Threshold for Transition

Tension between Interior and Exterior. A fantastic business, this. The way architecture takes a bit of the globe and constructs a tiny box of it. And suddenly there's an interior and an exterior. Brilliant! And that means - equally brilliant! - this thresholds, crossing, the tiny loop-hole door, the almost imperceptible transition between the inside and the outside, an incredible sense of place, an unbelievable feeling of concentration when we suddenly become aware of being enclosed, of something enveloping us, keeping us together, holding us - whether we be many or single. And arena for individuals and the public, for the private and public spheres. Architecture knows this and uses it. 

I am constantly hit with the realization that architecture is a balancing act. It is a balance of tradition and modernity, public and private, quality and budget, interior and exterior. The fact that we as architects must have knowledge of all of these things is overwhelming and extremely frustrating but also empowering... that it will be our responsibility to mitigate these contrasting terms to create structures that are beautiful and functional. Currently the debate that must be resolved is the conflict of the facade with the interior. We see beautiful examples of both: experimental exteriors by Herzog and De Meuron and constructed interior environments by Daniel Libeskind. However, most of the time it seems that it must be one way or the other: beautiful, meaningful skin that communicated with the public or carefully articulated interiors for the private user.

Peter Zumthor exclaims that this tension between interior and exterior is a brilliant opportunity rather than obstacle, because this juxtaposition produces a necessary moment of transition. I believe that he is saying that in this transition, we can mitigate the conflict of exterior and interior. This threshold can be drastic, bringing attention to the movement of enclosure to open space. It can be minimal, the "tiny loop-hold door, the almost imperceptible transition between the inside and the outside." It is the threshold that has the potential to link these two defined spaces and articulate them in support of the building concept. Maybe it is the well articulated instance of transition between interior and exterior that will mitigate the tension between the two.