Therefore:
Make the window frame a deep, splayed edge: about a foot wide and splayed at about 50 to 60 degrees to the plane of the window, so that the gentle gradient of daylight gives a smooth transition between the light of the window and the dark of the inner wall.
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Build the depth of the frame so that it is continuous with the structure of the walls—frames as thickened edges (225) ; if the wall is thin, make up the necessary depth for the reveal on the inside face of the wall, with bookshelves, closets or other thick walls (197) ; embellish the edge of the window even further, to make light even softer, with lace work, tracery, and climbing plants—filtered light (238), half-inch trim (240) , CLIMBING PLANTS (246) . . . .
A PATTERN LANGUAGE
headline gives the essence of the problem in one or two sentences. After the headline comes the body of the problem. This is the longest section. It describes the empirical background of the pattern, the evidence for its validity, the range of different ways the pattern can be manifested in a building, and so on. Then, again in bold type, like the headline, is the solution—the heart of the pattern—which describes the field of physical and social relationships which are required to solve the stated problem, in the stated context. This solution is always stated in the form of an instruction—so that you know exactly what you need to do, to build the pattern. Then, after the solution, there is a diagram, which shows the solution in the form of a diagram, with labels to indicate its main components.
After the diagram, another three diamonds, to show that the main body of the pattern is finished. And finally, after the diamonds there is a paragraph which ties the pattern to all those smaller patterns in the language, which are needed to complete this pattern, to embellish it, to fill it out.
There are two essential purposes behind this format. First, to present each pattern connected to other patterns, so that you grasp the collection of all 253 patterns as a whole, as a language, within which you can create an infinite variety of combinations. Second, to present the problem and solution of each pattern in such a way that you can judge it for yourself, and modify it, without losing the essence that is central to it.
Let us next understand the nature of the connection between patterns.
It is quite possible that the collective cohesion people need to form a viable society just cannot develop when the vehicles which people use force them to be 10 times farther apart, on the average, titan they have to be. This states the possible social cost of cars in its strongest form. It may be that cars cause the breakpoints of society, simfly because of their geometry.
At the same time that cars cause all these difficulties, they also have certain unprecedented virtues, which have in fact led to their enormous success. These virtues are:
Flexibility
Privacy
Door-to-door trips, without transfer Immediacy
These virtues are particularly important in a metropolitan region which is essentially two-dimensional. Public transportation can provide very fast, frequent, door-to-door service, along certain arteries. But in the widely spread out, two-dimensional character of a modern urban region, public transportation by itself cannot compete successfully with cars. Even in cities like London and Paris, with the finest urban public transportation in the world, the trains and buses have fewer riders every year because people are switching to cars. They are willing to put up with all the delays, congestion, and parking costs, because apparently the convenience and privacy of the car are more valuable.
Under theoretical analysis of this situation, the only kind of transportation system which meets all the needs is a system of individual vehicles, which can use certain high-speed lines for long cross-city trips and which can use their own power when they leave the public lines in local areas. The systems which come closest to this theoretical model are the various Private Rapid Transit proposals; one example is the Westinghouse Starr-car—a system in which tiny two-man vehicles drive on streets locally and onto high-speed public rails for long trips.
However, the Starrcar-type systems have a number of disadvantages. They make relatively little contribution to the problem of space. The small cars, though smaller than a conventional car, still take up vastly more space than a person. Since the private cars will not be capable of long cross-country trips, they must be
| 224 LOW DOORWAY |
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. . . some of the doors in a building play a special role in creating transitions and maintaining privacy: it may be any of the doors governed by family of entrances (102), or main
ENTRANCE (lio), Or THE FLOW THROUCH ROOMS ( I 3 I ) Or CORNER DOORS ( 196) , Or NATURAL DOORS AND WINDOWS (22l).
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This pattern helps to complete these doors by giving them a special height and shape.
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High doorways are simple and convenient. But a lower door is often more profound.
The 6' rectangular door is such a standard pattern, and is so taken for granted, that it is hard to imagine how strongly it dominates the experience of transition. There have been times, however, when people were more sensitive to the moment of passage, and made the shape of their doors convey the feeling of transition.
An extreme case is the Japanese tea house, where a person entering must literally kneel down and crawl in through a low hole in the wall. Once inside, shoes off, the guest is entirely a guest, in the world of his host.
Among architects, Frank Lloyd Wright used the pattern many times. There is a beautifully low trellised walk behind Taliesin West, marking the transition out of the main house, along the path to the studios.
If you are going to try this pattern, test it first by pinning cardboard up to effectively lower the frame. Make the doorway low enough so that it appears “lower than usual”—then people will immediately adapt to it, and tall people will not hit their heads.
Therefore:
Instead of taking it for granted that your doors are simply 6' 8" rectangular openings to pass through, make at least some of your doorways low enough so that the act of going through the door is a deliberate thoughtful passage
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from one place to another. Especially at the entrance to a house, at the entrance to a private room, or a fire corner— make the doorway lower than usual, perhaps even as low as
 | OUC h |
Test the height before you build it, in place—natural doors and windows (221). Build the door frame as part of the structure—frames as thickened edges (225), and make it beautiful with ornament (249) around the frame. If there is a door, glaze it, at least partially—solid doors with glass (237). . . .
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225 FRAMES as thickened
EDGES**
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. . . assume that columns and beams are in and that you have marked the exact positions of the doors and windows with string or pencil marks—natural doors and windows (221). You are ready to build the frames. Remember that a well made frame needs to be continuous with the surrounding wall, so that it helps the building structurally—efficient structure (206), GRADUAL STIFFENING (208).
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