HTS Essay: Don't run in the Corridor - A pleasurable journey through the Montessori school of Delft
“In that lostness, where our guides are reduced to signs, we submit to our past, recalling those other moments when our intentions were clear, and our positions suddenly murky. I am at school, it is September, and the nylon uniform with the green and purple badge (an icon of the School Tower, already vanished) haspassed from that symbol of pride and expectation (so excited!) to that of contest and consternation. I am be- fore the corridor again, not quite as in afilm, in which the depth of the unknown is shown through a shot of one point perspective (a tunnel of light) but more, as before a notice board of incomprehension.”1
Collage on the different perspectives of the “Corridor”
It is through its systematic ambiguity2 rather than its prevalence that the corridor poses as an element of interest when it comes to pursuing its role in architecture. Reflecting on the scope of its ambiguity, one delves into the realms of meaning, form and perception as a means of unraveling the true nature of the corridor of the present with the aim of identifying its relevance through analyzing the Montessori School in Delft by Herman Herzberger3.
The most prominent element in the Montessori School in Delft is the central organizational unit which serves as a corridor, street, classroom and socializing space. It runs diagonally through the building and is accentuated and defined by L shaped classrooms which extend into this corridor in order to create niche spaces for children to work privately while also breaking its linearity. The entrance to the school is through a playground which is not closed-off as to allow school children and those from the neighborhood to play there after school hours, the fact that it is part of the street making it even more attractive to the children. The entrance door is used very little throughout the day, in the morning when students arrive and later when they leave. In order for the main and classroom entrances to become more homely, Herzberger made them sheltered; it is an intermediate space between the street and the house. The general concept of the classrooms is that of autonomous units, small homes operated by the head teacher “mother” and articulated in three zones moving from the more secluded and then gradually to the outside .
The whole plan of the building is designed so that it can be easily expanded through its corridor if the need aris- es. Hertzberger calls this corridor a “learn street”. However, according to Le Corbusier, 1929, who was also abig influencer in Hertzberger’s work, “the Rue Corridor is the street of the pedestrian of a thousand years ago, it is a relic of the centuries; it is a non-functioning, an obsolete organ. The street wears us out. It is altogether disgusting! Why, then, does it still exist?”4. So one might say that our reaction to the “street” corridor is a matterof perception. If so, then how do we define what works and what does not?
The most prominent element in the Montessori School in Delft is the central organizational unit which serves as a corridor, street, classroom and socializing space. It runs diagonally through the building and is accentuated and defined by L shaped classrooms which extend into this corridor in order to create niche spaces for children to work privately while also breaking its linearity. The entrance to the school is through a playground which is not closed-off as to allow school children and those from the neighborhood to play there after school hours, the fact that it is part of the street making it even more attractive to the children. The entrance door is used very little throughout the day, in the morning when students arrive and later when they leave. In order for the main and classroom entrances to become more homely, Herzberger made them sheltered; it is an intermediate space between the street and the house. The general concept of the classrooms is that of autonomous units, small homes operated by the head teacher “mother” and articulated in three zones moving from the more secluded and then gradually to the outside .
The whole plan of the building is designed so that it can be easily expanded through its corridor if the need aris- es. Hertzberger calls this corridor a “learn street”. However, according to Le Corbusier, 1929, who was also abig influencer in Hertzberger’s work, “the Rue Corridor is the street of the pedestrian of a thousand years ago, it is a relic of the centuries; it is a non-functioning, an obsolete organ. The street wears us out. It is altogether disgusting! Why, then, does it still exist?”4. So one might say that our reaction to the “street” corridor is a matterof perception. If so, then how do we define what works and what does not?
2. “The phenomenon noticed by Aristotle whereby terms may apply in different, yet associated, ways, to different catego- ries of thing: a place may be cheerful, and so may a person.” Oxford dictionary of philosophy.
3. a. The school was designed in 1960 in Delft, Netherlands and is 675m2
b. Herman Hertzberger (1932) is one of the leading architects of the modern age as well as the author of three volumes of “Lessons for Students in Architecture”.
4. Le Corbusier, Oeuvre Plastique, preface.
3. a. The school was designed in 1960 in Delft, Netherlands and is 675m2
b. Herman Hertzberger (1932) is one of the leading architects of the modern age as well as the author of three volumes of “Lessons for Students in Architecture”.
4. Le Corbusier, Oeuvre Plastique, preface.
The Montessori School Delft by Herman Hertzberger
In order to understand the contents of perception, what is conveyed to the subject by their perceptual experience5, two surveys on the connotations embedded on the word corridor were conducted, each focusing on different modes of interpretation, those being the media and the individual experience. However, when it comes to distinguishing what is “pure sensation” and what consists of experience as acquisition of beliefs, the impact of the media in our collective consciousness, it would be worth looking at Maurice Merleau-Ponty where he notes “The alleged self-evidence of sensation is not based on any testimony of consciousness, but on widely held prejudice”.6 Reflecting on this statement, a question arises as to whether we still have a conscious choice when it comes to defining a certain experience/perception even through the external impact on our beliefs. Susanna Siegel7 elaborates a bit more on this concept when she poses an objection to views that posit constitutive links between experiential contents and belief contents, by intro- ducing the concept of primitive creatures that can have experiences even though they lack the capacity and disposition to form beliefs. As such one might argue that contents of experience and belief are in fact analo- gous, consisting of a similar relation to the contents on one side and a relation to those contents on the other.
Therefore, taking cause from “The Corridor Cell Complex” by Stephan Truby, where he de- picts quite a sinister understanding of the corridor in our cultures’ recent imagery,8 a need arises to reevaluate the matter of its phenomenology on the above mentioned angles. Interestingly, both surveys exposed complimentary patterns in perception, where what was conveyed through the media was similarly reflected in the personal experiences.9 The results solidified Truby’s claim on the corridor’s poor standing , with words such as “Long”, “Narrow”, and “Empty” dominating the answer sheets.
Therefore, taking cause from “The Corridor Cell Complex” by Stephan Truby, where he de- picts quite a sinister understanding of the corridor in our cultures’ recent imagery,8 a need arises to reevaluate the matter of its phenomenology on the above mentioned angles. Interestingly, both surveys exposed complimentary patterns in perception, where what was conveyed through the media was similarly reflected in the personal experiences.9 The results solidified Truby’s claim on the corridor’s poor standing , with words such as “Long”, “Narrow”, and “Empty” dominating the answer sheets.
1. Word cloud from the study on the connotation of “corridor” in the media
2. Word cloud from the poll
5. Siegel, Susanna. 2016. “The Contents Of Perception (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy)”. Plato.Stanford.Edu.https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-contents/.6. Merleau Ponty 1978, p. 7
7. Taken from “The contents of Perception” (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy): Another objection to views that posit constitutive links between experiences and beliefs, or between experiential contents and belief contents focuses on primi- tive creatures that can have experiences, even though they lack the capacity and disposition to form beliefs. Such creatures would seem to be impossible if experiences were constitutively linked to beliefs, as the views discussed here hold. Thisobjection seems to apply to the position that identifies experiences with beliefs about the ways things look (defended byGlüer 2009). In contrast, Glüer’s (2009) view seems immune from the objection that assimilating perceptual experience to belief would entail that subjects of known illusions have contradictory beliefs, and so are irrational. This objection applies to Byrne (2016), who argues that this consequence is plausible.
8. “The corridor does not rank high on the list of most-loved spaces. It can hardly hope for sympathy, seemingly damned to forge pathways through enclaves of misery.” Truby, S., Werlemann, H., Macleod, K., Koolhas, R. and Boom, I.9. a. The first study consists of a collective of various texts (journals, books, newspapers, websites, etc.) from the internetwhere the word “corridor”, in the preferable connotation, has been embedded and is later scanned through a semantic cluster of collocation graphs as to determine the most frequently associated adjectives. The three most frequent adjectives were: Narrow, Long, Dark
b. The second study consists of a poll where people were asked “What is the first word that comes to mind when youthink of Corridor?”. They were all asked to submit one word. In the end there was a total of 95 words where the mos
common were: Long, Narrow, Empty.
It is worth mentioning that this dedication in organizing spaces by the means of corridors was not an iso- lated case regarding merely educational facilities but rather extended to institutional buildings such as hospitals, asylums and prisons. During the end of the 19th century Thomas Kirkbride, the American physician who advocated for the mentally ill, writes a book on the construction of mental asylums22 where he depicts the corridor as a cure-all for architecture and its patients. He argues that the corridor can resolve program problems as well as ventilation while allowing for linear expansion. Because bedrooms are meant for sleeping, corridors also serve as communal spaces for socialization.22 On another note, after serving in the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale reflects on the events where diseases were spread through tunnel like spaces and thus advices on a different approach regarding hospital buildings by reducing the corridor to a tool connecting only isolated pavilions.23 Following on these techniques of isolation and social discipline, prisons in the 18th-19th century were utilizing the corridor as a surveillance room.24 Truby has also elaborated in his book; “the panopticon principle of controlled cells was simplified and economized into a principle of monitored intermediate spaces”. As has been mentioned early in the essay, similar corridor principles found in monasteries dating back to the 1400s were later on implemented together with the modern corridor in three types of institutional buildings; hospitals, prisons and schools. When it comes to analyzing the role of the corridor in these very different institutions, one might raise a question as to how one element is being used as a circulation unit, social space and monitoring device all at the same time regardless of the different user groups and varying contexts. Foucault calls it; “spatial techniques of social discipline” and asks “Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?”24 Continuing with this question, there is a certain level of concern regarding education facilities specifically, where one imagines a student (primary to high school) walking through and spending most of their day in the same spatial element (the corridor) as a patient in the hospital/asylum or a prisoner would.
22. Kirkbride, Thomas. S. 1854. On The Construction, Organization, And General Arrangements Of Hospitals For The Insane. M.D.
23. Nightingale, Florence. 1863. Notes On Hospitals. London.
24. Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline And Punish. The Birth Of The Prison. 2nd ed. Vintage Books.
7. Taken from “The contents of Perception” (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy): Another objection to views that posit constitutive links between experiences and beliefs, or between experiential contents and belief contents focuses on primi- tive creatures that can have experiences, even though they lack the capacity and disposition to form beliefs. Such creatures would seem to be impossible if experiences were constitutively linked to beliefs, as the views discussed here hold. Thisobjection seems to apply to the position that identifies experiences with beliefs about the ways things look (defended byGlüer 2009). In contrast, Glüer’s (2009) view seems immune from the objection that assimilating perceptual experience to belief would entail that subjects of known illusions have contradictory beliefs, and so are irrational. This objection applies to Byrne (2016), who argues that this consequence is plausible.
8. “The corridor does not rank high on the list of most-loved spaces. It can hardly hope for sympathy, seemingly damned to forge pathways through enclaves of misery.” Truby, S., Werlemann, H., Macleod, K., Koolhas, R. and Boom, I.9. a. The first study consists of a collective of various texts (journals, books, newspapers, websites, etc.) from the internetwhere the word “corridor”, in the preferable connotation, has been embedded and is later scanned through a semantic cluster of collocation graphs as to determine the most frequently associated adjectives. The three most frequent adjectives were: Narrow, Long, Dark
b. The second study consists of a poll where people were asked “What is the first word that comes to mind when youthink of Corridor?”. They were all asked to submit one word. In the end there was a total of 95 words where the mos
common were: Long, Narrow, Empty.
Consequently, taking cause from the above mentioned survey, one inquires after the corridor’s meaning in time through unraveling its etymological history10. While keeping close to the western perception, the corridor consists of two complementary etymologies : one which adheres to a relation to movement, beginning with the word “Colare” in the 3d century which means “flow”, later on “Curro” the Latin root of the word “Currere” that means “to run” which transforms into “Coreor” in the 12th Century which means “runner”, as well as later on hinting at the aspect of passage which is rather an updated meaning of a process, in this case “to run” “to deliver a message”, which is transformed into “Curridore” in the 17th Century as taken from “From thence a Curridore, or private way, to his Castle of Saint Angelo”.11 While delving into the historical etymology of the corridor, and as such unraveling its semantic explanation in a quest to try and define its present meaning, one cannot help but think of how meaning entertains form. It is exactly the systematic ambiguity of the corridor which allows for its historical etymology (meaning) to systematically alter its stand on the physical realm (form).
Carrying on from the previous examples given in the context of etymology, one could analyze therole of the corridor by taking to consideration its shift to the physical from the very first emergence of oneconcept related to movement (Colare). The concept is later given a physical body to inhibit, that of the messenger (Coreor), which is nonetheless closely related to movement. The next stage depicts the corridor asa long passage above fortified walls12, an external tool for the “Coreor”. It is only after the 17th Centurythat the corridor is finally interiorized, ceasing to be an urban element while still retaining its proximity tothe human body and the concept of movement even though similar corridors in monasteries existed even before then with examples such as the Buxheim monastery in Germany 1450. What starts as a way of passage in the 1600s, with The Palace of Versailles being a great representation of its time’s typology with its secret passages permitting discrete movement to the servants13, rises to become a substitution to the Hall14 as rooms start becoming more specialized and a need for privacy and class distinction becomes more prominent.
10. “The ancient discursive practice of etymology, on the other hand, is simply a different kind of language game. In antiquity, to the extent that rules are formulated, they are mostly ad hoc and as it were ‘after the fact’, the ‘fact’ being a preliminary semantic observation, leading to an interpretive relationship between the explanandum and the explanans.This is to say that etymologies are mostly put forward to corroborate a specific view of what a word ‘really’ means, prob-ably even where they are presented as a tool to find the meaning of a word.” Sluiter, I., ‘Ancient Etymology: a Tool for Thinking’.
11. In Horae Subsecivae, 366, 1620
12. Koolhaas, Rem, Manfredo Di Robilant, Niklas Maak, and Irma Boom. n.d. Elements Of Architecture. Taschen. P. 1256
13. “1682 ... the secret passages at Versailles initially permit the discrete movement of servants – and later became a refuge for the royal family during the revolution.” Truby, S., Werlemann, H., Macleod, K., Koolhas, R. and Boom, I.
14. “No room has fallen further in history than the hall. ... Unlike the corridor, the Hall is derived from a building type,
rather than a circulation space.” - Bill Bryson, At Home: A Short History of Private Life (Doubleday, 2010)
Carrying on from the previous examples given in the context of etymology, one could analyze therole of the corridor by taking to consideration its shift to the physical from the very first emergence of oneconcept related to movement (Colare). The concept is later given a physical body to inhibit, that of the messenger (Coreor), which is nonetheless closely related to movement. The next stage depicts the corridor asa long passage above fortified walls12, an external tool for the “Coreor”. It is only after the 17th Centurythat the corridor is finally interiorized, ceasing to be an urban element while still retaining its proximity tothe human body and the concept of movement even though similar corridors in monasteries existed even before then with examples such as the Buxheim monastery in Germany 1450. What starts as a way of passage in the 1600s, with The Palace of Versailles being a great representation of its time’s typology with its secret passages permitting discrete movement to the servants13, rises to become a substitution to the Hall14 as rooms start becoming more specialized and a need for privacy and class distinction becomes more prominent.
Image 2
Elvetham 1591; The Hall in Action
10. “The ancient discursive practice of etymology, on the other hand, is simply a different kind of language game. In antiquity, to the extent that rules are formulated, they are mostly ad hoc and as it were ‘after the fact’, the ‘fact’ being a preliminary semantic observation, leading to an interpretive relationship between the explanandum and the explanans.This is to say that etymologies are mostly put forward to corroborate a specific view of what a word ‘really’ means, prob-ably even where they are presented as a tool to find the meaning of a word.” Sluiter, I., ‘Ancient Etymology: a Tool for Thinking’.
11. In Horae Subsecivae, 366, 1620
12. Koolhaas, Rem, Manfredo Di Robilant, Niklas Maak, and Irma Boom. n.d. Elements Of Architecture. Taschen. P. 1256
13. “1682 ... the secret passages at Versailles initially permit the discrete movement of servants – and later became a refuge for the royal family during the revolution.” Truby, S., Werlemann, H., Macleod, K., Koolhas, R. and Boom, I.
14. “No room has fallen further in history than the hall. ... Unlike the corridor, the Hall is derived from a building type,
rather than a circulation space.” - Bill Bryson, At Home: A Short History of Private Life (Doubleday, 2010)
However, it is during the 19th Century that the modern corridor is introduced in institutional buildings and later in the domestic scene of the Victorian houses. There were nonetheless, a number of high-end com- missions late in the 18th century England where corridors were adapted as an announcement of the country’s arrival on the world stage with the “courier system” reflecting an empire’s attributes. Such an example was the Howard Castle which was commissioned a year after the War of the Grand Alliance15 with Howard being a minister of William III. The building’s architect, John Vanbrugh, tries to explain the “corridor” to the patron’s wife in these words “ The word Corridor, madam, is foreign, it signifies in plain English, no more than a Passage, it is now however generally us’d as an English word”.16 Regardless of Vanbrugh’s casual explanation, by the 19th century, the modern corridor rose to become a significant physical extension of the ideals of the country.17 A vastly celebrated commission was that of the Parliament Building in 1834 in London, which had several corridors; the commons’, chancellors’, lords’ etc. that made for a vastly modern planning of the interior, regardless of the building’s gothic style and historicist façade. This type of spatial organization reflected well the rise in the complexity of social structures in Victorian era, where one was always in their proper position.18 The corridor organized the world into different, but parallel corridic universes (Jarzombek 2010).
15. Also known as the Nine Years War, the War of the Grand Alliance was initiated from the French aggression in the Rhineland, which later on became a power struggle between Louis XIV and William III of Britain. Regardless of their good military performance, France suffered a great defeat from the war as their economic power did not equal that of Britain and the United Provinces. For more information refer to Nine Years War (1689-97) in The Oxford Companion to British History.
16. Text taken from Charles. S., Smith “The Building of Castle Howard” (London,1990)
17. Perhaps a better example might be the Blenheim Castle which was also a design of Vanbrugh (1705-1724), commis- sioned by the Parliament for the reason of celebrating the country’s victory over the French.
18. A building that properly represents the statement is the Royal Courts of Justice 1870
Image 3
The Royal Court Of Justice, Ground Floor Plan
15. Also known as the Nine Years War, the War of the Grand Alliance was initiated from the French aggression in the Rhineland, which later on became a power struggle between Louis XIV and William III of Britain. Regardless of their good military performance, France suffered a great defeat from the war as their economic power did not equal that of Britain and the United Provinces. For more information refer to Nine Years War (1689-97) in The Oxford Companion to British History.
16. Text taken from Charles. S., Smith “The Building of Castle Howard” (London,1990)
17. Perhaps a better example might be the Blenheim Castle which was also a design of Vanbrugh (1705-1724), commis- sioned by the Parliament for the reason of celebrating the country’s victory over the French.
18. A building that properly represents the statement is the Royal Courts of Justice 1870
This was, however, not the case with France where the word corridor remained rare up until the twentieth Century, with architects of the time staying loyal to the Palladian courtyard heritage.19 But where France was rejecting the spread of the Korridor, Germany on the other hand welcomed it, turning the Korridor into a key factor in their design strategy. It was around the 1860’s in Germany that the corridor became an element of the “institution”, with education facilities and major universities all consisting of long, generous corridors which generate from the lobbies and connect all of the spaces together. It was, however, in England that with the introduction of the new ideas of ventilation (1900s), a novel type of school started to emerge. Instead of the big spacious halls which were common around schools at the time, George Widdows came up with the “marching corridor” that allowed for indoor exercise while making the corridor longer and narrower.20 Many similar schools were built across England. This typology of the corridor made its way to the US with William Butts Ittner designing dozens of schools all over the country, and making a distinction between the earlier typology of the corridor which served as a tool for class distinction in comparison to the new modern corridor which now had the added benefit of a social space. In his own words: “It is a delight to linger in the corridor, since on the second floor itis a veritable art gallery... Altogether the school is a miniature democracy; high school students and primary pupils mingle in the most natural manner about the building and grounds.”21 A similar path was taken by John Freeman when he engineered the “infinite corridor” of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1913, where one source of inspiration was the German affiliation with the process of designing through corridors.
19. Look at Constant, Caroline. 1988. The Palladio Guide. London: The Architectural Press.
20. Bates, Tom. 2019. “George Widdows Schooldays - With Apologies To Tom Brown! (Tom Bates Derbyshire PeakDistrict Author, Writer, Poet)”. Aboutderbyshire.Co.Uk. http://www.aboutderbyshire.co.uk/cms/people/george-wid- dows-schooldays.shtml.21. Itter, William. 1922. The School Plant In Present-Day Education. Ebook. 38th ed. Architectural Forum. https://dahp. wa.gov/sites/default/files/TheSchoolPlantinPresentDayEducation_1922.pdf
Image 4
MIT Infinite Corridor
19. Look at Constant, Caroline. 1988. The Palladio Guide. London: The Architectural Press.
20. Bates, Tom. 2019. “George Widdows Schooldays - With Apologies To Tom Brown! (Tom Bates Derbyshire PeakDistrict Author, Writer, Poet)”. Aboutderbyshire.Co.Uk. http://www.aboutderbyshire.co.uk/cms/people/george-wid- dows-schooldays.shtml.21. Itter, William. 1922. The School Plant In Present-Day Education. Ebook. 38th ed. Architectural Forum. https://dahp. wa.gov/sites/default/files/TheSchoolPlantinPresentDayEducation_1922.pdf
Image 5
Front page of “The Architectural Forum” 1922
It is worth mentioning that this dedication in organizing spaces by the means of corridors was not an iso- lated case regarding merely educational facilities but rather extended to institutional buildings such as hospitals, asylums and prisons. During the end of the 19th century Thomas Kirkbride, the American physician who advocated for the mentally ill, writes a book on the construction of mental asylums22 where he depicts the corridor as a cure-all for architecture and its patients. He argues that the corridor can resolve program problems as well as ventilation while allowing for linear expansion. Because bedrooms are meant for sleeping, corridors also serve as communal spaces for socialization.22 On another note, after serving in the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale reflects on the events where diseases were spread through tunnel like spaces and thus advices on a different approach regarding hospital buildings by reducing the corridor to a tool connecting only isolated pavilions.23 Following on these techniques of isolation and social discipline, prisons in the 18th-19th century were utilizing the corridor as a surveillance room.24 Truby has also elaborated in his book; “the panopticon principle of controlled cells was simplified and economized into a principle of monitored intermediate spaces”. As has been mentioned early in the essay, similar corridor principles found in monasteries dating back to the 1400s were later on implemented together with the modern corridor in three types of institutional buildings; hospitals, prisons and schools. When it comes to analyzing the role of the corridor in these very different institutions, one might raise a question as to how one element is being used as a circulation unit, social space and monitoring device all at the same time regardless of the different user groups and varying contexts. Foucault calls it; “spatial techniques of social discipline” and asks “Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?”24 Continuing with this question, there is a certain level of concern regarding education facilities specifically, where one imagines a student (primary to high school) walking through and spending most of their day in the same spatial element (the corridor) as a patient in the hospital/asylum or a prisoner would.
Image 6
a. Maison de Force prison 1772-1775
b. W.M.N Bayers Juniors High School, Denver
c. Pavilion plans from Florence Nightingale
22. Kirkbride, Thomas. S. 1854. On The Construction, Organization, And General Arrangements Of Hospitals For The Insane. M.D.
23. Nightingale, Florence. 1863. Notes On Hospitals. London.
24. Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline And Punish. The Birth Of The Prison. 2nd ed. Vintage Books.
Therefore, taking cause from this concern, it is worth looking at school buildings during or after the “modern corridor” era which have tried to tackle the corridor problem. It was during the 1960’s that the cor-ridic revolution in schools and office buildings reached its full peak with typologies of “generic linear spaces that facilitated the easy distribution of people and mechanical systems through the building” (Jarzombek 2010). It is exactly during this time that the Montessori School in Delft was built. Hertzberger was deeplyconcerned with ethics and the human experience, beliefs which influenced his design of the school. As such,the way he addressed the corridor dilemma in educational facilities was by focusing on both the physical form as well as its experiential and psychological impact. Regarding the organization of the corridor, Hertzberger admits that money was a catalyst for deciding to make the classrooms extend outwards. (Richard Meyers 2013)25 A need for more space in the classrooms and a constrain from the government in keeping school corridors to a certain width dictated the niches which serve as an ambiguous space between the two districts; at times corridor and other times classroom.
Regardless of what brought the alterations in the corridor about, the fact stands that this corridor is much different from what consisted of the “modern corridor” in the same period of time. Firstly, because of the
L shaped rooms which form the border of this diagonal corridor, its linearity has been broken. The niches which extend in the corridor manage to give e depth to the corridor it did not originally have; the corridor is no longer merely a passageway from one room to another, neither just a place to cast troublemaker students for punishment, it is now part of the classroom which makes it part of the student’s work and interactions. There is no longer an element of isolation or scrutiny embedded in it. One could say that this corridor no longer resembles the corridor of the hospital, asylum or prison.
So, taking advantage from schematic conventions, Hertzberger managed to rescue the corridor from its path towards a schematic destiny. It was, however, maybe meant to be for the corridor to once again fall into the trap of non contextual buildings and code writers, which consequently initiated the study on this essay. Going back to Le Corbusier’s final question on the Rue Corridor; “why, then, does it still exist?”, I would instead raise another question; “Has the time come for the corridor to undergo yet another alteration as it has done on so many occasions throughout its history?”. As architects, we thrive on functionality giving life to experience, the simple pleasure of meaning and perception, and it is in the same light that we should look back at the corridor and find what’s missing.
25. Richard Meyers, Paul. 2013. “CONNECTING SCHOOL AND WORK: DESIGNING A LEARNING ENVI- RONMENT TO ENHANCE CURIOSITY AND WONDER”. Masters, School of Architecture Planning & Preservation.
Regardless of what brought the alterations in the corridor about, the fact stands that this corridor is much different from what consisted of the “modern corridor” in the same period of time. Firstly, because of the
L shaped rooms which form the border of this diagonal corridor, its linearity has been broken. The niches which extend in the corridor manage to give e depth to the corridor it did not originally have; the corridor is no longer merely a passageway from one room to another, neither just a place to cast troublemaker students for punishment, it is now part of the classroom which makes it part of the student’s work and interactions. There is no longer an element of isolation or scrutiny embedded in it. One could say that this corridor no longer resembles the corridor of the hospital, asylum or prison.
Image 7
The evolution of Hertzberger’s school plan throughout the years
So, taking advantage from schematic conventions, Hertzberger managed to rescue the corridor from its path towards a schematic destiny. It was, however, maybe meant to be for the corridor to once again fall into the trap of non contextual buildings and code writers, which consequently initiated the study on this essay. Going back to Le Corbusier’s final question on the Rue Corridor; “why, then, does it still exist?”, I would instead raise another question; “Has the time come for the corridor to undergo yet another alteration as it has done on so many occasions throughout its history?”. As architects, we thrive on functionality giving life to experience, the simple pleasure of meaning and perception, and it is in the same light that we should look back at the corridor and find what’s missing.
Image 8
Picture from the Montessori School, Delft
25. Richard Meyers, Paul. 2013. “CONNECTING SCHOOL AND WORK: DESIGNING A LEARNING ENVI- RONMENT TO ENHANCE CURIOSITY AND WONDER”. Masters, School of Architecture Planning & Preservation.
Bibliography:
Koolhaas, Rem, and Irma Boom. n.d. Elements Of Architecture.
Truby, Stephen. 2014. “The Corridor-Cell Complex”. Corridor.
Jarzombek, Mark. 2010. “Corridor Spaces”. Critical Inquiry 36 (4): 728-770. doi:10.1086/655210.
Iachini, Tina. 2017. Personal space. Reference Module in Neuroscience and Behavioral Psychology.
Evans, Robin. 1997. Figures, Doors And Passages. London: Architectural Association.
Evans, Robin. 2014. Corridor: The Corridor-Visual and Physical Corridors. Italy: Marsilio Press
Kostof, Spiro. 2010. A History Of Architecture. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hertzberger, Herman, and Ina Rike. 2005. Lessons For Students In Architecture. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
Hertzberger, Herman. 2000. Space And The Architect. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
Steadman, Philip & Mitchell, Linda. 2010. Architectural morphospace: Mapping worlds of built forms.
Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design. 37. 197-220. 10.1068/b35102t.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (1978). Phenomenology of Perception. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-3613-2.
Siegel, Susanna. 2016. “The Contents Of Perception (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy)”. Plato.Stan-ford.Edu. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-contents/.
Richard Meyers, Paul. 2013. “CONNECTING SCHOOL AND WORK: DESIGNING A LEARNING EN- VIRONMENT TO ENHANCE CURIOSITY AND WONDER”. Masters, School of Architecture Planning & Preservation.
Nightingale, Florence. 1863. Notes On Hospitals. London.
Kirkbride, Thomas. S. 1854. On The Construction, Organization, And General Arrangements Of Hospitals For The Insane. M.D.
Itter, William. 1922. The School Plant In Present-Day Education. Ebook. 38th ed. Architectural Forum.https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/TheSchoolPlantinPresentDayEducation_1922.pdf.
Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline And Punish. The Birth Of The Prison. 2nd ed. Vintage Books. Constant,
Caroline. 1988. The Palladio Guide. London: The Architectural Press.
Beech, Nicholas. 2005. “The Corridor Of Our School; The Development Of A Practice Appropriate To The
Study Of Everyday Space”. University College London.
Truby, Stephen. 2014. “The Corridor-Cell Complex”. Corridor.
Jarzombek, Mark. 2010. “Corridor Spaces”. Critical Inquiry 36 (4): 728-770. doi:10.1086/655210.
Iachini, Tina. 2017. Personal space. Reference Module in Neuroscience and Behavioral Psychology.
Evans, Robin. 1997. Figures, Doors And Passages. London: Architectural Association.
Evans, Robin. 2014. Corridor: The Corridor-Visual and Physical Corridors. Italy: Marsilio Press
Kostof, Spiro. 2010. A History Of Architecture. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hertzberger, Herman, and Ina Rike. 2005. Lessons For Students In Architecture. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
Hertzberger, Herman. 2000. Space And The Architect. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
Steadman, Philip & Mitchell, Linda. 2010. Architectural morphospace: Mapping worlds of built forms.
Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design. 37. 197-220. 10.1068/b35102t.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (1978). Phenomenology of Perception. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-3613-2.
Siegel, Susanna. 2016. “The Contents Of Perception (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy)”. Plato.Stan-ford.Edu. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-contents/.
Richard Meyers, Paul. 2013. “CONNECTING SCHOOL AND WORK: DESIGNING A LEARNING EN- VIRONMENT TO ENHANCE CURIOSITY AND WONDER”. Masters, School of Architecture Planning & Preservation.
Nightingale, Florence. 1863. Notes On Hospitals. London.
Kirkbride, Thomas. S. 1854. On The Construction, Organization, And General Arrangements Of Hospitals For The Insane. M.D.
Itter, William. 1922. The School Plant In Present-Day Education. Ebook. 38th ed. Architectural Forum.https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/TheSchoolPlantinPresentDayEducation_1922.pdf.
Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline And Punish. The Birth Of The Prison. 2nd ed. Vintage Books. Constant,
Caroline. 1988. The Palladio Guide. London: The Architectural Press.
Beech, Nicholas. 2005. “The Corridor Of Our School; The Development Of A Practice Appropriate To The
Study Of Everyday Space”. University College London.
Images:
1. “Montessori School - Hidden Architecture”. 2019. Hidden Architecture. http://hiddenarchitecture.net/mon-tessori-schoo/.
2. Koolhaas, Rem, and Irma Boom. n.d. Elements Of Architecture.
3. “Look And Learn Log-In”. 2019. Lookandlearn.Com. https://www.lookandlearn.com/licensing/down- loads.php.
4. January 2001. Photograph by Matt Yourst
5. Itter, William. 1922. The School Plant In Present-Day Education. Ebook. 38th ed. Architectural Forum. https://dahp. wa.gov/sites/default/files/TheSchoolPlantinPresentDayEducation_1922.pdf
6. Image a. and c : Koolhaas, Rem, and Irma Boom. n.d. Elements Of Architecture.
Image b : Itter, William. 1922. The School Plant In Present-Day Education. Ebook. 38th ed. Architectural Forum.https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/TheSchoolPlantinPresentDayEducation_1922.pdf
7. “AHH - Montessori School Delft”. 2019. Ahh.Nl. https://www.ahh.nl/index.php/en/projects2/9-onderwijs/114-mon- tessori-school-delft.
8. “AHH - Montessori School Delft”. 2019. Ahh.Nl. https://www.ahh.nl/index.php/en/projects2/9-onderwijs/114-mon- tessori-school-delft.
2. Koolhaas, Rem, and Irma Boom. n.d. Elements Of Architecture.
3. “Look And Learn Log-In”. 2019. Lookandlearn.Com. https://www.lookandlearn.com/licensing/down- loads.php.
4. January 2001. Photograph by Matt Yourst
5. Itter, William. 1922. The School Plant In Present-Day Education. Ebook. 38th ed. Architectural Forum. https://dahp. wa.gov/sites/default/files/TheSchoolPlantinPresentDayEducation_1922.pdf
6. Image a. and c : Koolhaas, Rem, and Irma Boom. n.d. Elements Of Architecture.
Image b : Itter, William. 1922. The School Plant In Present-Day Education. Ebook. 38th ed. Architectural Forum.https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/TheSchoolPlantinPresentDayEducation_1922.pdf
7. “AHH - Montessori School Delft”. 2019. Ahh.Nl. https://www.ahh.nl/index.php/en/projects2/9-onderwijs/114-mon- tessori-school-delft.
8. “AHH - Montessori School Delft”. 2019. Ahh.Nl. https://www.ahh.nl/index.php/en/projects2/9-onderwijs/114-mon- tessori-school-delft.
Conceptual drawing of Hertzber’s Montessori school in Delft
Comments
Post a Comment