Short Passages

Buildings · Building

Context The Flow Through Rooms131 · Building Thoroughfare101 · Circulation Realms98

Problem

Long corridors without windows or daylight rank among the bleakest places any building can offer — people want nothing more than to get through them quickly. Yet they often get stretched out anyway, treated in the floor plan as mere connective tissue.

Solution

Keep every passage as short as you can, give it daylight and perhaps a seat or a view, so that even the necessary walk from one place to another keeps some quality worth lingering in.

Usage Light on Two Sides of Every Room159 · Alcoves179 · Window Place180 · Thick Walls197 · Closets Between Rooms198 · Outdoor Room163 · Gallery Surround166 · Low Sill222 · Interior Windows194 · Solid Doors with Glass237 · The Shape of Indoor Space191