomly, becomes visible ond intelligible os
lo monulocture constructionol elemenls with lhe some on outonomous system ln its own right: thol is the spiril of
degree ol perleclion os, soy, modern electronic Horto, Here you see the true functionolity, orising Iram Art
equipment. Nouveou.
li is lhe misleoding porodox of this house thot the ideo of But ciso the spoliolity of this house becomes less omozing
induslriol production is nol confirmed by lhe industrial once you've been lnside lhe big houses designed by
reolity: things thot look os if lhey ore reproduceoble ore Horto. There, too, you olreody find, os o concept, lhe
nol necessorily so. Architecture seems, lime ond ogoín, principie ol the continuous, orticuloled spoce, which con
incopoble ol brid9in9 the gop belween ideo ond reolity be exponded or controcted ot will by meons of odjusloble
lhe woy ort does.
614 'Only rorely does orchitecture succeed in escoping its
li! oslensibly inescopoble fole • thot of seeking lo asseri itself
"' 6)/ in one lrend or onother, insleod ol exposing lhe
superficiolíty of trendíness ond replocing il by o truer
reolity. And orchitecture, il seems, lends lo be loo
molerlol to be ideal, ond insleod of otlocking existing
reolity it does lhe oppposíte: il does ils ulmosl lo olfirm il.
We con only speok of ort when on entirely differenl
mechonism is ol issue, when o differenl porodigm
reploces whot is familiar and wílhin eosy reach.
Whot mokes this house o work of ort is thol it mokes us

elemenls, ond in which there ore no corridors, holls or

stolrcoses ln the conventionol sense ony more, so thot lhe
hierorchy of serving ond served spoces slorts lo fade, ond
eoch oreo becomes living spoce.
When lhe Dolsoce lomily wos stlll living there, lhe house
wos indeed o lorge living spoce with, even in lhe remotesl

,.
o corners, thot touch of Annie Dolsoce's coring hond ond
her deep love of orchileclure, by which ond for which oll
this come obout. So lhis house, with oll ih perlect metal
constructions, rodioted o speciol kind ai wormth, which
somehow defies descríption.
Pe-rhops lhe most remorkoble thing oboul il wos 1h01 the
olmosphere i t breothed wos so unlike lhe highly exclusive,
ostenlolious olmosphere thot you usuolly lind in such o
weollhy environmenl. Complele equivolence reigned in
lhis spoce, the some core being lovished on the mosl
everydoy kind ai ulility goods os on lhe priceless ort

240 llSSOIS roa SJUOINIS IN lt(HIH(JUI!

objects by lhese elegon1 ond imoginotive people in their exoctly right; 1hereby moking lhe studs 1hemselves an
ever-hospitoble environmenl: o wonderful dreom come Integral port ol the composilion os o whol e. Depending on
lrue of o new, lighter ond more tronsporent world.' [11] which woy you look ol it, this íronwork monifes1s ltsell
either os on orgonic plont-like 9rowlh or os o systemolic
The way a buildlng Is put together, l,e. how it worlu, composi1e whole mode up of o lorge number of ports,
should be 'legihle' to it, u1ers: instead of a layer of each of which is delicately shoped ond sublly ottoched.
stu<co covering everything up, for instance, ít is better
to show the adual bullding bri<ks, lhe beams, column_s CASlEl 8ÊRANGER, PARJS 1896 / H. GutMARO !6181
af steel or cancrete, and the lintels ove, the windows. He<:lor Guimard, who is especiolly fomous for elegont
li might not be such a bad ldea to leave at least some plont-like metol sculptures froming Melro entrances in
of the 'innards' of the building exposed to view, too, to Paris, wos olso quite copoble of working with standard l-
make people more aware of the effort that goes into
c:Ntating a satisfactory dwelling. ln fad, our utilitarian
objects ln general could do with a more
straightforward and lucid design. ln the n.ineteenth
century, with its technlques firmly rooted in the craft
tradítion, this was obviou1ly not as important as it is
today, with the increosing alienotion • olso in
orchitecture · of mon from his environment, Peaple
have been proved wrong lime ond again in simply
trusting thot things in the world will be organized with
their best lnterests ln mlnd: we must be oble to see for
ourselves what is golng on.

VAN EETVElDE House. 8RUSSEIS 1898 / V. Ho�TA (619,650) 618

Horto's chorocterislic roilings, which ore olso to be seen 619 680
in the Von Eetvelde house lnow on office), lirsl of oll moke
us think ol long sinuous creepers. But on closer inspection
this ironwork proves to be composed not of continuous
curving rods but ol o lorge number of quite smoll
componenls whlch, while describing perfecl curves in
combinolion, ore oll seporotely olloched to lhe upright
supports.
The holes for ollochment ore posilioned in eoch metal strip
in such o woy thot lhe spoce ollotted to eoch rivet is

ond T-profiled metol rods. lnsleod of simply sowing them

off ol lhe requlred length os most people would do, he
poid specíal ottenlion lo the extremities ol eoch piece ol
profile,bor. Being slondord moss-produced elements, lhe
bors would of course oll hove lhe some lhickness, but for
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the fini5hing of lhe ends of the bors he turned to lhe 5milh;
thu5 eoch 5ection become o hond-crohed elemenl in lhe
end, But however much is done in lhe woy of odoplotion,
the bo5ic profile of lhe prefabricoted component5 remoins,
ond, porodoxicolly, the sinuous exlremilies ocluolly
emphosize thot bosic chorocleri5lic of the material.
611 612 The elegonce of these studied Aourishes ot lhe ends mokes
683 eoch rod nol only on elemenl with its own distinct identity
but olso on element wilhln lhe composillon of lhe whole.
Afouo SCHOOlS (lal,lfl)
We do not moke bolustrodes with flowing lines mede up
of lengths of metal tubing welded togelher or of prolile
rods, but we do try to moke them of 5eporote components,
in such o woy thot lhe emphosis i5 nol only on lhe octuol
components bul equolly on the spoces in-between them.
And in ploces where the differenl components meel ond
ore otloched, so thot the proper spoce i5 ollotted lo eoch,
lhe ottention is drown to lhe edges.
d..ign of details, including the de5ign of a balustrade,
for lnstance.'(1 O)
ly showing how things wortc, and letting eoch element
speok for ltself a.1 for as its functlon ln the largar
whale is cancerned, the architecture of a building con
intensify our awareness of the phenomena that malte
up aur enviranment.
lf it Is cleor haw a thlnt works, that is because it looks
01 if it can be taken opart. The expression of
onolyiability and the apparent po11ibility of being
di1montled an not only charocteris11c feotures of
Horta'• Art Nouveau de1ign1 anel of the architectvre of
Cho,-u, lijvoet and Dolbet as exempllfied in their
wo.nderful Moison de Vem, but olso of the
contemporary con1tructivism (uneloubtedly influenced
by these celebroted artista) of people like Renzo Piano,
Richard Rogers anel Norman Foster • and of caurse of

'A bullding, but also part of a building, explains itseH

by showing how it worlu and what it's for. We try to
malte each element clearfy leglble bolh lndepenclently
and in its relation with the athen and lh.us to make it
not only part of a la1"99r structu,., but also a nH•
cantalned whole.
Thus details can claim complete priarity where it
matters: in lhls ,.,pe<t
lhere Is not that much diffe,.nce
fram the appraach to the building in its entirety.
T1,e whole and the parti define each other mutually,
anel they require lhe some 1MC11ure of attention; thi1 is
alto true in urban plannlng, when lhe detail,
obviau1ly figure very praminentfy. White the <riteria
that apply in urban plannint may be d1fferent, the
thought·proceu is bcuically the some as ln the urban

242 l!SSOll 101 SIIDIIIS IM UCKIIIClUII

IBM rrawiU,09 Pov,IJ"",
Pon,, 1981-$4/
Ala/i.,, Prono

le Corbutier in one of hit last exe<uted detignt: the it more than you can say obout the archilecturol it6 ,ee "º
Heidi Weber povilion in Zürich ( 1963·67} l&!-H!II, some heroes of today ond their followers, who stiU hove not �, '89 691
years prior to the construction of the Centre aeaubourg been able to equal the spotiality ochieved more thon a
in 1970. century 090 on the basis of esJentially onologous
ay giving independence to the componenl paris lhese principies by someone like Henri lobrouste.
do not only goin more idenlity thanks to the
expression of their speciflc function within lhe whole,
for in addition attenlion is drawn to the joins and
encounlers between lhe ports. A thift of emphosis
occurs from the objects themselves to what connects
them, to their interrelationships.

Not only did Horto as well as Choreau et ai. give each

componenl pari its due wilhin lhe whole, lhey also
ultimately concerned themselves with space, and each
of them succeeded in their own woy in developing both
revolutionary and magnificenl spotiol mechanisms. Thi_s

H.Jdi w.i,,, ,,.,.,,,.,.,

Ziir,ch, 1963-67/
!e Cotb1i11.w

M��Ylll�� fOUI 243

 Allhough enclosed by mossive neo-Renoissonce wolls, the
elongoted reoding room of lhe Soinfe Geneviàve Librory
(from 1843-5011 hos o surprisingly frogile-looking spon
wilh fwo porollel borre�voult-like shells forming lhe
ceilíng. lhe delicole ironwork is like o modern oddition to
the heovy remoins of lhe post, ond even though you con
stlll find clossicist molífs on lhe slender columns, they ore
no more thon superficial decorotions. The plonf-like
lrocery decoroting lhe curved spons does little lo conceol
the foct lho! iron fromework serves o purely construclionol
purpose: lhe orchitect's solution, here, is ín foct on

81 et1ornêoue Sre GENEVIÊVE, PARI� 1843-50/ H, I.ABROUSTE

Clt7-49'l
Henri Lobrouste wos the lirsl orchitecl-engeneer lo design
on iron spon construclion in which the octuol fromework is
o deliberote orchiteclonic expression. Melollic spons thot
hod been opplied previously, os in shopping orcodes,
6'17 greenhouses, conservolories ond of course lhe Porís
Exchonge of 1808, hod storted ouf from the skylight
principie, the technicol ospects of the moteriol being
toleroted rother thon serving os o meons ol orriving ot o
new sort of spotiol design,
..•
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c•••···•·····i ,{: ttH-H íl
=, t----=> �•· � a a L� �r.
.. -�

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i . ·•· �t ---�f �...,,-11,,...,....,,.
'-· 4Q4gg�-,,aoo/
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244 IISSDKS fOI 51Utllf5 IM UCllll(IUU

exomple of Arl Nouveou ovont lo lettre. Allhough the
ceiling consists of two porollel spons grocefully borrel­
voulted ol eoch end, the spoce ís not dívided into two
holves: il remoins o unilied whole. This is portly due to the
foct thot the row of columns in the centre does not extend
oll lhe woy from one end to lhe other, leoving lhe oreos ol
eoch end uncluttered.
The bullding is much longer lhon li is wide, bul lhe
treotmenl ol lhe long ond short foçodes is identicol: the
some orticulotion, the some feneslrotion ond olso lhe some
book golleries going oll the woy round wilh stoírcoses
ploced diogonolly in eoch corner (so lhot no side con
impose o hierorchícol direction on the spoce).jWould you
hove ploced the stoirs in this woy in the corners?) This
equivolence of shorl ond long wolls is whot mokes the
librory so unique lrom lhe poinl of view of spotiality: lhe
woy the double-voulted ceiling leoves the spoce
undivided, intocl, is truly omozlng.
But let us toke o look to find oul how lobrouste ochieved
this: íl the spons hod reolly been semi<irculor in shope
(os they oppeor ta be), this spolial tour de force would not
hove been poHible, il only becouse there would simply be
no woy of turning o corner. However, lobrousle used
quorter-circle spons, which enobled him lo creote o
noturol ond Rowing tronsilion by exlending them to moke cose the ort of moking ond the moking of ort ore 691
holf o circle where necessory ond by using right-ongled indistinguishoble. His solution is not merely 1he result ol
connections to ottoch lhe quorter<ircle segments to the whot he wos copoble ol, bul, ol$o ond indeed more
complementory spon elemenh in the corners. His importontly, he wos copoble ol ottoining whol he
opplicotion of jus! two basic types of elements in such envisoged in te1ms ol spotiolity. (12)
ingenious combinotions brought obout o breokthrough,
deliberotely or nol; w,th hls liberohng use of ,denhcol
components he wos ,n facl onticipahng o development
that wos to come in lhe next century.
ln lhe some woy thot Lobrouste put logether his elementl
to creote on e,llroordinory, un,lied spotiolity so in his

l�WIII�& fO!I 2�S

IVHUP.í
 6 EQUIVALENCE
When something thot was a secondary feature in one
situation con become the main feature in another, in
other words that both fHtures can adapt to specific
conditions, then we have a system of values in which
there is no hierarchy of impartance among component
paris, And when, for instonce, something in any
orchihlctoni< orderi1191 on element or on organi:ration
of elements, con perform differant funcfions depending
on its plocement in different situations, then its value is
no longe, constant.
(och element can then, depending on lhe way it is
introduced, perform o pivotol function, thot is, it con
bacome o centre of o system in its own right; ln thot
case equivolence can be soid lo exist. Conversely, on
orthitectonlc ordering in which primory ond secondary
elements are recogni:roble as such cannot but refer to a
hierarchy of canstant and unalterable values: a system
of volues which is unequivocal ond which consequently
100 101 precludes interpretotion on more thon one level. ln o
strictly symmetrica.l composition you can for instance
visually express no more than that lhe content of the
right·hand side is the some as that of the left-hand
side.
246 llSSOMS 101 SIUO!�lS 1K U(Klll(IUI!
lut if we start out from the principie that eoch element
hos its own specific volue, not more nor les.s volue thon
any of the other elements, i.e. that they are all equal,
then our designs wlll have a fundamentally different
organi:ration: it will be o matter of creating the right
balance between all lhe elements 10 thot eoch can
function optimolly in its own right as well os in its
relation lo other,.
Om, Ali ScHOOl, AMSTERDAM 1930 / J. DUIKEil C700-1041
There is o slory thot Ouiker could only gel permission lo
build his O pen Air School on o site lhot wos forgely
hidden lrom view by buildings, so thol il would nol clash
loo much with ils surroundings in lhis well-la-do
neighbourhood.
Wholever Duiker himself may hove felt oboul lhe enclosed
sile on which he wos lo build the school, there is no doubl
lhot lhe gloss building would hove been very vulneroble
indeed in on enlirely open setting (even though troffic
noise wos nol yel o problem ot 1h01 lime). The protective
enclosure ol lhe loirly mossive blocks surrounding the
buildlng emphosizes ils openness rother thon vice-verso,
while the proximity lo the untidy bocks of the dwellings
wilh their smoll gordens ond bolconies, combined wlth lhe
informal olmosphere of this liltle poloce ol gloss,
slrengthens lhe feelíng ol líving in o community. The
odoption in urbon plonning of the perimeler block-siling
principie with ils dilferenliotion of streel side ond enclosed
courtyord obviously results in more lormol house-lronts
ond more Informal bocks.
ln this cose o kind of reversai of inside ond oul hos loken
ploce, becouse lhe presence of lhe school with its
ployground ond enlronce, informei os they ore, creoles o
lront wilhin the enclosed spoce. Oue to lhis relolivizolion
ol lhe enclosed spoce lhe situotion in locl comes closer lo
the open sile plon.Whot slrikes one obouJ lhe buildlng is
the ot firsl sighl somewhot illogicol oddilion of lhe
gymnosium on the righl, which does nol motch lhe
olherwise lorgely symmetricol moin loyoul. This is oll lhe
more remorkoble here ln view of the e�ceplionolly
principled ond lucid struclure, wilh the concrete
CLIO- _ lo ! STRAAT
fromework consisten�y delining the slructure throughout. The plon eviden�y required lhe inclusion of seveo 702 703
ln lhe cose of on orchitecl like Duiker, it is especiolly clo_ssrooms • o number thot, regordless of whether you
inleresting to examine the ideos underlying hls meticulous orronge them in twos or in threes, meons thot one 104
ond well-thought-out solulions. An ottempl lo onolyse lhose clossroom tokes up o seporote position, which inevilobly
thought processes yields the following results. offecb lhe symmelry of the overoll design. The buildiog
consists of loyers ol two clossrooms eoch which could lhus
shore one oulside clossroom, grouped oround the
stoirwell. lhe remoining clossroom could thus occupy the
ground lloor, positioned in the some woy os the other
clossrooms obove, while lhe spoce on lhe other side could
be used os o gymnosium.
There were severo! reosons to roise lhe ground floor
clossroom somewhol: ln lhe lirsl ploce no doubt to moke
up for the extra height thot wos needed for the gymnosium
1 so thol ils roof would not be higher thon the first ffoor.
1 Anolher reoson wos thot the children i n the ground lloor
V
1 •
clossroom would eosily be distrocted Iram lheir work
1 when children from other closse_s were in t�e directly
1 odjoining ployground. This situotion wos greotly improved
by the difference ln level, so thot the children sitling inside
/1 ore higher thon those ploying outside. 8ut when you look
ot the entrance there is more to li thon thot.
The octuol, formal entrance is situoled under the smoll
gote-house in which the nursery school is locoted. Once
the children ore on the ployground, in the courtyord, they
ore in o sense olreody inside, ond there is no need
therefore (inosmuch os Duiker ever leh such o need} to
emphosize the entrance lo lhe building ilself • for the
entrance connol be missed. Nonelheless you could coll the
 'opprooch' • under the loggio•like porch llonk.ed by the
two symmetricol columns of lhe wholly symmetricol
lromework • clossicol, in o sense. This solution is reolly so
'normal' ond at the some lime olmost monumental thol it is
oll lhe more striking that lhe front door ilself is placed •
informally • to the right of lhe oxis of lhe building.
On closer inspection li becomes cleor thal some sfeps
were necessory to reoch the main stoircose leading up
from lhe landing in lronl of this clouroom. A functionol
reoson, then, lo move lhe entrance wlth drought-door lo
lhe righl; indeed it seems quite logicol, especiolly becouse
once you ore in the 'loggia' (i.e. between the two
'entrance columns') it reolly doesn't moke ony difference
whether the door is exoct ly in front of you or slighlly to
one side. But for evaryone other thon Duiker lhís solulion
would have been the leost obvious. lndeed one must hove
o very spedlic ond highly exceplional altitude to be oble
to deviale lrom one's carefully balonced symmelry for lhe
soke of a convenient entrance, insteod of trying lo eram ít
inlo the preconceived design.
The point is thot Duiker did not simply moke do with the
circumslonces os they presenled themselves bul look
precisely those meosures thot resulted in on orgonizolion
thol creoted the besl possible condilions for usoge, view
ond routing. Over the formal arder ol o consislenl
symmelry he gove priority lo on orrangemenl in which
eoch port functions optimolly both in ils own right ond as
pari of the whale. This exomple of Duiker's school
provided lhe key, íl not directly then ot ony role inditectly,
to lhe solutions presenfed in the folfowing exompl es.

.-

-
705
10&
101 708

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1 r.;; ,
.;.
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l.c:J::,:-,oà.....: .

241 llSSOKS 101 SIODU rs IW U(NIIICIUII


•
•'
( '
l---··r-1
DE OVEllOOP, HOME FOR TME ElDERlY (IOS,711)
This home for the elderly in Almere is situoted on o
residual site in this new town; on one side it odjoins o
porking goroge, on lhe other íl bronches out freely,
withoul ony point of support ln the urbon surroundings.
AII lhe foçodes focin9 outwords thus toke on the role of
lrontoges. ln other words, lhere ore no bac_ks to the
buíldin9s with reor entrances for delívery etc. !the kitchen
delivery enlronce is locoted ot the end of one of the
wíngs). Nor is lhere one single main entrance, becouse
the pedestrian entrance to the enclosed inner court, where
the less mobile residents con venture out inlo the world, is
no more ond no less imporlonl thon the enlronce on lhe
other side, which con be reoched by cars.
From whotever direction the building is opprooched, its
moin shope is seen to be o symmetricol compositlon,
9rouped oround o central oreo whlch is higher thon the
rest ond where lhe different wings come together. The
symmetrical ospect of the design is not due so much to o
preconceived plon as to the foct thot there was simply no
volid reoson here to deporl from the obvious principie of
symmetry.However, this wos not o stricl rule: wherever
deviotian from the symmetricol would benefit the lunctional
orgonizotion lhe principie wos obondoned, in other words
no concessions were mede ol lhe expense ol requirements
Iram within which did not oulomotically fit ín with 'lhe
syslem', As o consequence o whole range ol incidental
deviotions hove risen, which logether determine lhe overoll
ospecl jus! os much os lhe moin oulline. One of lhe innu­
meroble exomples of thís is lhe middle section of the west
loçode: to ollow the central holl oreo to benefit fully from
lhe view il wos reosonoble to incorporote both o boy ond
o bolcony in thot section. There were, in lheory, two woys
ol reloining a strict symmelry: either two bays on either
side ol o bolcony, or two bolconies on ellher side of o
boy. But bolh solutions would hove closhed wilh lhe spotiol 709
requirements o! lhe two elements regordin9 their optimol
functioning, ond besides, lhe osymmetricol plocement 710 711
mode the spoce of the boy link up much beller with lhe
spoliol orgonizolion of the centre os o whole. lnsteod of
desígning two bolconies lhot are too smoll or two boys
1h01 ore too smoll simply for lhe soke of lhe overoll
composilion, each elemenl is given ils due. The dimensior1s
of the bolcony, moreover, mode it possible lo indude o
gloss owning over pari of the bolcony spoce, so thol there
is o choice between more ond less shehered ploces lo sit.
■ When you start out from a formal arder it is
important to avoid to having to force ali the elemenh
into thcrt arder, li.cause then you will inevitobly make
tham 1ubservient to the whole, that is, the value that i1
given to the parts will li. dictated by the arder
govemlng the wtiole. Only by 1tartlng out from each
individual element and by making it contribute in i'1
own rlglit to the whole can an ardering be achleved ln
whkh each component, la,ve or 1mall, heavy ar ligh.t,
has its rlghtfvl place ln accordance wlth the spedfic port
lt plcrys withln the whale.
?
•
1UIIING fOII 249
117 VllLA ROTO�OA, VICENZA, lTAlY 1570 / A. PALlAOtO Ili/ l, 'reflection of divine perlechon'. You con os eosily imagine
Pollodio's Villo Rotondo is universolly odmired by orcht­ ti beang used os o church, os o school or os o home, ond
111 11◄ tects. lhe s,mple, luc1d Aoor plon ond the pudty ol lhe ,n lls essenliol suilobility lor mony purposes lhis elemenl•
elevoJion moke lhe building on unporolleled example of ory Hoor plon represenls o kind of archetype. Especíolly
obwlute orchitectu1e, and of lhe orchitecturol world os o unique as lha woy i n which lhe enlirely symmelricol loyoul

2S0 usso•s IOl SIUDIUS ,. U(MIIHIUtE

 �
•

1
•
1• 1

••••

•
• y� •
•

�r-L
• •
• •

715 '"
Ili 118
•••• 119 110
n1 ,n
 accommodates the four idenlical loggios olong the laur
façodes. There is indeed no lronl, no bock, no side; the
building is the some on oll sides • ol leosl os long as you
look ot it Iram the oubide. lnside the building the situotion
is different. Vou con well imagine choosing which loggio
to sit on depending on the lime of doy and the $tlOSon, for
• ond this is quite remorkoble • olthough all laur ore
identicol, each offers o completely dilferent experience.
Not only does the sunlight hove o different effect on eoch
side, olso the views are completely dilferent • ai the
avenue leoding up to the house, ol the gorden, ol the
formlond belonging to the villo ond ai the hills beyond.
Thus it is in the urbon contel<I thot this free-slonding villo
monilests its most charocleristic quolitilies. From the
oulside you con survey lhe house ín ils entirety, but it is
inside the building thot the díversity of spotiol sensotions
coo be experienced to the full. Countleu orchiteclure
historíons hove devoted studies lo this particular villo, bul
whot Pollodio himself had to 1,0y obout il is lar more
interesting. Polladio's own main concern wos, apporently,
the magnilicenl views on all sides. So you see that it is not
enough to look ai a building from lhe outside olone, bul
thot ill true quolity con be appredoted only when you
olso look out ot lhe surroundings Iram the inside.
Unlortunalely the building is not open lo lhe public, so íf
yau wonl to gel lhe leel of it yau will hove to 90 and see
Joseph losey's film 'Don Giovanni', which wos shot for lhe
mosl pari in ond oround this villo.
'Amongst mony honouroble Vicenline genllemen, there is
Monsignor Poolo Americo, on ecclesiostil, ond who wos
referendory lo two supreme Popes, Pio lhe fourth ond liflh,
ond who for his merit, dese<Ved lo be mode o Ramon
cilizen wilh o// his fomily. This gentlemon ofter hoving
lrovelled mony yeors 0111 of o desire of honovr, o// his
relotions being deod, come to his nolive country, ond for
his recreolion retired lo one of his country-houses up-0n o
hi/1, less tlion o quorler of o mife dislonl from lhe cily,
where he has built occording to the following invention:
which I hove nol thavght proper lo place omongst lhe
fobrics of víllos, becouse of lhe proximity il hos with the
city, whence il moy be soid la be ln lhe very city. The site
is os p/eosonl ond as delighilul os con be found, becouse
il is upon o smo/1 hí/1, of very eosy occess, ond is wotered
on one side by the Bocchiglione, o novígoble river; ond
on lhe other il is encompossed wilh mosl pleosonl risings,
whích look like o very greol theatre, ond ore o//
cuftivoted, ond obound with most excellent lruils, ond
most exquisife vin&J: ond lherefore, os il enjoys from
every por/ mosl beoulifuf vlews, some ol which ore
limíted, some more extended, ond olhers thot termino/e
with the horizon; lhere ore loggios made in oll lhe four
lronls; under lhe Roor af which, ond af the ho/1, ore lhe
rooms for lhe convenlency ond use of the fomily. The ho/1
2S2 LfSSO-.$ 101 SIOOUIS U H(HIH[IUI!
is in the midd/e, is round, ond receiveds ils lighl From
obove. The smo// rooms ore divided ofl. Over the greot
rooms (lhe vou/Is of which ore occording lo lhe first
method/ there is o p/oce to wolk round lhe ho/1, fifteen loot
ond a half wide. ln lhe extremity of lhe pedeslals, thot form
o supporl to lhe slairs ol lhe loggios, there are stolues
made by the hands of Messer Lorenzo Vicenlino, o very
exce/lenl seu/pior.
IAndreo Pall..d,o, 1 Otialtro libri D�J/" AtcM1e11Uro.Ve"ice l 5701
Kierarchy
Persons or thint• con be dlffwent ond yet eqwl.
Whether you volue the one m«e thon the other
dependi on the sltvotlon you ore ln ond on th• value
it represerm for you ot thot "'°'"ent. Justos the
impomtnw dependa on the situation you ore in, 10
the sltuotlon dependa on o variety of ext.rnol foctors
(tflinJt of the differenc• in the importonce of wote, ln
the d ..en ond ln a country nice Hollcmd, for inttance�
When people or thlngs ore unequal, th.y tend to be
tNGtecl unequally, too, And when thot inequollty Is
embodlecl ln a 1y1tem of valuatlon ln which
clusification in degrMS of importance takH place, you
have hletorchy. ly equlvalence I mean diff.,ent people
o, thlngs whkh you value equolly and whkh you con
das1ify CKcording to a value system without thot
rtiulting ln IMqVOtlty.
lhe following exomple fTom J.Hordy mak.. this clear:
lf you want to clo11ify o number of books occording lo
value oncl you start by moking o pile with the most
valu-able book on top and the leo,t valuable one at the
bottom, then this pile wlll, essentiaUly, rept'fffflt o
hlerarchy. Now lf you place the boolcs vertlcalty ln the
sarne order then thelr posltion will be sNn to be
equivalent rnn thovgh the dmtificotion is the same.
lhe d'"-es ore dlll there, but the onler la one of
dlff-• ond not of priority. Of covrse the boolcs co1tld
hove been ordenei occordlng to otfiet criterlo, such 01
accoMli ng to cwthor, aiu, o, dote of publlcotion, but Cll
- os the boolcs have lieen stockecl to fo.111 .. pile
there will lnevltob)y be o top - and o bottom -·
Once hlerarchicol Clffll"9-ntt hove bffn introduced,
they tend to be ffff·perpetvatlng. At first 1ight one
might wondff wfMtther hl-rchy ln archlted\n'e • as fa,
os obfects anel the clemond1 inherent ln them ore
concernecl • Is 1uch o l,ad thlng, but unequol demond,
very soon tive riae to uneqval situations, which «1n ln
tlim easity contribtne to lneqvallty omong peo,le. Thcrt
is especioUy lncllned to hoppen when you con only
think ln terms of yovr own pen-1 standards, ond are
autor

therefore unable to relativize them vis à vis different
1ituation1. When de1'9nl119 we make ample use of
cla,lifications of the order of importance of component
ports, as ln a 1trvctvre tomposed of maln beam1 and
1ub1idiary svpports, or in a raad netwonc with main
traffk arterlu and mino, roads. So long as such an
order m-ly reflects a differentiatlon of qualitie1,
there Is no prob.lem. However, when 1uch an order
lmplle1 placi119 one thing abave the other rathff than
side by 1ide, extra cautlon is needed.
An elementory exomple ol spotíol condítions conlirming
inequollty or even contributing to it is the locolion of o
foremon in o loctory, ln o smoll ollice on o roised level so
thot he con keep on eye on everything thol is going on.
But he would be in o better position to judge how the
work is proceeding if he hod more contoct, i.e. il he
stoyed on the some level os those who ore onsweroble to
him. We must fry to avoid pulling lhe person in chorge,
who therefore has o higher position ot lhe worlr.ploce, in o
spotiolly more el evoted position lhon lhe others, in other
words to ovoid plocing undue emphosis on the superiarity
ai hls position within lhe orgonizotion. People in a
physicolly higher position than others ore olwoys ot on
odvontoge over those down below. Even people who ore
simply taller tha.n overoge ore ot an odvontoge, ond if
there is o choice between top ond bottom J:>unk-beds the
top one.s ore olwoys token lirst. ln everydoy longuoge,
too, people 'look up' to others or 'look down' on them,
ond the hierorchical implicotions ol these expressions
refer directly to the some kind of spotiol precondltions in
orchitecture. li is necessory to consider olwoys whether a
roised posilion is reolly lunctionol, os in the cose of the
wheelhouse on o ship or lhe sloge direclor's box in the
theotre, ond to take core thot those peop le with more
decision-making powers than others ore nol outomaticolly Col1H11blo Un1voull)',
Nn,Yo,i
permitted to dominote lhe workpface on the levei ol
spotiol orgonizotion, too. ln an office buifding lhe
managers ond deporlment heods soon doim the most
attraclive rooms for themselves, regordl8$s of whether
lhose rooms ore the most appropriote ones lar them on the
functionol level. ln the Centroof Beheer office the senior
staff deliberotely occupied the more inword.fooking 'work•
isfonds', which ore less lovourabfy pfoced os for as the
view outsíde is concerned. Thus lhe general criterion ol
'quofity' with resped lo the workpfoce wos relotivized: in
no woy did the spolial orgonizotion reoffirm the hierorchy
within the compony, in foct it hod o mitigoling effect. ln
the yeors since the office Centrool Beheer wos built lhere
hos been o generol tendency to reinstale the troditionaf
hierorchic refationships, but the monoging directors still
occupy the some offices, ond the oreas occupied by lhe
fower echelons are still unoffected by this trend.
Anologous exomples con be lound in the scale ol urban
plonning. Thus there is a slrong tendency to make the
focalion of lhe more expensive dwellings more ottroctive
ond thus to dislinguish between cheop ond expensive
housing. There is nol so much wrong wilh thol, provided
the greoter ottroclion ol the more expensive housing is nol
achieved ot the expense of cheoper housing, thereby 113
unnecessorily widening the gop between the two. This is
the cose when the more expensive type of dwellings are
oll situoted on the edge ai o housing estofe, thus
obstructing the view of lhe cheoper type of dwellings
crowded together in the middle. The more fovouroble the
locotion of o residential neighbourhood, with o view, say,
of o pleosing landscope, the more lhe orchitecl wifl feel
motivoted to 'do something with it' ... ond more olten thon
not that meons making o grond gesture in the form ol on
elongated, muhi-storeyed aportment building, for instance
• but where does thal leave the houses ond streels furlher
bocki The greoter the number of dwellings ln o beoutiful
locotion, the greoter the number of dwellings in the oreo
whose view is obstructed, ond lhe greater the difference
between privileged ond under•privileged local residents.
With each solutian we come up wlth we must ask
ourselves whether the 1potial conditions are equally
di1tributed and whethtf', deliNrately or acddentalfy,
our solutions rlslt reconflnni119, on the spatlol level, that
whkh wos olready dubiovs on the social leve!, Even lf
archit.ctvre as ,ucJi can pemopJ exert only a minor
inffwnce on the hierardticol relations withln sodety,
then at least we ca:n try to avoid und.Koring that
hierarchy and instead propase spotial conditlons to
covnt.r it. To whot extent can architecture hcrve a
politicol implication? 11 there such a thi119 os totalltarlan
architecture, or democrotic: orchitedure, or are thue
 term1 merely fanciful interpretation1 baMd on o
penonol fMllng ond thus without ony general validity?
Everyone ia indindecl ta experience ex�..•ively large­
acale building1 which dwarf human being1 as oppr••·
1iv1, anel indeecl all tataliterian r19ime1 demonstrate a
remari(able fondness for awe•inspiring dimenslons. Thls
is tspecially obvious when tht buildings that are
-ted by such a regime a re in fact blown•.up versions
of an old, even familiar world and style of archltecture.
lut not every building that is hug• necessarily exude,
an oppressive atmosphere. lndeed, the very lack of
acce11ibility, or even a forbidding 1tructure lik, that o f
many mecf.. val castles, need nat ne<essarily be
experienced as oppres1iv1 eith.er • the inhabítanh may
well be friendly people whost forbear, had ta defend
lhemselve1 again,t a haltile outside world. ly reversai
of o sltuation o f context orchltectvre con also tolce on a
724 IV
ns 111
,,. 119
'
1
1
Plo<t SiooislOJ OfldPloe. de lo Corriitt, No11ey 1151..SS/ H E H.ró
254 LISSO•S rol SIIOOIS ,� U(fflrHIUrt
different meaning • fiice a formal, impressive flight of
steps can turn into an informal, friendly grandstand,
Furthermore our sense of what one con and connat do in
architecture often arises from lhe ossodation that a
�tt1ain form or architectvral idiom evoke in us.
Closslclsm, for lnstonce, tends to be ossocioted with
authoritorion regimes, because we know thot lt wos
favou-red by tho,e regimes, ond so evidently held
ctt1ain speclal attractlons for them and presumably
suited their purpoM1, StiU, it is not quiff as 1impl• as
that: for there are certaln dosskist bulldings that hove a
frlendly and by na meaM outhoritarian app.aranee. To
name just a few of them: the Palois Royal in Paris, the
Crescent1 in lath, and Klein Glieneclc, Ca1tle in lerlin.
And o clas-slcist design can even be lhe expresslon of
undlsputed democratic intentions, ,uch a, lhe Plac,e
Stoni1las and lhe Ploce de la Carriire in Nancy. The one
l J1
\
Royal Cro,ceol, Sor/, 1161-74/J Wood, J No1h
aspect thot show unequivocolly whether on Scblou K�I• G�.,,,cle.
S..t.• 1 B26/ K Sc/,fnlel
environment is authoritarlan or toleNnt is the deeree of
freedom offered by the orvanization of the archltectural
space for indeed Iode of itl to choose one's visval focus
of oltentian: is ane's attentlon fordbly drown to o 1l"9le
polnt or is one free to ignore thctt focua anel conc:entrote
o n other ospects, other featurn of one's own choosing.
lhe most elementory example 11 perilapa the diffet.nce
between a round toble and a redangular -• The
round toble offers identkal condltions to all who 1it at
it: there is no spotiol •un••tion whataoever as to who
might be more important thon the athers. Wlth a
rectangular table the situoJlon is obviou� diffennt.
Such differentiotion of places need not, of coune, cause
problems, ond u1ually doesn't but ln cenoin 1ltuation1 it
could encouroge a tendency towarda 1bo11ine1.a' • whlch
is not suffident ...ason to get rid of ali rectangular •

tobles and malce only rounel ones from now on, but ltill /Jl
thue kinds of ,mall detoll• are often only the 130
beglnning. ln office buildlnga, for instonce, the ahe of 731
the room indicate1 how 'high up' the occupant i1 in the 73!
hiffllrchy, thereby lgnoring functlona:I criteria · the
managen a:re the anly onea who a,e allowed to place
their de1k dlagonally. mn lf archit.cture ln itHlf cannot
be blarned for abuH of power, anel certainly cannot
prevent it, it is 1urely better to guard ogainat creafin9
spotiol conditlons in whlch 'bo11ine11' thrivea.

The most ex1reme exomple of obuse ol spotiol condilions is

Hltler's insistence on sitting ol o desk on o roised plotform
ot the end of o very long, high room so thol visitors would
-
hove lo cover o conslderoble distonce while he looked
•�.:,:
� -ti..... .. _..
_ ,l_ down o t lhem: o colculoted effort to moke lhe visitar feel
Polo� Ro yal, P�s 1780/) ,V,ll,,,r, smoll ond unsure of himself. There ore mony other less
extreme exomples of misuse of spoce, not olwoys
intenlionol, perhops, but due to lock of foresighl.
Funclionol solulions 1h01 oppeor quite innocenl con turn out
to reilerole lhe exertiori of power. Think of the stor-shoped
orrongemenl of lhe bookcoses in mony librories, wilh lhe
tupervlsor in lhe middle so thot he or she con oversee
everything ai one glonce - like in o prison. And lhe
persistence of those rídiculous little bolconies on the lronts
ol 'importonl' public buildings which, however pleosing lhe
sculpturol elfect on lhe front foçode, ore reolly only suitoble
for 'tolking down' lo on ossembl ed group of people.

1n111�, ro1•
1 •
 MOSOUE, COROO&A, SPAJN 786-1009 {134-710)
This mosque, founded in lhe eighth century, consists ol
severo! orchitecturol componenls logether forming o lorge
holl ol obout 135 x 135m. Unlike Christian churches, o
mosque is bosicolly o piece ai holy lond, rectongulor in
shope endosed by wolls ond filled with columns: o sort of
foresl of petrilied trees with voults ond cupolos overheod.
Although the orientolion to Mecco is oll-importont in the
Mohommedon religion, it does not ploy o porl in this buil"
ding. Here lhere is no oxis expressing o specific
dictotes. Communol proyers ore held in mosqlles, ond
there ore 's.ermons', bul moslly people proy individuolly.
The vosl spoce of the holl in the Cordobo mosque con
occommodote o huge crowd ol worshippers, whose sole
points ol referente in the spoce ore lhe numerous
columns, il only beco11se people con leon ogoínst them:
there ore no seots, everyone sils on the íloor. But the
mosque olso serves os o lorge rooled public squore,
where people come for peoce ond coolness besides.
proye,. The fores! ol columns orticulotes ond defines lhe

.[ .•..•..•..
orientotion opor! from the obvious procticol constructionol spoce in such o woy thot there is no single explicitly

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136 131

156 l!SSO•S FOI s1utr•1s IN U(NllfClUU

centrol locus • the locus con shilt onywhere in the spoce.
However strong the religious imposilions of lslom moy
hove been, the spoce of the Cordobo masque itself does
not impose onything on its visilors: il welcomes ony group
of people, regordless of lheir purpose. AI ony rote thot
wos lhe siluolion untíl, in lhe sixleenth cenlury, o huge
hole wos cut into lhe heorl of the mo�que to moke roam
for o Christian church. The church wos duly erected, in
spite of vehement opposition from those who reolized how
much irreporoble domoge this would do lo o building thot
is unique in the world.
This disostrous undertoking resulted in lhe creotion of o
centre which, due to the sheer size of lhe new structure
ond il{ position in the middle of lhe spoce, inevilobly
become o mercileuly dominoting leolure. li is quite
remorkoble how lhe church wilh ils 10II windows letting in
the brighl sunlighl clomours for ottenlion, overwhelming
the old environment with its finer orticulotion and subdued
light. Regordless ol where you stand in the building, you
con never gel owoy fiam the influence o! whol hos
undeniobly become the moin oreo; o spolial hierorchy hos
been inescopobly ond lrreversibly estoblished, whíle
obsolute equivolence ruled lhe spoce os a whole
originolly.
Becouse the original spoce had no explicit centre ai
ottenlion, the centre could be onywhere ond of ony size,
depending on the situotion ond lhe number o! people.
Withoul imposing any particular arder or type of use the
spoce (more like a covered morkel thon o ploce of
wor·ship) presented itsell os open ond responsive to every 738 139
form of ottention. And thus this spoce, unlike the lorge
'columnless' masques ln lstonbul, represented the
orchetypol covered public squore.
 l'ton S1 Pe1er'1 / 8. Peruzzi Pfon S1. Pe.ter's / S,omoote Pio• SI P11er's / MlcAelongefo

ST. Prn�•s. ROME •IO·IS?I opportunlty imoginoble for linding o ploce wi1h the
lhe comporison of a few moments from the histary of St. proportions, intimocy ond connedion wllh the olhers
Peter's helps to clorify much obout lhe altitude ond ideos needed ot thot particular time. The closer you get to the
ol lhe orchitects involved, precisely becouse lhe building centre the more open il becomes, which glves more scope
is such o powerlul symbol of hierorchy. Even when history for communol octivity.
is obscure on lhe subject the plons themselves, if regorded The plon is orgonized os o succession of ploces, eoch of
os projections af the orchitects' consciences, ore still oble which forms o centre in relotlon lo those oround it bul no
lo tell their own slory obout the stondpoints ond leelings spoce domlnotes ony olher, so thot the spoce in lhe
of lhe people who designed lhem. mlddle does not necessorlly hove to be the principal
li seems lo me thot the Peruzzi plon, which prompted spoce os well, but could ciso be regorded os the hollwoy
these considerotions, would be difficult lo surposwn to centres situoted oround il. So this plon Is o perfecl
richne-Ss. As o schemotic plon is octuolly not much more ex.omple o l the principie of equolity expressed in spotiol
141 141 141 thon a diogram, but os an orchetype it could ciso serve os orgonizotion. lts exceptionol spotlol quolities, moreover,
o bosís for mony other things, moybe very differenl Iram o enoble eoch pari lo be inlerpreled seporolely even though
144 church. Toke o school, for instonce, where the clossrooms this interprelolion will hove on iníluence on lhe
could hove thelr own seporole domoin ln lhe towers, surrounding paris, ond vice verso, becouse of the open
while the spoce in its entirety olfers groups the greotesl orgonizotion.
This polyvolence Is thus onli-hierarchicol in principie; you
could 90 even furlher ond soy 1h01 it is o spotiol model of
lreedom of opinion ond choice, whereby vorlous opinions
ore oble to influence eoch other withoul dominoting
becouse of lhe 'tronsporency' of the whole.
Just Imagine whot it would be like if this plon hod been
worked out furlher ond built insteod of whot is there now,
• with its one-sided relolionships lhol ocluolly could olreody
hove been detected ol the plonning stoge.
The proportlons, lhe orticulotion, lhe relotionship of
enclosure to the penelrotion of spoces, bolh os such ond
with respecl to eoch olher, lhe concovity ond convexity of
wolls, the directions, the entrances ond thelr positions, oll
combine to form the spotiol orgonizotion which
determines whether o plon lends itself lo the promolion of
dominotion or equolity. Thus spotiol relotionships exert on
inRuence on lhe relolionships between people.
Another equolly vital dilference between the plons of both
Bromante ond Peruzzi ond thol of Michelongelo is to be
found in the principie of occessibility. lhe consistent
symmelry os well os lhe composition of the plons of
Peruzzi ond Bromante suggest severol enlronce-S on oll
sides, ond lhe Bromante plon even proposes twelve
entrances ond exits oll together: Michelongelo hos only

258 lfSSo,,s rot Sl�OtMIS IX lt(KIIICIUII

 ••
•

Ili
unmistokobly become lhe foçode ond thol implies o bock SI. P•�'• Squato,
••...,�... "'""· 193$
ond sides, ond lhe moin oxis which Moderno wos loter lo
·_..._
····- ..... extend wilh his oddition lo the church is olreody indico1ed
�
in Michelong�lo's plon. So the spoliol interprelolion ol the
cenlrolized, híerorchicol woy ol thinking which hos
olwoys chorocterized the Church wos irrevocobly
inlroduced into lhe orgonizotion of the building. 141 ,.,
While o certoin resislonce lo this hierorchy con be 111
detected in Michelonge lo's rother lorced ottempl to give 141
ot leosl lhe lour interior sides the some volue, Moderno
seems to hove hod no problem with it ol oll. His oddilion

SI P•JM'• Scfuoto,
1ít•ol>oo ali., 1935

one entrance which is further occentuoted, moreover, by o

colonnode ond steps. So, olthough his interior is still
symmetricol the occent on lhe exterior definitely falis on
the side with the only entrance. The focl thol you con only
go in ond out on one side would undoubtedly imposes
one direclion on lhe interior, ond causes its cenlre of
grovity lo shift in such o woy 1h01 the symmelricol lorm
would be belied by use. Bromonte's mony entrances help
to esloblish lhe independence ond equolity of lhe vorious
spoces, ond lhey ciso seem to be soying thot people ore
welcome from oll sides ond direclions.
Michelongelo ollered lhe proportions of the spolíol units
so thot the whole church virtoolly become one centro!
spoce. lf there shoold still be ony doubts thot his oim in
doing lhis wos to creole condilions which would shift lhe
focus of ollenlion lo the centre, lhen lhis single moin
entrance is enough lo dispel them. One side hos

jUllfN� 1or• 159

 51. l'otu', 5q.,.,,.,
""9'""if19/G. 8,/>iron.sl
of o nove definitely formed o spotiol moin oxis, which
focuses the ottenlion on lhe centre of Michelongelo's plon
no motter where one is in lhe building. li lhus becomes
bolh lhe centre ond the finol point of ottention. Everyone
knows his ploce now, so clority ond order hove been
inexorobly esloblished in the orchileclure, thus
demonslroling its subservience to power.
'lhe squore or piozzo which Bernini loter ploced opposife
the church, olreody compleled by Moderno, is nol only o
lesson in urbon plonning bul ciso in counlerpoint. lhe
spoce enclosed by the circular, curved colonnodes forms,
149 os it were, on independenl counterpoint to lhe church. lhe
oxis. However, eoch holf ol lhe ovei hos its own
geomelric centre ond, moreover, lhe lwo fountoins ciso
serve os centres ol grovlty, os it were, despife lheir
positions on the edge of eoch cirde segmenl of lhe ovol
enclosed by the colonnodes.
lhe centres of borh holves of the oval ore situoted outside
lhe oxis ond i l is there, on either side within these lwo
holves • between the founroins ond colonnodes • thot the
feeling of being insíde is strongest. However, we musl
olso realize thol Bernini's plon is lorn from its contexl in
lhe present situolion, with o yowning spoce l n lronl of il,
insteod of lhe intimole Rusliccucl square, with ils informal
otmosphere, locing the oval. Otherwise, occording lo
Bernini's plons, the squore would hove hod o final,
enclosing orchileclure which would not only hove
increosed ils seclusion but would also hove resulted in the
officiol entroncas being situoted lo ellher side of rhe oxis
insleod of upon it.
Bernini's truly original counterpolnt reaches how
opproaching violence could be checked. ln the working­
oul of this ingenious orchi!eclurol concepl he olso showed
rhol he hod lhe right ottitude ond lhe right feeling lo be
oble to ccrry through whot must hove been his oims so

ISO
independence of lhe ovei port is furlher increosed by lhe
Icei thol il is nol direclly connecled to lhe church, nor
- - ---- -
does lhe oval serve, literolly speoking, os o sorl of
gotewoy lo il. Alter ali, lhe lropezoidol forecourt resulting
lrom lhe receding connecting orms is situoted in-between.
This recession cerloin ly does no! mole the foçode of the
church more imposing, os is sometimes cloimed in on
ottempt lo inlerprel Bernini's plon in terms of the
perspeclive power of these orms. However, since lhe
perspeclive is reversed ít octuolly increoses lhe dislonce
ond, seen from the church, it promotes independence, if
onything. li seems to me thot the connecting orms were
nol mede lo recede for the soke ol perspective, but
becouse of Moderno's locode which wos extremely wide
in the límlled spoce ovoiloble, ond becouse of lhe need lo
connect wi!h the oval. Thonks to Bernini, whotever his
objeclives with regord lo the Church moy hove been, lhe
church hos been relegoted to lhe distonce, in spite of ils
ploce ol honour.
The colonnodes enclose o seporole spoce wilh o form of
ils own. lt is lhe occommodoling polenliol of this colossal
spoce which theorelicolly enobles rhe crowd of people
there to ossemble either in front of or opposite the church,
or even lo lurn their bocks on il.
Although rhe squore is situoled on the moin oxis of lhe
church it does nol reolly enhonce il. Only the geogrophic
centre morked by lhe exisling obellsk, whlch Bernini hod
to toke inlo occount, is ocluolly situoted 011 the church

260 IISSOfS 101 SIUDIRTS II lt(ftllHTUII

consislently thot they ore olso eosy lo discern in the paris.
The fourfold colonnode, no mere portilion but o
substontiol building itself, forms o visual boundory which
is enough to give both holves of the ovol lhe effecf of
being wolled. looking through th1s enclosure you coo see
the neighbouring houses which thus remoin ever•presenf
so thot the two worlds, both shoped occording to o logic
of their own, lhe one informolly ond unpoved, lhe other
entirely sculpturolly formed, complemenl eoch other in
their controsf. This, moreover, results in beoutiful spoces
in-between. Only when viewed from lhe centres of the
oval segmenls, where lhe lour rows of columns ore, os il
were, in conjunclion, does the 'woll' lose ifs enclosing
copocity ond become tronsporent. Oid Bernini do oll this
deliberotely, ond if so whot does it molfer? After oll, his Mussolini who personolly gove lhe orders in 1934 to
surprisingly original solufion works ond thot's ali thol
counfsl
For neorly three centuries o sorf of orchiteclurol balance
continued lo e)ost between the church ond Bernini's
squore, even withoul lhe final orm which would hove
consolidoted its counterpoint lo the church, ond would
hove mode it more dillicult to breok open. Of course those
who wonted to give even greoler expression to the power
•
' urbon plonning.' 1(6]1
-�,-·
of the Church hove olwoys oimed to breok it open ond the F,.,. loh lo nght
1 ª'º"'°"''
street grid olso helped to promete if. However, it wos 2 Mtcltofoogolo
3 Modcmo
demolish lhe 'Spino'I So this celebroted neighbourhood , s.,.,.r
5 P1oc,,n1r11, ond
wos duly reploced by the orchitecls Pocenlini ond Spo«or.U,
Spoccorelli with the cheerless setting of tbe Via dello
Conciliozione. Foscism ond the Church come lo terms with
eoch other in lhe field of urbon plonning, ond il is dillicult
to imagine o more literal expression ol their social
inlenlions. The oxis which originoled from Michelongelo's
single moin entrance wos thus extropoloted ond blown up
lo lhe scole of the city. This ploced the church ln lhe visual
field, thus expressing ils dominotion in the conlexJ ol lll
112
Bernini's squore is not only o mognilicenl counlerpolnl lo
the church, il is olso ond especiolly lhe firsl public squore
in lhe world nof to hove been shoped by the buildings
surrounding it. li is in foct on edilice in ils own right, with
the colonnodes forming two tronsporent yet sturdy
foçodes. lnsteod of being leflover spoce, the squore itself
Is the focus of ottantion thonk.s to the shifl in emphosis
Iram lhe octuol buildings to lhe urbon spoce between
them.
it looks os il the orchitecl deliberotely designed the ovei
oreo between the rondom irregular edges of the
surrounding neighbourhoods with o view to creoting o
new urbon spoce ln ils own right, thereby giving lhe
residual frogmenfs of spoce o cerloin form ond stolure,
too.
The conlrosl between thls lorge ellipficol form with ils
groceful geometricol design ond the historicolly evol ved
urbon fobric o! the surrounding oreo inlo which li wos
inserted musl hove been especiolly spectoculor when lhe
squore with lts obelísk ond fountoin were built, since il
wos lhe only consistently poved ond properly droined
ploce in lhe city ai the lime,
INUIU� IOIM
M;,11,
 Fronts and bodu

The example of the differ11nt 1ta9e1 of development of

St. Petw's and lernini's square show how an:hiteds
can abuH spoce in arder to lmpreJs, or conveHely
how they can use it to help create equality between
men ond thing1. . lt also conflrmJ how problemotical the
posilion of the architect has always been, dependent
aJ he always was on the lorge sums of money that
weNI necusary for him to actuolly realize hi. s ideos
TIM,Hoppy Fomily/
Jan s1e,n /1625-79/ and all too often he allowed himnlf to mali:e
concessions ln the end, So he always hod a subservient
role, anel he wos nearly alway1 in the se,vice of the 0UTCH P-'JNTElS
r11lgnin9 poweH, anel conseqi»ntly allowed him_self t o Dutch pointing is especiolly remorkoble for the focl 1h01
be used time anel again as a tool ln the hands of a few- the subjects ore mostly quite ordinory, nJIH)f-the-rnill
rather than of the c.ommunlty ot lorge. situolions wlth quite ordinory people. Even when the
Throvghovt history architects have been involved subjecl hos o signiliconce thot tron�ends the ordinory •
mainly ln building pyramids, temples, churche, and ond whol better medium thon pointing to mole li do so •
paloces, and hctrdly or not at ali in providing dwellings there ís o tendency to interprel the lolty subjecl ln terms ol
for ordinary people. Archltects as a rule concerned on everydoy situotion. Dut,h pointers did not poy much
themJelvu only with the ovt-af.the-ordinary, and on ottention to the problem ai the gods, nor for the woys in
the rare occasions that they did have to consider the which they monipulote men; ond their potrons, too, hod
fods of everyday life il was always in Nllation to the little power lo dictole the woy they wonled themselves ond
ovtward appearonce of a building, and very often their possessions porlroyed.
153 quite spedfically with the front, the �ode of a house AII the more numerous, lhen, ore lhe domestic scenes,
that had to looli: granel. such os Von Gogh's 'Patola Eolers' ond of course Jon
15◄ 155 The hi1tory of architeduNI Is a history of façades · the Steen's interiors, which offer us o glímpse of life behind
buildings Hem to have had no bacli:1 ai alll Architects lhe scenes. Such pointings show people in info,mol
alwoys sean:hed for a formal order · they preferN1d to situotions. Even though there were mosfers ond servonts,
lgnoNI the other slde of the coin, the bustle of everyday
Tha Counny Hou••I life, Anel this is still largely true today, even though the
Pietet de Hoogh design of public housing has in lhe course of this
(1629-84/
century become a full•fledged bronch of architecture.
Behínd 1/ie Schonkweg/ TheNI is stíll thot invisible anel subconsdou, cfjviding
Vl""nl .-on Gogh
(1853-90/
Une between an:hitedure with a capital A and withovt.

-t.

262 llSSOIS fOI SlUt!MIS U IICH IHCIOll

 The Ullle S1reet/
Johonmu Ve,meer
{1632-75)

lhe woy ln wh ich the men ond women, tromps ond

musicions, children ond pets oppeor to coexist does not
give one the lmpression lhot diHerences in soe1ol status,
sueh os they were, were octuolly eullivoled. ln ony cose
the greol ortists did nol di�loy particular interest m such
motters, whlle their keen sense of proportion surely mode
them interesled in showing whol wos reolly going on. occessibilily, ond the integrolion lnlo lhe urbon context_
Anolher ortisl, Pieter de Hoogh, shifls his alfention • os From o formal order in which primory ond secondory
soon os he steps outside lhe house • to the bock yord, to lunclions ore disposed in o fixed hierorchy lhe ottenlion
the informal side of lhings llike Von Gogh, in foctl. Even shif1ed lo on inlerreloted whole in which primory ond
in Hollond's mosl fomous poinling, 'The Nightwotch', the secondory functions become interchongeoble, depending
emphosis is nol reolly on the lortilude ond brovery ol lhe on their role wilhin lhe orgonizolion os o whole ond on
soldiers ol the civic guord, becouse of the liveliness of the how thot role is oppreciated - in olher words, depending H6 151

scene with children ond dogs runníng oround. Sure on one's viewpoinl ond vonloge poinl.
enough, ali sorts of symbolic meonings ore ottribuled lo 158

these secondory figures, bul 1h01 does nol delroct Iram lhe
inlormolity of lheir presence in lhe compony. And our nexl
most lomous poínting, Vermeer's 'Slreel in Dellt', shows
both bock ond lronl. lhe locotion ltsell is, olmosl os o
moller ol course, lhe bock yord, os usuol locing lhe slreel
ond os usual peopled by diligenl women, cleoning,
sewing ar indeed pouring milk like lhe woman undeniobly
domínolíng the scene.
lhe Dulch Old Mosters 1h01 ore treosured os greot
mosterpieces by lhe world's leoding museums ond to
which Hollond owes its repulolion os o nolion of poinlers
conloin on obsolule deniol ol lhe dlslinclion between
formal ond informal.
lhe Dutch poinlers o/ lhe seventeenlh cenlury demonstrole
how lhe principie ol equolity hos olwoys been rooted in
our trodition os o moller ol course, ond it is undoubtedly
lhonks lo lhis trodition thot on orchiteclure 1h01 wos
neilher intended lo impress nor lo oppress could develop,
wilh o non-hierorchicol spoliol orgonizotion ond o foirly
down-lo-eorth otlention lo bolh people ond lhe utilitoríon
ospecls of lhings. lt wos nol unlil lhe lwentieth century thot
lhe world o/ orchiteclure .slorted concerning itsell with Ni9htwo1t::h/R•mbrond1 vun Jiin / 1606-69)
public housing construclion, ond il is nol so surprisíng thot
lhe Outch were omong lhe firsl - for once • lo lronsfer lhe
focus of ottention from lhe formal exterior lo lhe essence
of o dwelling: lhe orgonizotion ol lhe Roor plon, of lhe
 •

! 1 1
IJ.

lE CORBUSIER, FORMAI AND INfORMAL
No one hos been more successful ol bridging the gop
belween formal arder ond daily life than le Corbu,ier, lhe
lwentieth century architect por e,icellence. Without ever
octvolly quoting lorms lrom lhe post, he derived hls formal
languoge not only lrom the clossicol monuments thot he
,s, visíted on his mony lravels, but olso from primilive
formhouses ond especiolly from whot the new
160 technologíes hod lo afiar. He transformed o mlxture of
oceon liners, oeroplones, troins, Greek ond Romon
columns, voults, mos.sive stone wolls, ond modest adobe
dwellings into on orchiteclure in which oll these
ingredients con be losted without them belng individuolly
recognizoble.
His kitchen Is suffused with o rich bouquet of aromas Iram
diverse ploces ond historicol periods, rich ond poor, city
ond counlryside indiscrimotely. His inspirotíon come from
oll over the world, bul especiolly from his direcl
surroundings • ond he wos receptive to mony things thot
ora usuolly shunned by orchilects. You nead only look
corefully ot one of his mony perspective drowings (oftan
outlined 'orchitectonicolly' by o droughtsmon ond then

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1
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264 llSSO�S 101 SIUOIWIS 1• UCHIIICIUII
lilled in by himselij lo see o voriely ol everydoy leolures like il before regorded this new world ol lorms os on
which would be rejeded by most orchirecrs os bourgeois exclusive novelty, but in spire ol lheir originolity, the greot
but which, os he reolízed full well, would shope lhe reolity rough blocks of concrete resembling ortíliciol rocks ore so
of everydoy exisfence once the building wos compleled. integroted in the surroundings os to blend into the
When le Corbusier used rhe term 'o mochine for living' he londscope, ond in thot sense they hove o certoin
wos referring no! so much lo perlection ond aulomotion fomilioríty for the local inhobilonls. for lhe rough
but rother to o speciol ottention for how o dwelling unfinished concrele struclures, so unlike the lightness ond
ocluolly funclions ond how it should lherefore be designed smoolhness of stereotyped modern buildings, ore nol
wilh thol in mind. reolly so for removed from the lroditionol homes lhe local
ln Le Corbusier's loter works (alter the Second World populolion built for themselves. Ir is becouse ol their vosl
Wor) ond especiolly in rhe buildings he deslgned in lndlo proportions ond mossiveness 1h01 Le Corbusier's buildings
it seems, 01 lirsr, os il the people occupy o rother dominote the surroundings, certoinly not becouse of ony
subsidiory posilion os o resulr of o shift in emphosis to on outhoritorion echoes i n lhe orchiteciurel And rhere is no
unprecedenred sculprurol lorm. He decided to locus his !roce ol references lo clossicist lorms, nor indeed to ony
ottention on rhe seol ol governmenf in Chondigorh, the other lorms rhot mighr evoke ossociolions with the exerlion
new capital of the Punjob for which he supplied lhe urbon of power.
plon; the design of the dwellings wos lefl to others. This Thus these buildings con be opprooched jusl os wetl
new odminislrolive complex wos to give expression lo lhe riding o donkey as riding in o limousine, ond people look
hope ond oplimism with which the lrogicolly lmpoverished the some inside ond oulside regordless of whelher they
subconlinent sought to develop into o new, modern stote - ore weoring ex.pensive dothes or ore shobbily dressed. lt
o dreom in which orchitecture olfers people o woy out ol evidently mokes lillle difference, here, who you ore ond
their dismol situation. whol you represent.
The monumental sculpturol power of the form Le Corbusier
conjures up before our eyes is owe-inspiring ond fontosfic. PARllAMfNT BUIIOING, (HANDIGARH, INOIA 1962/
Sul isn't ir oll rother more for orchitecls thon for the I..E CoR&IJSlfR 17ól,16ll 761
people in thot cfly? More for those in power thon for the Especiolly lhe moín holl oround the ossembly roam is
electoroJe? Yes ond no. AI first sight it would seem so, bur uniquely spocious. As big os o cothedrol, lilled with lhe
rhe exfroordinory rhing is thot he succeeded in ovoiding tallesr columns you ever sow, 1hls spoce gives you the
rhis pilfoll, too. Architects who hod never seen onything feeling thot it hos been there for lhousonds o l yeors.

IIVIIIM& fOII 26S

IU
lt could os eoslly hove been used os o morkel, 01 os o
ploce ai worship, ar for greol feslívities yoú con imagine
lhi_s space os lhe setling for o very wade ronge of evenls,
over o very long period ai lime.
These loter des19ns by Le Corbusier could qu1le easily
change, you could even fill them up wllh wholever you
like not thot thol wos le Corbusaer's 1nlenhon • w11hout
lhas ever oflecl1n9 lhe ,dentity ol lhe bua ldangs. This mlghl
even be to the1r odvontoge, one doy, 1usl os 1hey will
retoin lheir beouty, when they grow old ond decoy, os o
sort of essenHolly, hobitoble londscope
266 IISSOWS fQi SIU�INIS IW U(HIIIClUII
WATEt RE5ElV01a, SutKEJ, INDIA l 446 • 51 !113)
This lorge reservoir, of which type 1here ore mony in lhe
environs ol Ahmedobod, lndla, wos conceived as on
entouroge for royol reloxolion, bul olso os o woler
reservo1r for periods of droughl Uke everywhere m lndio,
people llock to lhe wolerside every doy lo wosh ond dry
lhe lengths of brightly coloured cloth in which they dress
1hemselves The vost stepped surround ensures 1h01 the
wofer IS olwoys eosily occessible regordiess of lhe level,
while rhe horiz.onlol orticulotion provides everyone wilh
1he1r own 'seclion' ond hence with o temporory lernfory
lf ner on atthitectvral environment d1monstrote how
a pnerous gestvre of royal form can offer spoce to
occommoclate lhe doity life of eountles1 people, it mu1t
be the1e 1tep1 in lndio. They 1how deariy that there
nNd not be on unbridgeoble gop between o formal
orchltectonic arder (wfllch o.rchitects are 10 keen on) on
the one hond and me,ting lhe requiremenb of informal
everydoy occupotion1 (whkh orchltects treot with
dlsdoin) on lhe other, We believe that thl1 gap Is only
unbridgeoble lf the architecta co!IHf'Md are lhemHlve1
locldng in qvality and competence,
The royal or granel gesture need not therefore
automotically exclude everyday llfe, on lhe contrary, if
con lend it a touch of royalty anel gnmdeun the
ordinory bec-1 extraordinary. lt is a widesprffd
miKonception among architects that they 1hould
concern themselve1 with the extraordlnory, i.e. that
they bring the exceptionol down to the levei of th,
ordlnary insteod of rendering the ordinory
,xtroordinory.
ln our wonc we must olway1 aim at qvality on 10
mony leveis a1 ore needed to creote on envlronment
wfllch does not exdusivefy serve a portkulor group of
people bvt whlch 1erv11 ali people. Archltectvre mu,t
be both generous and lnviting to all alik,. Archltectvre
can be desc:ribed as lnviting if its desltn 11 as
fotth<omlng to the ovt11den of 1ocilty 01 to members
of the establishment, and if one covld imagine lt
existing in any other concelvable cultural context.
The archltect 11 like the phy11clan • there Is na roam for 16l
dlacrimlnotion betwNn value1 in his thinking; he must
devote hi1 att.ntion eqvally to all valuu, and he must
"".,·
simply see to it that what he does makes neryone feel
•
BIOGRAPHY The Hogue (Netherlonds)
8NA Cube (lnsrirute ai Dv�h Architects' oword) for his complete
1932 Sorn ,n Am11erclom ceuvre.
1958 Graduo� from 091ft Uni-sily of T&ehnology. Seb up hi1 own offic& Concteie P,iie 10! the Minlshy of Social Welfore ond tmployment,
1959-63 On ed,toriol boord ol the Outth ord1i!ecturoJ mogozine Forum lwith The Hagi,e (Netherlands)
Aldo von Eyck, Joap Salemo ond others) 1993 P,1.. Rhlnon 1993 for the Schoolveraní9in9 Aerdenhout 8entveld
196S-69 lectures ai the Acodemy of A,ch,teclllre, Amsterclam School, Aerdenhout [Neth111londsl
í
197().99 Professar ot �llt Uni•en lly ol Technology 1998 City of Sredo Aword for Archlleclure for the L ,brory and De N euwe
Since 1975 Honorory member ol lhe Académie Roya!e de Selgique Ve1te Centre for Art ond Mulic (Mu1ic ond DarKe deporll'lenr},
Since 1983 Honorory member ol tn• Bund Deurgcher Archi!elran Br•óo INemerfond1J
1986-93 fxlroordinory proleuor o! lhe Universiw ele Geneve Premio1 V,truvío 98 1royectoria lntemodonol lor the entire a,uvre
1990.95 Choirmon ol lhe 8erlo9e lnstilute, Am1terdam (Nethorlond1)
1991 Riclde< in de O,de ,on Oronje Nossou IKnight ol the Orde, o l 2000 School Building Priie 2000 for Moolltssori Coliege Ooi1, Amsrtrdom
Oronjo NoHoul INothorlonds]
S,nce 199 l Honorory FeOow o f lhe Royol lnstitvte ol Brit ish Architecb
Si11Ce 1993 lionorory mamber of me Akoclemie der Kíinste, Berli n
Since 1995 Honorory me1T1ber ol lhe Accodern•o delle Arli del Di�no, Firenze PROJ ECTS
Since 1996 Hono,ary member of rhe Royol lncorporotion ol A1chi1ecu in Sco!lond
1997 Honorory melTlber ol lhe Ac0dém1e d' Archi!ecture d• fronc& (xe<uted Projech
1999 Ridder in de Orcle von de Nedarloodse Leeuw (Royal Outch l<.night•
>
hoodJ 1959-66 Stud1<1I Hou1<1, We11peat1oot, Amsterdom {Nethe,londsJ; 55, 152,
1999-00 Teoches 01 the Be,loge lnstiluie. Am"erdom 178. 203
Since 2000 Honorory citl z.en (notoble de do,,. exc�ionelleJ ol Ngouenjilopon 1960.66 Monle11ori primary school, Delh (Nerhe,londs); 25, 28, 33, 62,
(Comeroonl 153, !93. 203
2000-01 leclurts ot rhe Acodemy ol A,chrtectvte, Am1111rdom 1962,64 E.:lensi()I) to llnmij, Amsterdom [Netherlolld1I (demoli�ed in 1995);
S,oce 2001 Doctor Honons Cov,o 01 tl,e Un,versité de Gene•e 128
l 964-7.d Ot Orie Hoven nur1in9 home, Amsterdam,Slotervoort (Nelherlands);
Ouest Profe.,IOl'lhips 35, 40, 46, 61, 130, 192
1967 HcuH convenion, lllrtn (Netherlondil
1966,1967, 1967-70 8 e.11perimenlal hovs.e1 IDiogoon type}, Delft INelherlandsJ; 41, 157
1970, 1977, 1968,70 Exten1ion 10 Monte11ori Schoo l, Defh [Nelherland,J
1980 Mlt, Cambridge !USA] 1968-72 Centrool Beheer o llice building lwith luco� & Niemeijer).
1968 Columbio Univeniry, New York (USAI Apeldoom (Nelherlond1I; 17, 23, 25, 80, 11d, 133, 194
1969,197 1, l 972-74 De Sc:halm c001munity centre, Deventu-Borgele INetherlondsJ; l l 2
1974 Toronto Unive,sily IConodo) 1973-78 Vred1nbur9 Mu1ic Ctolre. Lhrecht (Ne1herlonds); 26, 81. 136, 180.
1978 Tulone Untveuily, New O,Jeons (USAI 198. 210,227
1979 Horvord Unlversily, Mauochuse"' (USAJ 1977-8l Second eilension lo Mantenori School, Delh INetherloncls); 3 3
1981 Univeuiry of Pennsylvanio (USAI 1978-80 Resident1 ol ne ighbouchood 140 hcus.esl, Wes1broe\ \Nethe1lond1J;
1982,1986 Un,versité de Genéve (SwitzetlondJ 115
1987, 1993, 1978,82 Hoorlemmer Houttuinen urbon regenerotion progromme, Ams1etdom
1996 Vorious uni,,.rsilíes in ri>• United Stoles ond Conodo !Netbedonds); 50, 190
1979-82 Kouel•Donche hou,ing projec1, Ko.i� l tGermonyJ; 35, 206
1979-90 Miniury 01 Sacio!Wellora ond Employmllf\t, 11,e Hogue (Netlier,
londsl: 13B
1968 Ci,y ol Am11erdol!! Prize for Archi!ecl•re for the SN<lents' HouM in 1980.82 P avilions, bus 11op1 ond morkel focilitfts for iquore (Vredenbsrg.
Weespor,troot, Amste,dom tNetherlonds) pleinl, Utc«hljNotl>erlonds); 156
1974 Eternit Priie for Centraol 6eheer office bu1ldin9. Apeldooro li'lether• 198().83 Apollo primary $Cl>ools, Amsterdom (Netherlondsl; AmslerdalTl
londs) MonteuoriSchoolondWillemsporkschool;31, 142. 183,186,
Fr[tz,Schumocher Prize for his complete 01<1vre 213,242
1980 A. J. ,on Eck Prlz.e for Vredenburg Musi-c Ce<1t1e, Ut,echl (Nerhe1fonds) 1980.84 De o.-erloop nursing home, Almeie-HCJ'len INetnerlonds); 34, 210,
Eterni 1 Prize [honorory mention) lor Vredenburg Mu1ic Centre, 220,249
Utrecht (Netherlanclsl 1982,86 liMo hov1ing, 8-erlin (Germony); 41, 207
1985 Mecl.elboch Prlze. orchitecl\Jrol oword b y the City ol Ams,.rdom for 1984-86 Oe E•tnoor primory ,chool, Ams1erdom !NetherlandsJ; 182, 186,
the Apollc, School,, Anute<dom INetherlond,J 224
1988 �rtelboch Prizo. orchiit<lurol oward by the Ciiy ol Amslerdam for 1986-89 Hei Gtin housin9 project 1406 oi,e,fomily h011su ond 5 2 oporl•
De Evenoa, sc.hool, Amsle<dam INetnerlondsJ mentsl, Arnersfoort fNelhe,londs); $8
1989 Richard Nevlro Aword for P10leuiO(lol Exce!ltnee 1986-93 Thecme cenira on Spui, Tht Hogue (Nt1htrlondsl, complex consi1t•
Berline, Archltekturprei 1, owarded by lhe Ciry ofWe,r Berlin for lhe ing o f opaJ1tnent1 ond retoil premise1; theorre ond lilm focilities
liMo houslng project on lindensttoue/Morkgrafen,rrane , Berl,n lfheoter oon hei Spui, Cloemotheel; Hoogs filmhuis, Stichting l<ijk•
(Germonyl hui,};Worl dWide Vídeo Centre; ond Siroom/HCBK The H09ue
1991 Prll'flio Eu1opo Archilttlu10 Prizt for his cornplo!o otllVft Centrt 101 tht Atb
l
S.rlage flog for tlte Minutry of SocialWelfore cr,d Employment, 1988-98 8-dossroom ••tension to Pf rnary 1< hool l�hooi..reniging Aerclen•

261 IISIOlS IJt S!UG(�JS Ili .IHHIIHIUI!

Mal I co d
 hou, BentveldJ, Aerdonhout (Nemerlondsl 1984 Edeosion to S1 Joost Acoderi1y ol the Arts, 8redo INetherlondsl
1988-96 Amst11rdcm,e 8uurt hou,,ng project, 43 units, Hoorlem (Netlterlcnds\ 1986 Expedmentol housing projecl 101 Zuiderpolcler IAooting 'woler­
1989-90 Srudio 2000, 16 live-work units in Muziekwijk nei9hbourhood, houset'), Hoorlem (Nethe,londsl
Almere jNetherlonds) 1986-91 E,plonode film Centre [ocodemy, mu,eum. librory etcJ, 8etlin !Ger­
1989-9 9 'Kiick o,er den Oijck' housin9 p,oi&d. Marwe1tein Noord, Dordr&eht mony)
jNetherlonds) 1988 Koningscorré resic!entiol projecl, Hoarlem !NelherloJ1dsl
199().92 De Polygoon 16,dou,oom pcimory schoo l, Almere (Nothrrlonds) 1989 Urbon study (resídent i ol oreo) íor Jeke, quorler, Moo11ric�1 (Nerl>er­
11 iemi-detached houie1, Almere-f,lmwijl jNetherlonds) londil
199().93 Benelux Potent Ofl,ce, The Hogue (Nethetlondsj 1989-91 Urbcn study for Moogjesbolworl (por, ol the old centre), Zwolte
1990-95 Extension to Cenrraol Seheer of!ice builôing, Apeldoorn (Net�r­ (Netherlonds)
londs) 1990.94 &lension to Vredenbv19 Music Cenlre ( ind. third aodítorium) ond
1991,93 Extensi on l o Wõllemsporkschool, Amstordom (Netherlondsl on accomponying urbon d•1ign íor the Utrecht Cily Project, Ultecht
Ubrary ond De Nieuwo Ve_ste, Conlte lor A11 ond Musíc (Musíc and INethe,lcnd_sl
Oance depa11ment), 8reda (Netherlandsl Olfi ce building, Ce1omique site, Maastricht (Netherlonds)
1991-98 Oarmitory/9uu1house, Kurobe Ciry (Toyomo Dislrictl l)opanl 199().00 MedioPork olf ice comple� with 1tudi01 ond housing, Colog11e
1992-95 Chossé Theotre, Bredo INethe,londs] (Oermony)
1993-94 Anne Frank primory Khoo l, PoP4ndrech1 jNetl.erlonds) 1992 Amsterdom Music Centre for chomber mosic, Amsterdom jNether•
1993,95 De 8ombordon 20-douroom 1emedloJ school, Almere (Netherlonds) londs)
1993-96 Mcrkont lt..011e, Udan (Ne!herlcnd_sj 1993 Stuc!y for o dttsign for e new ocaderny (cri, mu,ic, orthitechlre etc],
Hou1in9 on Vrijhee, •cn E1locn, Popendrecht INethe,londs) Rotterdom (Netherlcnd1)
Ronerd0me1 S11'01se hcw1in9 p(ojed, 136 un,ts, Ouren IGeimcny) 199S Hovsing project for Strolo�r Hclbinse l (81�k 12), Ber!in (Germonyl
1993-97 Exrension to \londe,veen depo,tment slore, Aisen (Netherlonds) 1996 út.nsion 10 De Overloop nursing hOl'le, Almere-Hoven
Slrolouer Holbinse1 h01Jsin9 pro/e<:1 - Slocl 7 • 8, Berlin (Oerr,,onyl (Netherlondsj
1993-99 Montessotl College Oo,1, secondo,y school fo, oppiox. 1650 pupils, 1997 Urbon stody fo< o sbopjling centre, Monheim !Ge1mony)
Amslerdom (Netherlond,J 1998 Spulkom 133 hou1e,J, Vli_ssing.en (Natharlonds)
E..ttnsíon lo the librory, Bredo (Nelher(onchl Urban design for formar Sombcrdon orea. Almere,Hoven (Nefher•
Sijlmer Monument -lirst stage - (in cooperclion wlrh Georges Des­ londs)
cor,,bes). Amste,dom (Netherlondsl 1999 Two office buildin91, Roosendoal !Netherlonds)
1995-97 De Koperwiek primcry schoo l, Venlo (Netht1fond1I 2000 Co�version of office j'Arbeidsvoorzíening'I in theotre comploll 0<1
1995-99 Housing proje<:t, Prooyenspork, Míddelburg (Ne1herlond1) Spvi, The Hogue (Nelherlondsl
1996-98 Bijlmer Monumenl - second jfinoll stoge - [in cooperoti0-0 with Residentiol buildín9, courtyord D ot Veerse Pcotl, M iddelburg
Georges Descom�•I. Am1le1dom (Nelhetlond,) (N111herlond1I
1996-99 Schirmei1ler Hou11 on 6o1neo-eilond, Am1terdom (Nelhe,londs) Sh opping centre in Veerse Pocrt plon. Middelburg INetherlonds)
1996-00 Porodij11el houslng proíecl, Copel l e oon d■n Ussel INetherlondsl HwgemeMtld hovs!ng proíect, Mo01t1ich1 (Nemeclondsl
1998-00 32 house1, !Costeei Unicum building scheme in Poelgeest plcnning 2001 E�tension ond re,,ovotion ol olfice buílding, Benthem11too1, Ronei­
oreo, Oegstge6st (NethedondsJ dom \Nethe,londs)
De Vogel1 p1imory schcol, Oeg$1geest (Netherlond1)
1999-00 Extension IQ Wilfemsparkschool, Amsterdom (Nethorlondsj Competirions (',. Jirsi prize)

Studie.s/unreal11ed projem 1964 Church, Dciebergen fNethe,londs)

1966 lown holl, \lol�1tnswoord (Netherlonds)
1968 Monogoon housing 1967 Cily Hall. Ar1111erdom INerherlands)
1969-73 Urbon plon 101 cily e•tension ond 111ucture plon, D"'1tnter !Nethe,­ 1970 Urbon design for Nieuwr,iorkt, Amsrerdof!\ (Netherlonds)
lond1J 1980 Urbon desfgn for Rõrnerbe,g, fronUut! om Moin (Ge,mcnyl
1971-72 Memorondum of obje-:tive, ond crítorlo !Q( renewol o i tlté olc! city 1982 Crêche. Serlin (Germonyl
centre of Groningen jNetherlondsJ, in cooperolioo wilh De i!Qer, 1983 U1bon de1i9n fot Col ognt/Mütheim-Nord (Germony)
lcmbooij, Goudappel and otho" Oflite building for Friedrích Ebert Stiltung, Sonn fGetmony)
1974 Cily centre plon, E indhoven (Nethetloodsl (wíth Von don Srcek ond Offico bYild in g f°' Gtüner &Jalir, Hambvrg jGermonyl
Sali.emo) 1985 Oflice bui!díng lor Public Worb, Fronkfur1 om Moln (Getmony)
1975 HC<Jses, shops ond pork ing neor Muiis Sccrum ITheoh'e) ond re, • F,lm centre jotodemy, museum, l,brcry etc), Berlin (Germony)
modell, ng ol Musi, Socrum, Arnhem INotherlond1I E,ieniíon lo iown holl, So;nt•Deni$ (Froncel
Town ploonin9 consdtont lo the Univorsily ai Gronfngen 1986 Urbon design foi Sicocco,Pirelli. Milon jlto!yl
(Nelherlondsl Gernàldegoler1e (museum lor poinrin9s), Berl,n IGermany)
Proposcl for o univeuily librory incorporotin9 o 19th century church, 1988 Hou1ing praject for S10orstroot, Mcas•richl (Netherlonds)
G,ooingen [Nethe1land1I Ollice buílding for Scherin9, Berlin jGermony)
1976 lnsritute IQ( ftolog1cal Reseorch, Hetl!{en jNetherlond1) 1989 Bibliorheque de fronte lnalionol librory buildingJ, Paris (fronce)
1977 Urbon plon for Scho11Wbur9plein (theolte squorel, Rotterdom Cultural centre ond concett holl 'KultutLentrum om See', luterne
(Netherlands) (Swilzerlond)
1978 lib<ory, loenen o/d Vecht [Netherlond1J St1ee1 furniture lor 1iverside wo lk. Rolterdom (l'Jttherlondsl
1979 Exten_sion IQ ünmij. Amstarc!om.Slo191dljk (Neth111londsl 1990 Bronch o! Nederlondse 8onk, Wossenoor (Notherlcnds)
1980 PrO!)Osol to develop Forum dístrici, The H09ue (Nelhet!ond1) U,ban design lo, e subvrb of Gre<ioble (Froncel
Hcu1i1>9 ptoíecl, Berl in.Sponclou (Germony) 1990-91 •Components ol MedioPorlc cor,,pelition, Cologne (Germonyl

1106UP�l. PIOJl(I\ U� "l!fU(fS 269

autor
1991 •Benelux Bcond Olfice, The Hoguo {Ne 1hedond1)
Office building in Richli-Aleol, Zúrich-Wo!lí,ellen (Swílze,londJ
'C ity lhecire, Delh (Nt1Mrlcnd1)
Scnool 101 Collége Anc1ole france, Droncy (froncel
1992 Office con,ple• for Sony , Po11clomer Platz, 6erl ín {Germony)
1992,93 •Berlin Ol ympio 2000 / ucbon design lo, port o f Rummehbvrger
Buchl, 8edm [Germony)
1993 Hoo1ing pi'Ojecr lo, W i11enei lond, Arn1lerdom [Nefhe1lond1J
• Hou1ln9 projecl, Düren (Getmony)
• Urbon �,ign (oflice1 fa, Cl-sõJ>gtl oreo). Freising IGermonyJ
1993-94 Audílorium, RorM (l1oly}
í
1994 Governmenr office build ng for Cêromique 1ite, Moo11rich1 (Nelher•
rondsJ
1995 E�teMion to fire Oeportmenl Schoo l, Schcoribergen jNetherlonds)
Extenslcm 10 Von Gogh Mustum. Aol!lefdam (NetherlondsJ
Office bui[ding lo, londlog Brondenb1119, Porsdom (Ge<rno ny)
Musicon conceri holl, Bremen (Ge,mony)
1995,96 lu•orTheotte, Rotterdorn (Ne!hedond1J
í
Urbon deiign lor the T burlino roilwoy zone and Ruscofono oreo
ond for tl.e r,buctino-Colombo a•is, ie>me jltolyJ
1996 Creche, 8erl in (Germony]
lo!hor Gunrhe, Buchhelm Mu�um, Feldoling !Germony)
•U,ban des ign for commumly centre, Oollgow (Gen,,ony]
Acodemy of Arn ond 0.1i9n,�o[dlng (Denmarl)
'Urbon design for Pen,n1ulo, Tel Aviv {f•raell
New-bvild for lchrhu1 Hogeschool, Rotterdom jNe1he,land1)
Urban design for A.el Spr,nger Mulh Med io, Berlin (Germany)
Urbon duign for There1 ienhôhe, Muni<h (Gtrmany)
1997 • lheotre, Helslngor (Oenmarkl
lrrbon de1ign lor un[vers1ty complex, Molmó jSweden)
ll1bon dttign, Berlin Ponkow (Germonyl
1998 'Urbon design of Polei1 quorter lhoo1in9, off ices, poikingl,
's•titriogenbo:.ch (Ne1ht<land1)
• Alter0110n1 ond e•tensi0n1 ro gO\leinmenrot R D W olli ce bvildin9,
Veendom (Nether!onds)
"Primory 1<hool ond 32 housei, ICasteel Unitum, Oegstgee11
(Nerhetlonds)
1998-99 Urbao design for Alie Halll<lJeYlere, Bremen (GermonyJ
1999 • Musevm. llbrory ond mun ldpol orchlve•. A,�ldoorn jN&lherlonds)
Conversion ond eKlension ol low courls, Zwolle (Ne1he1londsl
lJrbon deslgn for Site S of Theresienhohe [hou1in9, shops, oífic•1I,
Munich !Germany)
2000 •DWR o!li,e bu,ldfog, Amstecdom (Ner!ierlond1I
Extenifon 10 o!lice building, Homburg {Gtrmonyl
j
• PDswerl hou1iog pro e-ct, Hoorlem íNethulondsJ
Mo1Jcrplonning 1t1.1dy. two offite buildin91 in Thereilenhõht, Mooich
fGe,monyl
2001 CompleJ< lo hou� primory i.chool,, ofter-.chool c01e ond crkhe ln
Osdorp, Amsrerdom (Netherlandl}
Worer,houses, Copenhogen (Denmor�J
Urbao design for off,ce di1irict, Ulm (Germonyl
1985 f.erUn / Genno / Viennc / Zogreb / Splij / Srounschweig /
Co logne ond lurther ('Six orchiteclure• pbotogrophiées por Johon
von der Keuken' , trovelling exhibition feoturing btJih work !Studenlt'
HOllff!, De Crie Ho,,en, Cen_ttool SthHr, V1e<fenbur9 Mu1ic Cenire,
Apollo Scnoolsj. thrte re<enl COl!lpttitlon projecrs odded in 1986
lrom Zogreb onword1 (Filmho11• E1plonode, Bicocco.P,,elll, Gemokle­
goleri elJ
Stichríng Wonen, Amsferdom (Netherlancllj (exlr. 'A1chitec1uu1 84';
De o...rtoopJ
frons Hol, M111evm, Hoc,�m (N11h.rlond1I [eAh. 'la C01b111íer l n
N&de,lond'; Studenr,· Hou..e)
1986 Fondorion Cortier, J01ty,et,J010s [fronte) (Sl\idl!flts' Houi.l
Centre Pompidou. Paris fFroncel [tllh. 'lieux de Tra•oil; Centraol
Beheer]
Milan Trienno le lholy) [exh. '11 luogo del lavore>'; Ce,,trool Beheer,
Biccoco•PirelliJ
Stichliog Wonen, Am_1lerdorn / Monrreol /Toronto / lo, An9elu /
Raleigh / Blocksburg / Philodelphio /Toloyo / london / Edinburgh
/ Florence / Rome ond lurther [eah. 'Herman HertzbiHger'; vorio<Js
competi�e>n ond olhei p10jects since 1979(
1987 MIT, Cornbt,clge (USA) ond vorie>111 other univer>iries in tne USA
(Filmhou1 E i.planode, Bicocco.P,relli, Gemi:ild�ole<ie)
S�chting Wonen, Amiterdom (NetherlondsJ [exh. 'Architecluur 86';
D1 EvonoorJ
1988 New Yor� Stote Council of the Arts, New Y01k (USA) {Hoorlemmef
Houttuinen, Ko11e�Oõnche, Lindenst101se]
1989 Globa l Atc�itec11,re lnte(nolioool, Tol:yo Oopanl [Fi1mhov1 EsplonodeJ
Institui fron,ais d'Archittc!ltre, Paris (Froncel [exh. 20 enrronl$ IO
rhe compelilion lo, 11,e Bfbliothe<joe do FranceJ
1991 Global Archilechire lnternalionol, Tokyo (.lapan) (Ministry of Sociol
Welfare)
Tetroktis. 1tovellin9 e.Jtibit ion o f prajects ond tiovel 1le1che1 b y
H111non He,ttbt19er, I'Aq11 ilo (holy)
1992 World ArchitectureTrieonole, Nora Ooponl (Ministry ol Social
Welfare, MedíoPork CologneJ
1992,93 Oe Beye,d, Sredo {Ne1h1Hloodsl [e•h. 'Herman Hertzberger ', leVerol
pcojects]
1995 Aichirek1111golefie, Munich / Centroal Beiiee,, Apeld001n / De Pronk•
lomer, Uden; troveUing e�hibílion ['do, Unarwortete uberdochl/
Accom modotíog tne Unexp ected, Pr ojekre/Projecls t 99().t 995'1
Oe Seye1d, Brtdo (Nerherlonds) [Choué Theotte]
1996 Oe11tsche1 Arthireltur Museum, ír0nklv11 o m Mcin (Germonyl [pro ­
jec11 lar S1tolaue1 Hollllnsel , &,l'"J
1998 Oeuischei Atchftelrur Zentrum, f.erlin / Museo Nocfonol de Selku
Arte,, Bueoos Airel / 8011wbeurs, Utrecht / Nethulond1
Architechiie fnstil\Jte, Rot111dam /Techniscl,e Uníversl liil, Munich /
lown hall, Miódelburg / Siennol Muse�m ai A1t1 Ibero Puero, Sôa
Poula / Hous der Niederloocle, Münster / Musevm Nogele, Nogele;
tra�!li ng exhibitioo '1-lermon Hert.berger Arfic11l otio n1', compiled by
rhe Netherlonds Archirecture lnsritu1e, Rotterdom

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í
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Be,geijl, H. von, Hermon Hertzberger,Sosle/Bolton/&erlín 1997 """°• L IBMPovllion,Paris 1982-34; 243
lo Co1busiet el la Holloncle', te Cor/x,sier, voyoges, ro}'Onnemenl /nternolionol, �d, o. Rietveld,&hrõd e, House, Utrecht 1924; 34,219
lodio,S. Wons Towen, l.osAnge� 1 921-54; 1 1 9
Paris 1997,pp. 57-ó4 Soo Goflo, o. 4• S!.Peter's,Rome sinct 1452; 197
'Allne Frank BosisKhoo!, Popend,ec�t- De Bombardon lOM-Bosisschool,Almere'. khi""I, ll. ScMou klein Glienicke, Berlín 1826; 255
Zcdiac no. 18. 1997/98,pp.152-161 Tout, 1. Houiing, Berlin 1925-27; 167
'lecrore by Hermon H•rrzberger', T11e/u,olog)', />l«e &A1chittt1vro - The)truso/11m V�. M.H. Cíté Nopolóon, PoriJ 1849; 39
Seminor inArchilecture. New York, 1998, pp. 250,253 W......tco, '- Project for o residentiol oreo, S.rlin 1965; 118
Woocl, ,. • J. NoohRoya Crescents,Botn 1767; 56,254
He,m011 von 8er�ijl ond Deboroh Houptmonn,Nototion, of Herman Hertz.berger, l
Rofterdam 1998
De ,uimle vem de o,c/,ileçr. leuen in orchi,ec/uur 2 ,RoHerdom 1999 lllustrotions
i
'Het 20e,etuwse mechonisme en de orchi!e<•uur vanA ldo von Eycl',in V ncent
ligteh1n,Aldo van fyc• Werken,Buuum 1999, pp. 22-25 AII pho!ogrophs by Herman H ert,berger exct pl;
'Un nue�o mondo óe relaciones lo fochodo de vidrio de lo lóbrico Von Nelle de R. Bolle�eddot; 6S3
Von der 1/lugf, Teclonico no. 10 ,1999/2000,p. 2 Hein de 8ou•er; 347
Spoc� ond rlteArchitttl. uuons inArchitttture 2,Rotterdom 2000 Bur99roaff; 641
Richard B ryond;525
Archltectural Cltatlons Martin Charles; 587,602,616
George> DeKombes; 469, 648, 649, 650, 651, 652
lellor4, v. lei Halle1,Porí1 1854,66, 69 Willem Oiep,oom: 30, 31,75, 76, 95, 138, 139,140,423,432,434,437,
....,.r,1,0.S.H. St. Peie,'s Sqoare,Rome since 1656; 185,261 445,448,453,462,478,479,527,538,539,584,596
"-• P, Kosboh. Hen9,l o 1973; 62 Aldovon fyd; 316,319,321
ln,ntante, D, SI. Peler's. Rome since 1452; 197.258
l. Feininger; 313, 541
a.w,,,.., ,M. Spongen Housing,Rotterdam 1919; 49, 54
lrielc,.,.,, M. 11,C. ""ft de< Vlügt Von Nelle Focrory,Rotterdom 1927-29; 216 D<,lf Floors; 580
ar..t,, J.H• ...,.., Vr�nloon Hou1J"9,�otterdom 1931-34; 45 Reinhord frie<lnich; 297,298
C.o&lí1, .lofK •Woocl1 Free Universiry, &e,lin 1963; 116 P.H. Goede; 315,320
c...16, 1, Ensonche, Borce lono 1859; 122 Werner Hoas; 5 1
ClteNou, a., 11.. lij-,oot, L OolNt MoiM>n de Verre, Poris 1928-32: 238 Jon H0111mer; 145,146
d,nol lePalals ldéol, HovteR,ves 1879-1912; 119
Al.elei Hertzberger; 85, 86
0.1C0111be,, o. Pedesirion Uncle,po�s, Genevo 1981; 232
Ovilier, I,, l. lij,,wt. I.G. w.....,,,,. Zonnesfraol Sonor0t1um, Hilverium 1926.JI; Yeroon Hertzber�r; 719, 720, 721,722
225 Johon von der l(euken; 15,16,17, 18, 19,21,22,39. 44,141, 207, 394,
Ovlltet, ,., 1. llfwet OpenAir School,Amslerdom 1930; 246 395,396,397,401,404,405.406,409,414,417,449,461,465,491,
Duil,.,, I. Cin.ac Cinema,Amsterdom 1933; 82, 226 535,546,594,600.623,624
fiffef, O. Tl>e E,llel Tower,Poris 1889; 70 Kl011s Kinold; 388, 483,493,499, 526
lyd,,.l._, 01phono9e. t.m,lerôom 1955{>0; 126 Michel Kart; 737
°""411.A., I.M.llljol Porc Gliell, Borcelono 1900.14: 211
Bruno Krupp; 37
Oodln,J.I.A, fom,lislêre,Guloe 1859-83; 44,60
o..i-rd, H, Costel Séronger,Paris 1896; 241 J. Kurt:;203
UnôtrgrounôRailwoy Stalions 1898-1901; 73 Rudoll Menlte; 4129
Halo,.bft, M. The 8ec1rers ond thePeople; the énd ol Moss Housing 1961; l 1O RobertoPane; 713
H6n11t, H. H01Jsin9 Siemensstodr,Berlin 1 929,31; 207 louis vonPoriclon; 110
lleN, H..I. Place Stoni,los ondPloce de lo Corriere, Nancy 1 751..55; 25.d MorionPost Wolcott; 505
.._, V. Priv01e Home,8,u,.ie s 1 896; 196,236 UweRau; 84, 576
l
Hotel Solvoy, 6,ussels 1896; 21,84 Renaodeou; 389
Von Eetvelde House, 8,us.sels 1898; 241 R0<1olclRoozen: 599
llff,.....,, r. ..,. Communlty Centers, Otonten, Eindhoven 1966-67; 70
l<dl-. H. 8lbliotlieque Ste Genevie�,Paris 18-43-50; 244
lzok Solomons; 341
H.Stegemon; 4130, 4131
6iblio11iêque Noli onola,París 1862-68; 17
Le c.r11u.i., Povrllon de l'Esp,it Nouveou,Paris 1925; 204
H. Tulker; 642
fort l'EmpereurProject,Alg,ers 1930; 108 Jon Versnel; 323,324,325, 326. 329
Villo Sovoye, Poissy 1929,32; 120, 231 Ger von der Vlugl: 61, 62, 66,88, 8 9 ,100. 102,103, 371. 387,496, 578,
Povíl!on Suisse, Po,is 1932; 204 579,619,626,627,705,706.707
í
Ministry olEdi,c01ion ond Hoahh.Rio de )on♦iro 1936-37; 79 Gordon W nter; 132
Unilé d'Hobitalion, Morseille1 1947-52; 205 Cory Wollnsly; 467
High C011,1, Chondigarn 1951-SS; 179
Chapei.Ronchomp 1955: 233
Porlia�n• 13,uilding. Chcndigorh 1962; 265
Heidi Weber povilion.Zíirkh 1963-67; 2-13
lclvi1, J.V. Po loisRoyol,Porh 1780; 64,255
May, 1, Rõme,slodt,Fronkfwt 192 7-28; 57
---..U, .....,_, a Modury Thou School, Borcelono 1972,7S; 209
Midlolentolo S1 Peter's,Rome i i
s nce 1452; 197, 258
Moclio, A. Villa iotcndo,V cenza 1570,250
"'•-• J. C1}'$tolPoloce,london 1851; 71

272 IIIS01S !Ot SIUD(NJS IN OCHJ!!C!Uii

autor
The work of Herman Rertzberger la the 1ubject of wide intemational

etteem. 111111 flrst saw publication of Bertzberger's Les&ons for Students

in Architerture, an elaborated version of lecture1 he had given aince

11173 at Delft University of Tedlno\ogy. ln it, the background to his

work and the ideu underlying it are put into words by the arc.hitect

himself. lt presenta a broad apectrum of aubjects and designa, with

practical experience and evaluation of the use of these buíldings

aerving as a le.itmotif. Th.is immenaely succeasful boolt hu gone

through many reprinta and has also bem publiahed in Japaneae,

German, Italian, Portu.gueae, Taiwaneae, Dutch, Pollah and Chinese.

The book divides into three parta: Public Domain, Making Space

Leaving Space, and lnviting Form. By arranging texts and deaigru

into a number of themes Bertzberger hu managed to direct his broad

practical experienc.e into a fudnating theory. ln his view everyone

- the more he seea, experiencea, and absorbs - is automatically in

po11e11ion of an ever-expanding arsenal of potential instructions

with which to choose a path towards a result.

More than 1so Ulustrations give a broad insight into Bertzberger's

'library' and a stimulating impreuion of one of the most important

Dutch architects aUve today. Rather than aupplying the reader with

design recipes, Bertzberger hu provided an euential source of in­

spiration to everyone involved in some way with the design proceu.