Threshold Spaces: Transitions in Architecture. Analysis and Design Tools

161 Pages·2015·5.26 MB·English

by  Boettger, Till

Schwellenräume
Threshold Spaces
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Till Boettger
Schwellenräume
Threshold Spaces
ÜTrbanesrigtiäonnsg ein iAnr cdheitre Actrucrhei tektur
AAnnaallyyssise a- nudn Dde Esingntw Touorlfsswerkzeuge
Birkhäuser
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Foreword
A central task for architects is designing spaces as a medium for a wide range of uses and func-
tions. When realized as three-dimensional staging, usable space emerges with its full spectrum
of spatial experiences. This backdrop explains the almost endless literature on the principles of
spatial design and the abundance of attempts to analyze perception of spatial phenomena. It is
therefore surprising that this publication by Till Boettger represents the first examination of the
“ essence and potential” of a familiar and yet overlooked and much neglected space. The thresh-
old space is an integral element in every architectural project. Until now, almost no attention
has been given to this special functional element; rather, it has remained a common blind spot.
The space is almost never listed as a separate functional unit in a space allocation plan or in de-
sign competition documents, to say nothing of the possibility of providing specific requirements
regarding size, function, or perhaps even the desired atmosphere. At the same time, the thresh-
old space, as an “articulation between spaces, i.e. between outside and inside, between one
space and another (between one reality and another)” (Robert Venturi), is literally a “key space”
that can “open up” or “close off” access to a building.
The main aim of this text is the presentation of design parameters for the staging and organiza-
tion of the sensitive and ambivalent spatial zone of the threshold. It essentially seeks practical
answers, in the form of design tools for the designing architect, to the following questions: How
can spaces be opened without closing them? How can we let people see what we want them to
see of the inside of a building and still protect it? Can surveillance and energy-efficiency measures
be integrated into the design as welcoming gestures? What information prepares users for what
is to come?

Three central questions that build on one another follow from the others: What is an architec-
tural threshold? How can a threshold space be defined? What functions does a threshold space
perform in the access to and the experience of architecture?
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Three chapters, written clearly and above all in the language of architects, provide comprehen-
sive theoretical answers to these questions as well as practical answers that can be applied in
the design process.

Fundamental principles are established, beginning with the terminology and the phenomena of
spatial perception, then a description of the threshold space in a historical context, and finally
attractive and refreshing additions in the form of examinations of threshold installations from
the art world. In analogy to the medium of an architect’s design process, the second chapter ana-
lyzes individual design parameters in the context of outstanding and exemplary projects. Deduc-
tively reduced “design sketches” facilitate direct comprehension. In the final chapter, the much
lamented gap between (architectural) theory and (design) practice is graphically and construc-
tively closed. The “collection of principles and strategies” is used to formulate individual design
aims and also develop planning tools for the practical shaping of the “spatiality of transition.”
One exceptional quality of this study is the development of design tools for the design process.
The work is an insightful building block for bridging the cardinal gaps between theory, the design
process, and the recognition of an underappreciated space. In view of the challenges awaiting
future architectural projects with changing scales, such as transport buildings (for example, air-
ports, train stations) or facilities for trade and commerce, or even completely new organization
of functions, the changing tasks of public buildings including museums and exhibition halls, it is
particularly fortunate that this publication also offers, for the first time, practical design tools to
facilitate and execute attractive, high-quality threshold spaces.
Egon Schirmbeck
March 2014
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Contents
Introduction 1. Definitions of Thresholds and Space

Creating Spaces and Thresholds 10 The Idea of Space and Spatial Perception 16
Topic 11 The Percipient Human 17
Aim 12 On the Searching Eye and the
Outline and Structure 13 Searching Body 18
Perception of Movement Spaces 19
Historical Threshold Spaces 20
Thresholds—Doorsills 21
The Acropolis 22
The Pantheon 25
The Gothic Portal 26
Japanese Homes 28
Arcades 30
The Dissolution of Floor Plans in the
Twentieth Century 32
Transitions in Art 33
Dan Graham: Present Continuous Past(s),
New York, 1974 34
Dani Karavan: Passages,
Portbou, Spain, 1990–94 35
Bill Viola: Threshold, Frankfurt am Main, 1992 37
Lin Yilin: Safely Maneuvering across
Lin He Road, Guangzhou, 1995 39
Dan Graham: Fun House for Münster, 1997 40
Olafur Eliasson: Green River, Stockholm, 2000 42
Till Boettger, Schwellenraummaschine,
Weimar, 2010 42
The Threshold as a Spatial Phenomenon 45
Appendix The Threshold Space 46
Grenzen (Borders/Boundaries/Limits) 46
Index 150 Schwellen (Thresholds) 47
The Author 153 Threshold Spaces 48
Acknowledgments 153 Equipment in Threshold Spaces 50
Illustration Credits 154 Threshold Space Closures 51
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Contents
2. Threshold Space Analyses 3. Threshold Space Design Tools

Spatial Notation and Spatial Analyses 54 Counterbalancing Pairs of Opposites 110
Space as Experienced/Represented Space 55 Open—closed 110
Analysis Techniques according to Schirmbeck 55 Delimitation 110
Adaptation of the Method 57 Sequence 112
Threshold Analysis Parameters 58 Geometry 113
Selection of Objects for Analysis 59 Topography 114
Materiality 115
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts Furnishings 116
in Cambridge, Massachusetts 61 Counterbalancing Ambiguity 117
Le Corbusier, 1961–64
Phases and Organization 122
Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin 69 Recognition 123
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1962–68 Approach 123
Reaching 123
Museu de Arte (MASP) in São Paulo 80 Arrival 124
Lina Bo Bardi, 1957–68 Orientation and Information 124
Monitoring 124
Museum für angewandte Kunst Exit 125
in Frankfurt am Main 87
Richard Meier, 1979–85 Sensitive Guidance 126
Positioning Thresholds 127
Fondation Cartier in Paris 95 Private Realm 129
Jean Nouvel, 1991–94
Essence and Potential 131
Casa da Música in Porto 102 Spatial Potential 131
OMA, Rem Koolhaas and Ellen Van Loon, Increased Complexity 131
1999–2005 Access Control—Energy Efficiency 132
The Potential of Threshold Space Design 132
Application and Outlook 133
Analyses 133
Threshold Space Designs 140
Aspirations 146
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Introduction
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