Academic Paper - Theoretical Debate - Design Manifesto
Interior Design & Architecture
Online Portfolio - Iulia Moldovan
From street to house - The In Between
A pledge about and for the in between
Throughout my thesis I will explore what the meaning and the value of the in between is from three perspectives. The theoretical perspective based on the first chapter, the architectural perspective based on the second chapter and the inhabitant’s perspective based on the third and fourth chapter. I see my thesis as being a manual for the architect on how to design the in between and for the inhabitant how to appropriate it and get ownership over it. My wish is to make people more aware of the in between. For front gardens already existent - to
be used more and for the houses facing the public sidewalk - to create that in between, (that facade garden), that nonexistent (in most cases) extension of the house. The goal of my thesis is to make people realize that spending time and appropriating the front of the house, will create lively streets, which in return will improve the image of the cities.
Small and simple topic as it may seem, complex and challenging as it`s proved to be during my research into the subject.
Introduction
Public
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The public area within the city refers to its streets. A public space is accessible by everyone, for everyone at any time. Streets are often considered as being public, meaning inclusive of all urban residents or all people who use city sidewalks. But that is not entirely true.
From my perspective, it can be argued that the publicness very much depends on the action that takes place on the sidewalk. If I walk it is public, but if I stop, then it can feel private. I don’t even need to sit down, stopping and standing is enough to make the space on the
sidewalk feel private. That is because I am being noticed from inside. That is the condition that makes it private. The feeling of being
uncomfortable by the gaze of the owner ‘questioning’ me if that is ‘my place’ to stand and look.
Private
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Private is the opposite of public. When public is open to everyone, private is open to certain people depending on context.
Residential environments are usually built in accordance with economic considerations as well as established traditions. In the Netherlands for example is most common type of residence is the row terraced house. With a thicker wall separating the owner from its neighbors. That is because from the 18th century Dutch city houses developed into a collective dwelling as a consequence of the growth of the population and lack of dwelling in the city. The facades played an import role in the design of the house. Each house, each facade, another owner, but in harmony with the street-scape.
The facades are an interface between outside and inside.
A face to the public as an informant of nonverbal communication. Being visible by the public, they become a representational element. Representing the function of the building, as well as the richness of the owner culturally and professionally.
The brick element of the exterior is seen by everyone as a means of construction, and the glass element offers visual into the interior while communicating information about the owner. In my opinion the facade helps identify certain characteristic aspect of the owner by what objects are placed in the window or in front of the house. The front of the house also being part of the facade. whether it is a front garden or a facade garden. It is a place where people select what objects to place in the window and who enters the private space through the door.
The exposed part of the facade is ‘open’ to all passersby by facing the public street. The facades having the power to offer information about the owner if the passerby has eyes to nitice and ears to listen.
The In Between
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Since 1990s, in the Netherlands, people`s need for meeting outside the house grew more and more. Outdoor cafe, restaurants and other meeting places started to rise. Residents became pedestrians,
prioritizing talking, walking, sitting, meeting, and experiencing over
driving. The user experience has been shifted.
However, the way I see it, nowadays most people don`t spend time in front of the house as much as they used to. In one of my interviews, it was said that nowadays, often in the Netherlands, spending time in front of the house it`s considered as ‘trashy’. Reason why most houses don`t have a transition zone on the sidewalk. Therefore, the contact with the street is done from the inside. An appropriate term would be the house as a diorama.
The in between can represent either the front garden (transition zone next to the sidewalk) or the facade garden (transition zone on the sidewalk). Part of the sidewalk connecting the public and the private. The in between is about the space from street to house.
A blurred layer where the public and the private meet each other.
A front garden is a fixed transition zone, where the facade garden is not. The facade garden can be permanent, or it can be temporary. Depending on the private owner. The inhabitant can use the transition zone or choose not to. It is a voluntary activity.
It is a pity that not everyone is aware that creating a facade garden is allowed on any street, in front of any facade connected to the sidewalk. The only rule is that 120 cm of the width of the sidewalk must be left untouched, for the passerby to have enough space. With maximum of 45 cm of the public sidewalk being available for appropriation and private ownership in order to create that facade garden.
Creating a place to sit and watch the children play, or simply place a bench and watch the people pass you by. Some may not notice you, some may just glance at you, but others may salute you.
And that is how contact is established. Weather you may only see the people, hear their conversation, or meet them personally.
The five basic principles
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The first basic principle is that of houses with curtains closed. Where no visual or any other type of contact takes place whatsoever.
No transition zone available or any personal items displayed within the facade. There is only public and private. With the private being closed off from the public eye.
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The second basic principle is that of a house as a diorama.
Where there is a sort of transition zone, but happening only from the inside. An open curtain that allows for visual contact to be made.
A regulated type of contact depending on the wish of the resident.
It is not regulated only by a curtain; it can also be a physical object
displayed in the window such as a vase with flowers or different
objects that may or may not say something about the owner.
There is public, transition zone from the inside, and private.
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The third basic principle is the transition zone on the sidewalk.
This principle makes me excited. Most houses that don`t have a front garden, can create their own facade garden by extending it from the private (as is the second principle), to the public. Creating the in between on the sidewalk. This can be done by adding a bench, a chair, a doormat, a small table, a flowerpot. Anything showing a zone on the public domain, such as the sidewalk, but appropriated and owned.
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The fourth basic principle is the transition zone next to the sidewalk. Usually, 2.5 m in distance from street to facade. This principle is also common in the Netherlands. Many houses, have this transition zone named - a front garden. Typically, it exists withing the city streets as well as smaller towns as well. It does not have more the five meters depth and is commonly used as a vegetation area in front of the house or as a petrification area in front of the house (depending on the owner).
You can recognize this basic principle if you see a gate or low fence and one or two personal objects within the space.
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The fifth basic principle is the large front garden. This principle is not so common within the residences of the city. Commonly, this type of transition zone is deeper than 5 meters in depth and is screened off by a high fence. The physical as well as visual contact is deprived from the public person.
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No visual or physical contact with the public, unless desired by the owner. Any contact of the front garden or the inside
being excluded. Owners having this large front garden are missing
opportunities of contact and connection with other people.
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Characteristics of the transition zone
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How exactly can the in between be created? For the house that has front garden already, the in between is already there but the function may not be there. Nowadays, many houses with front gardens exist, but have no real purpose. No bench, no chair, just a division from public to private. My opinion is that front gardens, them being paved with tiles or full of greenery, should be used by people themselves as well. Human presence is vital. One person bringing a chair or a bench and having coffee in the morning from time to time, would encourage other people to do so.
Characteristics of the in between can create the space physically, can create contact within the space and can create invitation for contact.
Some characteristics of the facade/front gardens to create the space would be:
- type of stone texture for the pavement;
- height of stone/fence;
- appropriation as furniture;
- appropriation as objects;
- vegetation.
These characteristics make up the in between. They each have a
specific purpose and should be applied depending on the context. For example, changing the tile pavement shows a clear difference of
threshold through material and color. Height shows a clear threshold through altitude and movement. Appropriation through furniture shows ownership and occupancy, while appropriation with objects shows ownership through attachment. And lastly, vegetation helps aesthetically improve the aspect of the transition zone through natural
greenery. About 50% of people who decorate their sidewalks do so with plants.
All five are a means through creating the space of the in between, it being a front garden or a facade garden. All represent a different aspect and should be applied in unity and not be divided unless necessary.
For the pavement defines threshold visually, height defined threshold physically, furniture and objects show ownership and vegetation
represents natural beauty of a space.
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Appropriation
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By appropriating a space, we claim and personalize it in a practical as well as in an emotional way. Practical by physically occupying the space with a chair or bench - to read, drink, people watch or chat.
And emotional way by having the feeling of home extended, the
sentiment of safety and responsibility are met.
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Physically appropriating a space can be done by changing the floor tiles (where is shows a clear demarcation between spaces), by bringing
furniture within the space (chair or bench to have a place to sit), and also by bringing personal objects into the in between (a toy, doormat, pillow or plants that indirectly inform the passerby of ownership).
Appropriating is a way of personalizing a space and reveling identity expressions of the owner. It is not just a place, it is a place of
storytelling, making the passerby curious about the resident. It is an indirect communication with the stranger that shows occupancy and sentiment over an outdoor piece of land.
Appropriation can be a mean to create contact. By placing personal objects strangers may ask you questions about a specific object like what it means to you for example (what I did as research in order to learn about the possessor of that object).
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Appropriation is also a way of diminishing the boundary between public and private. Through appropriation the transition between home and street is softened. And doing that differs from street to street, as orientation, context and owners all vary from one to the other. However, placing a fence or low hedge, in my opinion, has the opposite effect. Instead, it creates a distinct separation where contact is more difficult to be had, the transition zone has become completely private and turned into personal territory.
Design
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Sidewalks were simply a division between house and the driveway. A raised footpath along the facade separated from the roadway by a stone band.They appeared in order for pedestrians to have a safe place to move around and improve the traffic flow.
A sidewalks liveliness can have a calming effect on our well-being.
Has the power to create a safer residential environment, better public health, to increase privacy within the private domain, to exclude
isolation and increase connection within local residents.
The fine thread where architecture suggests a sort of appropriation of the space but at the same time it doesn`t force it, so that the owner feels like he does not have options.
Quality
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The quality of a place has the power over people to make them stay. Not just stopping and standing, but spending time in a place by staying. It is a quality without a name. Christopher Alexander explains this term as being objective, precise and full of character. In my opinion, these are exactly the reasons why this quality is subjective. It is never twice the same and is experienced differently by each person.
The character within a space is embodied and lived in a unique way based on each individual`s background and circumstances.
Every space or building has its own given ‘character by certain patterns of events that keep on happening there.
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Quality reflects also on the relationship between the man and his
environment. Both complement each other as well as create one
another. Quality in our own lives is the same quality in our
surroundings. The relationship between a person and a place is subjective as well as interwoven. It depends on context, location, culture, and personality. Sitting in my facade garden for example. I sit on a chair, watching the world go by, seeing a stranger that reminds me of my best friend, and later talk with my neighbor from 1st floor about doing groceries together. The location, action and contact are interwoven. By sitting in any other place, other than in my facade garden, I wouldn`t have remembered about my best friends and I wouldn`t have met with my neighbor. When I think of this example, I can`t separate what I was doing from the place that I was doing it from.
The place and its context have influenced my action, contact and my thoughts. The location and the action form a unit where the space supports the kind of action. It is a pattern of events in space where the quality of being alive, invites this quality to come to life in us.
Thus, creating the quality to make me stay.
Ownership
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Ownership refers to the possession of a property. Man dominates his environment more than any other living thing. His environment being the land that one owns, that one claims.
It is an effort of will, weather the individual wants or not to take ownership of something. It is not mandatory, and it is not automatic. Attributes need to be fulfilled in order for ownership to take place and be recognized. Ownership happens through the process of exchange. Exchange of services, money, or goods.
Ownership can be of various types. It can be self-ownership,
public ownership, shared ownership, corporate ownership and so on. Throughout the chapter I will refer mostly to the private ownership, as it is the most important in relation to the in between of front or facade gardens. One can take ownership of objects as well as land. But how can one do that?
There are three characteristics of all owned property: value, bound and control. As objects as well as land are both properties, the attributes apply to both categories.
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Can the ownership take place if the owner is not present? Yes, it can. Even when the owner is not physically present within the space, the ownership still takes place. As presented in the example above, the objects within the land express the belonging to someone else, thus respect from the stranger comes into place. From the photograph, we can see the sense of ownership over public space. The public ground is embodied within the facade garden, therefore from public the piece of land becomes owned semipublic.
The morality arising from private property is based upon respect for the property owned by another when the owner is absent.
When the in between is created by the placement of a bench, that space is respected by not being used by a stranger.
Behaviour
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Sidewalks are places where people display individual and group
identities. It is a space where open interactions and accidental
encounters take place every day. Life within sidewalks may differ from culture to culture, city to city, neighborhood to neighborhood and even from street to street. This is due to environmental behavior that people embody based on backgrounds, contexts and origins.
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Environmental psychology plays an interesting role when talking about sidewalk behavior. The term is described in the book Public Places and private space by Albert Mehrabian, and it refers to how spaces
(public or private) are inhabited and experienced by individuals.
How the feelings and emotions of people determine the behavior and reactions towards environments. Reason why same environments affect different people in different ways.
As a general statement, people`s reactions to environments are either to approach or to avoid. Depending on the past experiences, cultural differences, or sophistication of dealing with places. We are all unique, with distinctive past experiences which cause us triggers in different ways.
Contact​
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Contact is as important as having that transition zone.
Having contact with people does not necessarily mean that a verbal engagement has to take place. Seeing people, recognizing, smiling, and talking to them are all a way of interacting and creating that social contact that streets need nowadays. And the transition zone can be used as a mean to create that contact. By sitting on your bench in your transition zone and seeing people, you create the visual contact.
By sitting on your bench, the next day, or the day after, and you see that same person again walking past you, without even realizing, the term ‘public familiarity’ takes place. This term was brought up by sociologists and is presented in the book De Stoep as an action of recognition and identification.
The level of interaction may depend as well. The typical city dweller behavior is:
- observing each other;
- eye contact;
- exchanging smiles;
- passing greetings;
- chatting about the weather;
- overhearing conversations of others;
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Contact and social interaction are not a must when living in a
residential area. As not all neighbors talk to each other, and not all strangers engage with the residents of a particular neighborhood.
But it is encouraged. According to Jane Jacobs, engaging with neighbors and strangers passing by our streets is one of the keys to creating a lively neighborhood. Having the transition zone is not sufficient in creating the contact and engagement most streets are missing nowadays.
A functional transition zone is not just that allocate space in front of the house designed by the architect, but it is mostly about the people. We, as residents, making use of the space by creating contact and keeping that contact going. Of course, it is up to each individual when and how much time he`s going to spend in front of the house.
Because the transition zone starts with the owner (weather he or she want to spend time in front of the house), and it ends with the owner (weather he or she continue practicing the social function of the transition zone).
Safety
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Safety is the goal within neighborhoods. A safe environment and a lively street where contact is established is a place that people want to return to. Everybody wants to feel safe in their own home as well as on their own street and in their own neighborhood.
Safety as well as privacy are the outcome of a ‘good’ in between.
By ‘good’ in between I mean a place/ a room that contributes to the feeling of being home, the sense of home, that is an extension of the house and offers sufficient privacy.
But what does safety have to do with the in between?
Contact in the transition zone may be fleeting, after a while it may be casual and later it can reach to everyday encounters. The social network is created where people help each other and keep an eye on each other. By doing this, they become familiar with each other and therefore a sense of safety is born. Safe to see each other, talk to each other and create friendships. The sense of safety can be reached through the concept Eyes in the street.
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The sense of safety can be reached also through the location of the in between. When the transition zone is next to one`s property, by
leaning against his own facade, it feels safer to interact with others.
The location offers protection, closer as possible to the private but with the view of the public. The edge effect where you are less
exposed but making it easier to watch and react to others.
Sense of safety is also gained through appropriation. Feeling of safety through colonizing the space by placing personal belongings in the in between. Even though they are visible by strangers passing by, they also offer security to the private owner once he sees them and recognizes them as his. The resident marks his territory and creates the function of a safe place, not a gated one. Safety within the street and the in between can also be created through the use of lamps.
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Conclusion
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As a way of concluding, I would like to reflect on the main questions I had at the beginning of my project. The meaning and the value of the in between being that of a safe piece of personal space. An outdoor, exposed to the public eye space, that has the power of becoming a
secure and gezellig place to the private owner through appropriation and ownership. The theoretical part has helped me conclude that the in between is private (ownership over the piece of space), it is
semiprivate (feeling of privacy), and public (by it being visually accessible by everyone), all at the same time. The architectural part has helped me realize that sometimes it is alright for the designer/architect to not design everything that makes up a space, but to allow the resident the ‘room’ to add his/her personality as well. The owner`s chapters (third and fourth) are what the in between is all about - the owner. He/she is
ultimately the one that the space depends on. How he/she should live in/with that space, and as an effect, to gain friendships, privacy, and
security from there.
Trying to answer my question if I can make people aware of the in between, I dare to answer YES, I can. Whether through my project, my thesis or me going and physically telling people about it.
I have made people living on Meester Ulrichweg aware by talking to them about it and by bringing my bench over there. I tried to create a
consciousness in them when sitting on that bench, of what they
manage to actually accomplish.
Appropriation, contact, ownership and privacy.
