[...]... see, is clearly semi-public 12 THE LANGUAGE OF SPACE 13 The entrance to this simple house shows a gradation of space from the fully public domain of the street and pavement (not visible) through the semi-public space in the foreground and the semi-private space behind the gate to the fully private space that lies beyond the closed door Space has to communicate this ‘right of ownership’ clearly so that... 33-44 2 Space and the human dimension We treat space somewhat the way we treat sex It is there but we don’t talk about it Edward T Hall, The Silent Language The instinctive idiosyncrasies of the average person are of far greater importance than the deliberate originality of the individual N J Habraken, Supports The human basis of the language In the previous chapter we established the idea that there... since the language of space has regional dialects that comprise important features of local cultures The art of architecture Wherever you find people gathered together collectively inhabiting some part of our world you will also find rules governing their use of space Some of these rules may be purely a matter of local social convention, but many are a reflection of both the deep-seated needs of SPACE. .. characteristics of the human brain Whether or not this is true, in the human language of space we can certainly see reflections of our own makeup At its most basic, we have our own ways of sensing space and of moving through space At the more sophisticated level, we have our own ways of making meaning of space All these and many more features of the human condition help to determine the way we communicate... which you can imagine the occupants examining their visitors! The approach to the building offers no shade from the sun in a climate where all wellmannered buildings should (Fig 1.2) None of this is very welcoming, and I have lost count of the number of Singaporeans who have told me they feel offended by it ~ Reading the language We often need space to tell us how to behave, and the rather wry quotation... communicate through the way we have laid them out and decorated them This language of space is a global one, since many of its roots can be found in fundamental characteristics of the human race Whilst Mandarin, English and Spanish are spoken by many millions of people in many countries, the language of space is truly international And yet the advanced student of this language can often recognize where... to the public they serve (Hubbard 1996) The difficulty we have here is that planners are supposed to protect the public from wilful architects, who in turn present themselves as designing for society at large rather than just their clients! Architects have also defended their professional status on the grounds that they champion the quality of the environment on behalf of all of us This seems to be the. .. with the communication through the language of space, and we feel uncomfortable We can get remarkably irritated by strange, insensitive or just thoughtless failures of other people to use the language of space properly the stranger who comes and sits at your table in a caf6 even though other tables are empty; the newspaper boy who fails to shut the front gate after delivering the morning newspaper; the. .. sort of problem is interesting, but this is an example of the relationship between us as individuals and the surrounding space Rather more important in many cases is a less direct effect of space; the way it mediates our social life We shall see in a later chapter that much of this can be traced back to our nature in terms of the senses we have and the way they in turn structure our perception of the space. .. the more reserved nature of their social norms It was not long before the architects were moved to the end of the office Social norms then are extremely powerful in that they give security to people in the group, allowing them to behave in a regulated way without fear of their behaviour being thought to be inappropriate by their neighbours, colleagues and friends But are there spatial reflections of . Space as language Why a language? The art of architecture The social art The language of space Reading the language Behavioural settings How this book works 2 Space and the. countries, the language of space is truly international. And yet the advanced student of this language can often recognize where someone comes from by careful observation, since the language of space. Some of these rules may be purely a matter of local social convention, but many are a reflection of both the deep-seated needs of SPACE AS LANGUAGE 3 our psyche and of the characteristics of