P E O P L E     P L A C E         P E R T I N E N T 

In architecture, a threshold is essentially the connection between the public realm and the interior spaces of the building or site. To understand the importance of a threshold as a design tactic it is crucial to first identify the evolution of public spaces throughout history. In medieval times, cities were self-evolved and buildings became densely layered due to their use and function. The dense and crowded living conditions and the lack of planning caused the interior of homes to be dark and unpleasant. External spaces were therefore well populated and used as a place for social interaction. As there was little focus on private-ness and individual dwellings, these open and flexible outdoor spaces had great vitality and vibrancy. Unlike in the medieval period, renaissance architects planned and purposefully designed the urban environment.[1]  The scale of open spaces evolved and city planners included large public squares and plazas into the urban design to moderate and control public congregation. The focus of modern architects differed yet again, concentrating on designing physical and functional dwellings that had light, air, ventilation and access to open space. To achieve this openness, cities were filled with detached private dwelling’s that spread increasingly further away from urban centres. Advances in technology allowed these car-dependant communities to evolve. With urban sprawl and a focus on the individual dwelling, came private-ness and hence, public spaces were no longer a priority.[2] In low-density communities, with under-utilized public spaces, the street and front entrance to each house became the only place for social interaction to occur. With continued population growth, urban sprawl has become problematic. Medium to high-density communities seem to have been a solution for contemporary urban planners, so strong public connections are required to make these developments sustainable.

 

 

The place for social connection in residential buildings is at the threshold. A threshold is not only the border that signifies the end of one state and the beginning of another, but it is a whole zone, and an interstitial space where the interior and exterior meet. It is where the public and private find their common ground. Liminal space is neither inside or outside, instead it is the state or experience of becoming one or the other. The area in-between can usually be occupied and dwelled in. Threshold lines, imaginary and tectonic, do not merely create a boundary; they are the transitional space in the middle.[3] The threshold, as a physical tectonic border, can be resolved into a series of boundaries. It is a border that has a divisive function as well as a border that has a connective function. It cannot be a single boundary line, denoted by a wall or a fence, but a collection of elements in space. Design of the threshold, whether it real or metaphorical, has long been an issue for architectural theory. Unlike the function of a wall or roof, there is double demand on a threshold to be simultaneously open and closed. A threshold needs to balance optimal permeability to allow public interaction, while still achieving closure and privacy. A prevailing characteristic of a threshold is its ambiguity, the fact that it passively permits or denies entry into a building while allowing a connection nonetheless.[4]

 

 

Throughout history, houses in America used front porches to ‘blur’ the boundary between the populous outside, and private inside. This vernacular typology was initially implemented in the South, where the humid climate required an indoor/outdoor space for ventilation before air-conditioners and other technology had been invented. The front porch eventually became an important liminal space all over the country, especially for women. In the nineteenth century, cultural dynamics in America meant the home became the women’s domain, and men left the house each day to go to work. Women used the porch to counter their domestic isolation.  Whilst women needed to stay home in order to look after their children and complete all necessary household chores, they utilized the front porch as a social place: to interact with neighbours, keep track of surrounding activities and break the monotony of the day. In these early days before air-conditioning, natural ventilation of the porch also made strenuous chores, such as food preparation and clothes washing, more pleasurable in the summer.[5] In more recent times, air-conditioning paired with society’s increasing obsession with ‘private-ness’ has gradually limited a house’s ability to activate and connect with the public realm. Although front porches and similar elements are still included in some homes, they are not being used for the same functions and are now an unsuccessful response to the issue of threshold design. Similar to the Australian verandah, as explained in “What’s in a name? The in-between-ness of the verandah’s public faces and threshold spaces” By Chris Brisbin, the American porch has lost its cultural significance in contemporary architecture. Advancements in technology and in the equality of women mean the porch is no longer needed for the same reasons. It is now socially acceptable for women to interact with all members of the public, and less common that they are the only people in a household who contribute to the chores, hence they do not rely solely on the porch for their social activities.[6] Evolving architectural styles, in residential buildings, differ from typical facades seen throughout history. New construction methods have allowed all types of structural systems, and larger amounts of glazing and shading. While a typical porch is no longer a solution for connecting the public and private realm, and despite the increasingly private western society, contemporary architects must still address the issue surrounding thresholds.

 

 

A threshold is not only a physical element of architecture, such as the front porch, but a phenomenological element too. Few modern and contemporary buildings appeal to our feelings in quite the same way as old town houses.[7] Recognising the front porch or front door as the entrance to a house gives a sense of familiarity, so what happens when the typical façade of a domestic building is dramatically changed? Architects are gradually making an effort to revitalise the language of architecture by recovering historical themes. Odd geometrical facades and structural systems are becoming more common in the architecture of the 21st century, however form only affects our feeling through what it represents. While these new facades and geometric shapes do not represent ‘entrance’ and strongly as a front porch does, society will slowly become accustomed. Juhani Pallasmaa describes some feelings that are produced by architecture. These are: approaching the building, entering the building, stepping into its territory, stepping into the house, walking through the door, crossing the boundary between inside and outside.[8]

 

 

 

Although the extent to which residential dwellings should interact with the public realm is equivocal, due to the private nature of society, it is essential for mixed-use dwellings to connect with public spaces. Gallery House, a residence and art gallery in San Francisco, is a contemporary building that demonstrates how a balance between privacy and activation can be achieved. In the 1800’s San Francisco adopted what is called the ‘Italianate style.’ Initially the style included Roman decoration and flat stone or brick fronts, but in the 1860’s and 1870’s the style included dominant two story bay windows.[9] Similar to the front porch, a bay window is an occupiable liminal space, however, its closed glazing means it does not achieve public realm activation to quite the same extent. Residents are able to sit in the window, which protrudes outside the boundary created by the wall, and form a visual connection with the adjacent street.

 

 

 

South Park, located south of the industrial section of San Francisco is a circle of houses, which surround a green, tree filled park. The houses in this area are predominantly mixed use, with a combination of architecture offices, art galleries, tech start-ups and residences. The style of the area includes neoclassical mouldings as well as steel and glass claddings. Gallery House, which is situated in South Park, is owned by a couple that collect female artworks and display them to the public.[10] The clients requested a façade for the art gallery and private residence that would provide a delicate transition between the interior living and master bedroom and the street. The San Francisco planning code encourages Victorian bay windows, but essentially only requires a little chamfered envelope on the facades. Due to the ambiguity of the planning code, architects Ogrydziak and Prillinger created an undulating, open façade in lieu of a typical ‘bay window.’(fig 2) The façade at the top two floors is adorned in Cor-Ten steel latticework, in a form that represents a tree branch, creating a figurative bridge between the tree canopy of the adjacent park and the rectilinear building. The art gallery space occupies the ground floor, and the oversize front door alludes to the mixed function of this building, as large paintings can easily fit through the twelve-foot opening.[11] As the art gallery is open to the public, but not open to walk-in traffic, the ground floor façade is made of a translucent glass. This prevents passers-by from being able to look directly in, instead, they are seen as ethereal shadow figures to those inside. This careful connection with the street allows for privacy, security and for the gallery to run as per its intended function. The second and third floors, containing the private living areas, have full height glass sliding doors that open onto a shallow balcony. The Cor-Ten steel lattice, in front of the balconies, creates a virtual, if not literal, zone of privacy. This balcony zone, situated at a higher level than the typical American porch, is a suitable threshold zone for a contemporary culture. Lifting the balcony above street level and incorporating the architectural privacy screen shows evolution of historical threshold zones, such as the porch, allowing for slightly more privacy.[12]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The way a building is constructed essentially becomes part of its essence and phenomenological significance. Tectonic, as it is referred to in the dictionary to mean ‘pertaining to building or construction in general…’, does not only denote the structural and material elements of a building, but the poetics of construction. Tectonic is not merely the act of construction as much as it is what transforms construction into an art form. Tectonics of the frame, as opposed to stereotomics, is the combination of separate members joining to create a field in space. Gallery House incorporates a tectonic frame on the public façade, contributing to the threshold. The tree-like frame has an element of beauty, and does not just provide screening. The tectonic edge condition in Gallery House phenomenologically allows occupiers of the space to engage with the community and live out their daily existence.[13] The importance of creating vibrant and activated thresholds is due to a shortage and inequity of public urban spaces of recent times. As Gallery House is located adjacent to one of these dwindling assets, open public space, it needs to take advantage of the opportunities for social interaction. There has been a transformation from cities abundant with pivotal public open spaces, to privatised public spaces. Corporate plazas and shopping malls, though they are technically publically accessible, can be psychologically private. These spaces, while allowing social connections to occur, have limited or controlled access as they are privately owned and managed. Tridib Banerjee writes, “…the perceived decline of public space assumes that affective public life is linked to a viable public realm.” If open outdoor public spaces are becoming less common, more emphasis is placed on the public realm surrounding private buildings, as these spaces are where society will have to connect.[14]