Corpo-real#7 Through the in-between

Through the in-between

Transitioning between the private and the shared place in collective living

By Hennieke Velvis

“If the individual cannot at least sometimes shut out the crowd-noise, how shall he notice and become fully reassured by the sounds of a child at play or the sight and sound of a bird as it signals the season’s change?” 1

The Netherlands is currently facing another housing shortage.2 Collective living might be one of the solutions for this crisis. When living together one faces different challenges, everybody is different and has unique needs, wants and values, especially regarding privacy and social interaction. A designer has the opportunity to create a space that would give the (future) residents the ability to balance their unique needs, wants and values regarding privacy and social interaction.

In my own co-living situation, I live with two other girls. In our house the transition between the private and the shared is via a threshold. In my experience this transition is too harsh and gives you no time to get in the right headspace before entering. With only one step you move from the private of your room to the shared where you might run into your roommates. In my experience you need time to prepare yourself for social interactions. I have thus been looking for ways to soften the border and still create a place of transitioning, one that gives you time to prepare and adjust for the shared place you are about to enter. By means of literary review, case-study analysis, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and experiments, I have researched how to find a balance between privacy and social interaction in co-living through design. What are the design challenges in designing a shared space and what design choices do you need to make to find the balance between privacy and social interaction? How do you design to (dis)connect?

From the theory of privacy, social interaction and collective living I learned that social interaction works best when it is voluntarily, and that privacy cannot exist without the public. I learned the importance of the in-between place in collective living, a place where we can implement two different concepts to create opportunity for social interaction or to create a more private place for the residents.

The

beach and the in-between

“No yearning for the alternative – no escape from one into the other. You coincide with both, because their coincidence is you.” 3

In his book ‘The Child, the City and the Artist’ Aldo van Eyck describes the in-between by taking the reader for a walk on the beach, through the thin sheet of water gliding from sea to land and back. Van Eyck writes that there, in the in-between place between sea and land, something happens. He describes the yearning of a sailor; when at sea he longs for the shore, when at land he longs for the sea. In this in-between place between ocean and land, there is no landward yearning from the ocean and no seaward yearning from shore. Van Eyck calls it belonging and homecoming. We need to feel at home wherever we are. When home is always somewhere else there is no question of belonging.

“Departure must mean entry.” 4

Van Eyck writes that the architect’s job is to assist’s man’s ‘homecoming’, you cannot leave a place without entering another.5

Herman Hertzberger implemented this in-between realm in his design for the Brede School in Arnhem, The Netherlands. He created an in-between place in the area that used to be a hallway, it could be opened to the classroom and closed off by a glass harmonica-wall. By creating this zone, it opens a place that creates mutual involvement and shared responsibility because of the activities that take place in this in-between place. This in-between place can be seen as someone’s private domain, but it can also be seen as public domain because it is accepted for others to enter the space. It shows that a space can have numerous uses and can be open to various interpretation. This softening of the border between the public and the private

Spangen Rotterdam / car-free residential street 10

Gioggia Italy / car-free residential street 11

is not to completely demolish the border, it is to balance between both public and private, according to Herzberger.6

‘Lock’ and ‘stoep’

One can see an example of van Eycks in-between space in the Dutch sidewalk, or “stoep”. It serves as a transition from one space to the other, a mediating space between the private of the house and the flow of street life. In my theoretical research I found that in co-living, the “stoep” is an in-between place between community life and private life7, a place that creates opportunity for social interaction. However, during my practical research I explored it more and concluded that the concept of ‘stoep’ needs something extra to make the transition from private to shared, in collective living softer.

The concept of the canal lock is a concept that Chermayeff and Alexander use in their book ‘Community and Privacy’ to illustrate movement between spaces. The space inside a canal lock is used to transfer the ship from a higher water level to a lower water level or vice versa.8 Chermayeff and Alexander use the term ‘entry lock’ to describe a hallway that controls who has access from outside and as a buffer room to control who has access to the personal and intimate spaces of a house. In coliving the lock is an in-between place that creates opportunities to control who and what enters the private area. It gives you a designated place and time to transfer from one state of mind, the private, to another state of mind, the social, while you are transferring from the private place to the headspace. Walking through the path of the ‘lock’ creates time to walk the path in your mind as well.

However, the concept of ‘lock’ takes up a lot of space and, through my theoretical research and case studies, I found have found that the ‘lock’ leads to a more privately oriented community, and less connection between residents.

Softening the border

In my theoretical research, I researched the concepts of ‘lock’ and ‘stoep’ as places where the negotiation could take place. In my practical research I gained new insights about the two concepts. As the softening of the border is something that I was looking for through research by making and experimenting. I explored the concept of ‘lock’ and ‘stoep’, buffer zones, different boundaries, thresholds and in-between places. With every experiment I came closer to what one needs to transition smoothly from a private space to a shared space. In co-living there is an ongoing tension between the private and the public in the in-between space. For it is to decide by the residents the amount of privacy and interaction they wish in their shared spaces. I think that the in-between space is the space where this tension, this search for balance between social interaction, connection and privacy lies. Creating room for this negotiation was the next direction of my research.

Bringing places together

To create a transition zone that only exists when people need to go through it, you need to create a place within a place. In this place within a place, you can bring two places together. By doing this you elongate the threshold and bring the transition time you have in the concept of ‘lock’ into the ‘stoep’. Introducing the new space while you are still in the old space will help to create the elements of the ‘lock’ without use of walls. You can create a moment that elongates the threshold so your mind can prepare and adjust to the shared place. I sought to create an in-between place that only exists when people open the door, a place that is both the “stoep” and “the lock”, but without it’s walls.

I used light to experiment with this zone by using a sensor to switch the light on. By doing this experiment and placing it outside my room as a threshold, I would experience it at different times of the day. It gave me a feeling of surprise every time I opened the door, the light would surprise me and bring my thoughts back to the present. It did work as some kind of transition; it played with my mind and reminded me of the place I was in. Aldo van Eyck and his ideas about the beach and the

ocean to illustrate the in-between place inspired me to bring the two worlds together like the way the ocean and the beach are colliding. By implementing this theory in my practical research, I learned that you need a space where both worlds overlap, it will create a softer transition from one place to the other. I experimented with creating a space with light, projection or reflection when you open the door of the private room. The light, projection and reflection will create a room according to your needs and you can influence that by opening and closing the door further.

To bring this concept of the in-between to life I work with a door that is the start of a series of movements, movements that little by little reveal the shared place and bring the private and the shared places together so you can adjust and prepare accordingly.

With opening the door, the first projection will appear. At first you only see the shared place at the level of people’s feet. This gives you the opportunity to prepare yourself for the shared place or to decide that you are not ready to face what is inside the shared place. In case of the latter, you can simply close the door and retract into the private of your room. If you do decide to open the door further, the next projection will appear. Projection of the shared place at the level of people’s upper body. After this a projection light will create a space in front of you on the floor. This is an invitation to open the door further, which will result in a projection of the shared place at the level of people’s head.

Once you open the door entirely a second place will appear, leading the way to the shared place. You can decide to close the door at any moment of the transition, the place that is created by the projection will disappear immediately.

The further you open the door, the more will be projected and thus revealed. If you do not want to face what you see, you can simply close the door and try to transition at a later moment. Thus, the projection gives you the opportunity to prepare for the new place without entering the new place, by elongating the threshold.

“No yearning for the alternative - no escape from one into the other. You coincide with both, because their coincidence is you.” 9

Bibliography

• Author unknown, “Onderzoek woningtekort neemt komende jaren verder toe.” Consultancy. Accessed November 21, 2022 https://www.consultancy.nl/nieuws/39495/onderzoekwoningtekort-neemt-komende-jaren-verder-toe

• Christie, Shiza, “Threshold spaces in Architecture”, Rethinking the future. Accessed November 21, 2022 https:// www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/city-and-architecture/a3170what-are-threshold-spaces-in-architecture/

• Eyck van, Aldo, The Child, the City and the Artist, An essay on architecture, The in-between realm, Nijmegen, SUN, 1962 • Hertzberger, Herman, Architectuur en Structuralisme, Speelruimte en spelregels, Rotterdam, nai010 uitgevers, 2014

References

1 Chemayeff and Alexander, Community and Privacy, p. 75

2 Consultancy. Onderzoek Woningtekort neemt toe. 2022.

3 Van Eyck. The Child, the City and the Artist. p. 56

4 Van Eyck. The Child, the City and the Artist. p. 56

5 Ibid.

6 Hertzberger, Herman, Architectuur en Structuralisme, Speelruimte en spelregels. p. 81-85.

7 Christie, Shiza, “Threshold spaces in Architecture”, Re-thinking the future.

8 Chemayeff and Alexander, Community and Privacy, p. 75.

9 Van Eyck. The Child, the City and the Artist. p. 56

10 Hertzberger, Herman, Lessen in architectuur | Ruimte maken, ruimte laten. Uitgeverij 010, Rotterdam 1996, (first edition 1991)

11 Hertzberger, Herman, Lessen in architectuur | Ruimte maken, ruimte laten. Uitgeverij 010, Rotterdam 1996, (first edition 1991)

About Hennieke Velvis

Hennieke Velvis has a background in Social Work and finished her Bachelor in that field at Windesheim, University of Applied Sciences. With a specialty in how to implement creativity in the field of Social Work through the Minor Head, Heart and Hands at VIA University College in Aarhus, Denmark. After a few years of working in the field of Social Work she decided to switch careers. She first gained more experience in the field of spatial research in the pre-master at Corpo-real. And continued her studies in the master Corpo-real at ArtEZ university of the Arts, where she graduated in 2023. Hennieke is currently working as a trainee at a social housing corporation with Talent van het Noorden, a Dutch trainee program for social housing corporations. She is working on a project that involves encouraging encounters in social housing.

With this Corpo-real report we proudly present an excellent example of the diverse artistic expressions of our community. Corpo-real is a unique, international, twoyear full-time master programme in the field of Interior Architecture focusing on the endlessly changing relationship between bodies and space. In the title Corpo-real ‘corpo’ stands for bodies in general and ‘real’ for the reality that surrounds them.

Corpo-real is located in Zwolle, where students and tutors develop a researchdriven spatial research practice geared towards an unknown future. The current reality of new unfolding societal and political structures, discrimination, gender issues, scientific and technological developments challenge us in profound ways. We invite our students to address recent and future societal changes, based on an understanding that whatever has worked well in the past may not be sufficient in the future, and that many of these changes are too broad and complex to address using existing methods. Therefore, we encourage our students to make good use of knowledge from other disciplines, through collaborations within and outside ArtEZ. Throughout the programme, students are introduced to, and learn to work with, research methods from various disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, theatre, curating, or literature.

Corpo-real is particularly focused on the connection between theoretical thinking, reflecting and the practice-based research. The fruitful meeting between these research methods in recent finals projects shows that it leads to new findings and perspectives for the professional field. During the first year, students develop a theoretical research question, which they will then consolidate during the first half of the second year in the form of a written paper, while also exploring and challenging during this second year their theory through artistic and practicebased research. For their final thesis, presented during the final exam at the end of the second year, students are asked to demonstrate how the theory and the practice-based research are interconnected, and how this has led to new findings and insights.

W corpo-real.artez.nl

E corporeal@artez.nl

I corporeal.artez

Colophon

Tutors

Rohan Varma, Paper supervisor

Eric de Leeuw, Finals tutor

Lucia Luptáková, Finals tutor

Editor

Roos Krootjes

Hennieke Velvis

Ingrid van Zanten

Cover image

Finals 2023, Hennieke Velvis

Graphic Design

Office for Design, Loek Kemming

Studio Damiaan Renkens, Arnhem

Printing

Drukkerij Loor, Varsseveld