Problem
Every corner of a building is a potential sitting space. But each sitting space has different needs for comfort and enclosure according to its position in the intimacy gradient.
Solution
Put in a sequence of graded sitting spaces throughout the building, varying according to their degree of enclosure. Enclose the most formal ones entirely, in rooms by themselves; put the least formal ones in corners of other rooms, without any kind of screen around them; and place the intermediate ones with a partial enclosure round them to keep them connected to some larger space, but also partly separate.
Related Patterns
… at various points along the Intimacy Gradient (127) of a house, or office, or a public building, there is a need for sitting space. Some of this space may take the form of rooms devoted entirely to sitting, like the formal sitting rooms of old; others may be simply areas or corners of other rooms. This pattern states the range and distribution of these sitting spaces, and helps create the intimacy gradient by doing so.
Put the most formal sitting spaces in the Common Areas at the Heart (129) and in the Entrance Room (130) ; put the intermediate spaces also in the Common Areas at the Heart (129), in Flexible Office Space (146), in a A Place to Wait (150), and on the Private Terrace on the Street (140) ; and put the most intimate and most informal sitting spaces in the Couple’s Realm (136), the Farmhouse Kitchen (139), the A Room of One’s Own (141), and the Half-Private Office (152). Build the enclosure round each space, according to its position in the scale of sitting spaces - The Shape of Indoor Space (191); and make each one, wherever it is, comfortable and lazy by placing chairs correctly with respect to fires and windows - Zen View (134), Window Place (180), The Fire (181), Sitting Circle (185), Seat Spots (241) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 673.