Do not assume that all stairs have to have the “standard” angle of 30 degrees. The steepest stair may almost be a ladder. The most generous stair can be as shallow as a ramp and quite wide. As you work out the exact slope of your stair, bear in mind the relationship: riser -\- tread = 17V2 inches.
v v
Construct the staircase as a vault, within a space defined by columns, just like every other room—columns at the corners (212), stair vault (228). And make the most of the staircase; underneath it is a place where the children can play and hide— child caves (203) ; and it is a place to sit and talk—stair seats (125). . . .
903
196 CORNER DOORS*
. . . this pattern helps you place doors exactly. Use it to help create the larger flow through rooms (131). You can use it too, to generate a sequence of sitting spaces (142), by leaving small corners for sitting, uninterrupted by the doors; and you can use it to create tapestry of light and dark (135), since every door, if glazed and near a window, will create a natural pool of light which people gravitate toward.
The success of a room depends to a great extent on the position of the doors. If the doors create a pattern of movement which destroys the places in the room, the room will never allow people to be comfortable.
First there is the case of a room with a single door. In general, it is best if this door is in a corner. When it is in the middle of a wall, it almost always creates a pattern of movement which breaks the room in two, destroys the center, and leaves no single area which is large enough to use. The one common exception to this rule is the case of a room which is rather long and narrow. In this case it makes good sense to enter from the middle of one of the long sides, since this creates two areas, both roughly square, and therefore large enough to be useful. This kind of central door is especially useful when the room has two partly separate functions, which fall naturally into its two halves.
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| Rooms with one door. |
Now, the case of a room with two or more doors: the individual doors should still be in the corners for the reasons given above. But we must now consider not only the position of the
196 CORNER DOORS
individual doors, but the relation between the doors. If possible, they should be placed more or less along the same side, so as to leave the rest of the room untouched by movement.
More generally, if we draw lines which connect the doors, then the spaces which are left uncut by these lines, should be large enough to be useful, and should have a strong positive shape—a triangular space left between paths of circulation will hardly ever be used.
Rooms with more than one door.
Finally, note that this pattern does not apply to very large rooms. In a very large room, or in a room with a big table in the middle, the doors can be in the middle, and still create a special formal, spacious feeling. In fact, in this case, it may even be better to put them in the middle, just to create this feeling. But this only works when the room is large enough to benefit from it.
Therefore:
Except in very large rooms, a door only rarely makes sense in the middle of a wall. It does in an entrance room, for instance, because this room gets its character essentially from the door. But in most rooms, especially small ones, put the doors as near the corners of the room as possible. If the room has two doors, and people move through it, keep both doors at one end of the room.
corners
| 9 SCATTERED WORK** |
|---|
 |
| 51 |
buildings
* ❖ *!-
When a door marks a transition, as it does into a bedroom or a private place, for instance, make it as low as you dare—low doorway (224); and thicken the entry way with closet space where it needs to be especially private—closets between rooms (198). Later, when you make the door frame, make it integral with the wall, and decorate it freely—frames as thickened edges (225), ornament (249); except when rooms are very private, put windows in the door—solid doors with glass (237). . . .
give all the walls some defth} wherever there are to be alcovesy windowSy shelvesy closets or seats.
| l97‘ | THICK WALLS |
| 198. | CLOSETS BETWEEN ROOMS |
| 199. | SUNNY COUNTER |
| 200. | OPEN SHELVES |
| 201. | WAIST-HIGH SHELF |
| 202. | BUILT-IN SEATS |
| 203. | CHILD CAVES |
| 204. | SECRET PLACE |
907
| 197 thick walls** |
|---|
 |
908
. . . once the plan is accurate to the nearest 5 or 6 feet, there is a final process in which the smallest spaces—niches, built-in seats, counters, closets and shelves—get built to form the walls. Or of course, you can build this pattern into an existing house. In either case, use the pattern so that it helps to create the proper shapes for rooms—the shape of indoor space (191), the ceiling heights—alcoves (179), window places (180), and ceiling height variety (190), and, on the outside of the rooms, the nooks and crannies of the building edge (160).
Houses with smooth hard walls made of prefabricated panels, concrete, gypsum, steel, aluminum, or glass always stay impersonal and dead.
In the world we live in today, newly built houses and apartments are more and more standardized. People no longer have a chance to make them personal and individual. A personal house tells us about the people who live there. A child’s swing hanging in a doorway reflects the attitude of parents to their children. A window seat overlooking a favorite bush supports a contemplative, dreamy nature. Open counters between kitchen and living space are specific to informal family life; small closable hatches between the two are specific to more formal styles. An open shelf around a room should be seen at one height to display a collector’s porcelain, best seen from above; at another height and depth if it is to be used to support a photographer’s latest pictures; at another height again for setting down drinks in the house of a perennial party-giver. A large enough fireplace nook, with enough built-in seats, invites a family of six to sit together.
Each of these things gives us a sense about the people living in the house because each expresses some special personal need. And everyone needs the opportunity to adapt his surroundings to his own way of life.
In traditional societies this personal adaptation came about very easily. People lived in the same place for very long periods,
often for whole lifetimes. And houses were made of hand-processed materials like wood, brick, mud, straw, plaster, which are easily modified by hand by the inhabitants themselves. Under these conditions, the personal character of the houses came about almost automatically from the fact of occupancy.