House Transitional Space to Yard

by G P Witteveen

IntroText – gets own slide telling purpose/significance.

Porch - a structure attached to the entrance of a building that has a roof and that may or may not have walls; or an entrance to a building that has a separate roof. Origin: Middle English porche, from Anglo-French, from Latin porticus portico, from porta gate; akin to Latin portus port.

The 39 examples gathered on this springtime afternoon can be sorted into several types. First comes the split between spaces appended onto the main structure versus those that are carved under the main roof line to form integral part of the building footprint. Then there are examples raised up several steps from ground level versus those almost the same level as the ground. Finally there are examples open to the sky or surrounding space (with or without roof) versus one enclosed by screens or glass.

Porches in USA have roots in West Africa and the tradition of semi-private, semi-public transitional spaces with some shelter from the sun or rain or wind or cold.

Perhaps the idea is carried to an extreme in the example of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and its sister establishment opposite to Frankfort, Michigan (burned down only a few years into its service on the lakeshore). The veranda goes on and on for dozens of yards. More modest examples can be found on many single-family houses around cities, towns and farms around the country. Leaving aside the patterns that came in the common designs of each generation of builders, the shape and engagement with the building and its surroundings can be categorized in several ways:

those enclosed by screen or glass versus the ones open to the air all the year round (with roof or open sky as a deck),

those at ground level, versus the ones requiring a few steps up to reach the elevation of the building's entry door, and

those that seem to be carved into the building's roof space, versus the ones that have been appended to the building's exterior wall independently or possibly at a later date.

From the standpoint of a passer-by, something enclosed on all sides is a barrier to communication, whether a verbal greeting or a visual recognition of the person inside and the person outside.

By contrast, something that is little more than a solid surface joined to the building and without railing or roof is without any barrier to communication, whether social or the material debris of the changing seasons. On the other hand, with regard to the experience of the person seated or standing in the transitional porch space, things look and feel differently. Ensconced in the fully enclosed space is practically the same thing as a solid-walled room, albeit facing the public throughway of streetside and perhaps with bigger than normal window or screen space.

Meanwhile a semi-enclosed space with roof but no glass or screens, bounded only by railing and perhaps set apart from surrounding grounds by its elevation flush to the house entry door, will give the person a semi-private feeling of being within reach of a hand-waving or a quick passing greeting. Then, finally, with no roof (either elevated or closer to the walking elevation and thus not requiring safety railing), there is the least restrictive experience. A person seated there is fully touched by sun, wind and rain. So a given configuration will affect the perspective of person looking out, as well as the feeling of the person approaching from outside.

By comparison to these in-between regions of indoors and outdoors found in the illustrations that follow, there are different transitional spaces found in the legacy of Japanese homes today, some of which cite the premodern structures while also presenting features recognizable in Western residential structures.

These scenes from a Model Home park in Japan during summer 2004 illustrate the range of transitional spaces and structures at the time. See http://bit.ly/housejp

carved into the houseAT GROUND LEVEL

Porches fitted into the main building’s roof line

carved into the houseELEVATED FROM GROUND LEVEL

Porches fitted into the main building’s roof line

appended to the houseAT GROUND LEVEL

Porches extending from the main building

appended to the houseELEVATED FROM GROUND LEVEL

not enclosed space

Porches extending from the main building

appended to the houseELEVATED FROM GROUND LEVEL

enclosed space

Porches extending from the main building

Look around the places you walk, ride, or drive to discover interesting uses of the space that links interior to outdoors, the transitional space of porch, patio, and perrugia. Or see these in Japan http://bit.ly/housejp

Words and images by Guven Witteveen, www.linkedin.com/in/anthroview

Technical detail: Digital camera DSC V-1 by Sony, processing by Picasa. Many images captured from bicycle while surveying the city streets, block by block.