The Complexity of The 'Window' in Architecture

The Complexity of The Window In Architecture

Mies Van Der Rohe, Farnsworth House, Interior, 1951

Scarlett Emma Hessian KADK 20.12.16 Architecture, Spatial Design, Perception & Detail Semester 3

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Index

Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Conclusion Bibliography References

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Keywords

Window Voyeurism Perception Dwelling Frame Interior Exterior Detail Light

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Introduction

The discussions of the window in architecture are very topical, with a high level of complexity to their meaning; theoretically and tectonically. The window in ‘space’ cannot be discussed without mentioning the processes of framing, which raises the question of interiority and exteriority in architecture. Architecture is our built environment which is responsible for creating interior and exterior territories within the world. However, the window sits within a complex position of a ‘threshold’ space. This has been described as a place of ‘In-betweeness’, a zone which accommodates shifting senses of time and place. In between spaces are perceived to be a place of temporality, a place of mobility whether physically with one’s body, or in reference to the window, with simply the eye. The word ‘window’ comes from Old Norse ‘vindauga’ which means ‘wind eye’ which would support the argument that it stands in the territory of a threshold.

The window can be viewed as simplistically as a tool in which to gain light and air in and out of a space; and as complexly as being an invariant element, significant to the built environment effecting human experience; and within this essay, specifically dwelling spaces. The window has a multitude of importance within architecture; the framing of space is what gives the viewer a story as an interior dweller, or an exterior viewer.

Windows sit in the middle ground of architectural priorities; they are essential to a building for purposes of light and ventilation but they also serve many more essential qualities of space which I will discuss within this essay.

The window has always had an important function in the home. One function of the window is the visual communication between the outside and the inside of a house.

People like to look out of the window to see their context. The architect has the control of proportions and siting of the window, this gives possibility of creating different views and experiences for the interior dwellers, and also the exterior passers-by.

Since 20th century technology and construction developments, the window as a detail has been reduced throughout the modern period. Adolf Loo’s believed that window detailing was ornamentation, and expressed that ornament is unnecessary – he believed that ornament on buildings was the sign of a decadent society. His second point was that ornament was “a crime against the national economy in that it is a waste of human labour, money and material”.(Loos, 206, 1998) Loo’s being a popular architect of the modernist period, his new, minimised expressions of window details set a style for the period which has remained to this day.

This has meant that windows in building have become overlooked and become a standardised construction detail. Stephen Bates states that “In traditional architecture, there were visible elements to accomplish these tasks: coping’s, sills, mullions and applied trim. In the practice of non-detail, these elements are, for the most part, present, but not as discernible parts.” (Sergison and Bates, 73, 2013)

The progression of building methodologies since the 16th Century must be sympathised with to a degree, understanding that the craft skills that were used in traditional building periods were under a different economic and social climate. However, the doing away with ornamentation and detail within windows throughout periods of architectural design can be seen to have reduced the importance of decoration and the framing of openings in buildings. Throughout this essay, there will be discussions of the positives and negatives of minimising the importance of a frame in architecture and the effect the window has on architecture, and how we as humans perceive space.

This lack of attention to window design and details, is not the only architectural element which sits in the mundane of architecture. Doors, stairs, walls and ceilings often experience the same lack of attention, however throughout this essay the discussion will try to state how, specifically window details need more attention and have to stop being overlooked as it’s crucial to the user of a residence that the architecture they spend time is humanised. That the basic need to look out of a window and feel they can look inside themselves is a basic human activity.

We are humanised by our contexts, and by creating spaces that allow for growth of experience we can affect the everyday experience of a human. As Charles Baudelaire said, ‘people are immersed in their world, and this immersion is qualitative, subtle, in many ways, ineffable.’ (Evernden, Seamon and Mugerauer, 370) simply adding a window sill, and a single panelled window to frame a larger uninterrupted image, that opens outwards to the exterior space. We can then invite the exterior atmosphere to the interior and vice versa; broadening human experience.

To discuss this topic of windows there will be several explorations of the windows role in architecture that is split into three chapters. The initial chapter will discuss the window as a threshold space; the boundaries of an opening which creates an ‘in-between’ space or place between the interior and exterior world. This leads onto the exploration of the window in domestic spaces specifically within painting and film; discussing domesticity and the gender tensions depicted between the interior and exterior of dwellings. The third chapter will explore the window as an ornamental and tectonic detail and the effects of its social and technological advancements during the 20th Century. Through this exploration the goal is to try to reach an understanding of how we can alter levels of emotional and human engagement within dwellings and broaden the potentials which lie within the architectural element of a window. One must try to understand the complexity and roles of the window in dwellings before engaging with design, detailing and building. Heidegger argues that dwelling with the modern age has been reduced and that we ‘dwell less fully’ today and that ‘a key to dwelling is letting ourselves and the world be, and this letting- be includes the ways we build, see, understand and think.’ (David Seamen, 190, 2000) Throughout this essay the favoured opinion is alongside Heidegger in his opinion that details, such as window are part of a wider context, a part of living and being in the modern world which architects hold responsibility in creating.

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FIG 1 - Peter Zumthor, Saint Benedicts Church Handle, 1993 FIG 2 - Caspar David Friedrich, Woman At The Window, 1822 FIG 3 - Wienberg Architects and Friis & Moltke, Family House, 2014 FIG 4 - German Window, Photographer unknown

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Chapter 1

This chapter will discuss the window as a threshold, explaining the spatial boundaries of window openings and the potentials that lie within this space. Windows within the architectural context of a ‘threshold’ are an important part of creating the experience of architecture. A threshold is a place of ‘in-betweennes’. Some thresholds can be invisible, however, the way one ‘locks, obstructs, opens, invites, extends or limits determines the accessibility of the spatial experience’ (Till Boettger, 26, 2014) and therefore define the opening as a threshold that both unites and separates. It is an element that creates two distinct zones while providing transition, it stands for a break and continuity, a boundary and access. A threshold is not as a space; but an in-between space, it is ‘between here nor there” (Rendell, 17, 2016) The way one opens a door, lock, window or curtain people use in their homes, creates a boundary or medium between spaces; an ‘in-between’ space or place between the interior and exterior world, leaving opportunity to set narratives, and create activity and personalisation of experience and the home.

The activity which often occurs within threshold spaces can be described to be an action of ‘the banality of everyday life.’ The idea of banal activity has been discussed from George Perec’s ideas of the ‘banality of everyday life’ one of his writings in his novel ‘Species of Spaces and Other Pieces,’ he wrote ‘L’infra-Ordinare’(Perec, 54, 1997) where he discusses what he is observing from a café window in Paris, over the course of three consecutive days. He recorded and questioned the habitual of passers-by, as these are the moments and activities in our everyday lives that we do not question, despite their regular occurrences, and that it is these moments exactly that we should spend time understanding or enjoying. Banal activities often take place within the home, or in close proximity to it. If we speak of the window independently, the simplest physical activity which takes place can be limited to the action of opening and closing either the window itself, or a curtain, blind or shade. However this can be challenged throughout this essay from forms of different perspectives of the importance and relevance of a window in a domestic home.

Architectural design decisions can affect the way one dwells in a multitude of ways, from the shape and form of the window itself, where it sits within the wall, and how it is connected or disconnected with the ceiling. Designing a window which could open outward into the exterior space of the façade, allows placement of private objects, such as a vase of flowers, or a telephone. A larger window sill to rest yourself on to have a place to rest and view outside can animate this banal space which is not a place to spend large amounts of the day, can create a dynamic use of a room and connect it to the outside world. This enables people to feel part of the world outside of their homes.

Beyond this simplistic activity, one place for use of the window is the sill, it is a private space which can be seen as display window, potentially symbolizing the openness of an occupier and allowing a glimpse into ones private territory.

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FIG 5, 6, 7 - Brandlhuber’s Antivilla, Potsdam, 2104

In regards to the threshold space between outside and inside the house, the opening of a building holds different traditions in different cultures. The threshold is often used to express prosperity or social status. Bible quotations, coats of arms, creates a decorative setting which can be seen as an architectural expression of a high social standing.

Therefore it is the architect’s responsibility to create a design which can combine all the desired qualities for the thresholds and transitional spaces.

Beyond the physical attributes of a window and threshold is the relationship between the interior and exterior. The frame, sill, glass, catch, or blind are manufactured parts of an architectural detail, however the transparency of a window is what allows one to see into and outward of a space, or place. This raises the topic of space beyond the frame, light and views; the activities occurring either side of the ‘in-between’ which divides the interior and exterior. Blinds, curtains or shutters can be seen as filters which sit within this threshold, they can control light and set limits for privacy. These filters can influence the atmosphere of an interior. The relationship between the opaque and transparent areas of filters determines their effect. Translucent filters let light through evenly, but can’t be seen through. These filters act as a layering between the inside and outside space, which help the user to control their levels of privacy.

An example of this layering of spaces and different use of windows is in Brandlhuber and Emde, Schneider’s Antivilla, built in Potsdam 2014. Brandlhuber bought an old lingerie factory which he has transformed into his own private residence. The architect holds a strong passion for designing responsibly, and building sustainably, this is evident in his approach to the transformation of his home. Instead of demolishing the existing site, he divided the very large factory into a work – live space. The architect’s studios are on one floor, whilst he retains the top two floors for his private home. The house is layered in heating zones, which requires different types of insulation of the windows for different areas of the home. The most unusual window typology of this building are the very primitive looking voids in the existing facade which have been created by the architect, and his family and friends with a sledge hammer. These are very large windows spanning 5 metres in width which are a direct opening into the exterior space of the building. On the internal side, they have been given a sliding window which is double glazed, framing the view, and the literal opening of the wall by extending past the perimeter of the void. This enhances the transition between inside and outside, creating a frame within a frame which brings attention to this space of in between-ness.

Within the parameters of domestic space, three dimensional window spaces enter into the space between inside and outside. Simply stepping into the niche of a French window, a bay window or deeper window niche intensify this effect.

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FIG 8 - Michael Wolf, Photograph of apartment windows at night

Creating a habitable window and an in between space. The window area becomes a special area within the room, as its form, together with light and even sunshine, allows particular activities such as looking out of the window and cultivating plants or work requiring a high level of light. This then defines the threshold more as a place, a physical opening which literally sits, or cantilevers into the exterior space of the façade.

From Charles Baudelaire’s point of view, there is an invasion of the metropolitan exterior into the interior, which has two consequences— the interior becomes a facade, while the person in the street becomes a voyeur: “Looking from outside into an open window one never sees as much as when one looks through a closed window. There is nothing more profound, more mysterious, more pregnant, more insidious and more dazzling than a window lighted by a single candle. What one can see out in the sunlight is always less interesting than what goes on behind a window pane. In that black or luminous square life lives, life dreams, life suffers” (Baudelaire, 185, 1993). For Baudelaire, the window, seen through its perplexing exteriority, is better observed from the outside and at night. It frames the anonymous and solitary existence of metropolitan humanity, and offers an image, a story, of contemporary privacy.

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FIG 9 - Gustav Caillebotte, Interiro, Woman at The Window, 1880 FIG 10 - Rene Magritte, Man Reading A Newspaper, 1928 FIG 11 - Mary Cassatt, Woman In Black At The Opera, 1879

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Chapter 2

The window has been subject to many painters and artists, used symbolically, metaphorically as well as being the main protagonist in an interior subject as it is the source of light and ‘the substance of painting is light.’ André Derain Many of the French impressionist painters of the 19th century chose to paint the subject of life in the modern city. During a period of industrial growth and rapid development of cities, one in particular being Paris, painters such as Gustave Caillebotte depicted domestic life in new Haussmann apartments. Built to create vast boulevards which informed a strict new planning for Paris. Boulevards were lined with new stone faced apartments, dressed with balconies and large windows and French doors. Caillebotte’s painting, ‘Interior, Woman at the Window’ (1880) depicts a man sitting in the foreground in a chair, reading a newspaper which is turned away from the female who stands at the window looking out across the boulevard. Her face is in profile which leaves the viewer to wonder what she is feeling or thinking. It has been suggested that the clear unemotional body language between both figures may stem from her being the male figures mistress. Caillebotte has cleverly painted snippets of the scene beyond the window, past the frame, which leaves the viewer to wonder what the woman may be watching in the street. In the parallel street Caillebotte paints a window, with a male figure holding back curtains to peer over to the woman standing in the window.

The female figure then becomes the main character of the narrative painted, she has become the desire of male gaze, raising the question of gendered space of the interior and exterior. To paint a window on a canvas creates the typology of a frame within a frame which invites the viewer to imagine a narrative beyond the foreground of the painting, leaving intrigue and highlighting the threshold between the interior and exterior.

Framing depicts an idea of memory, when we analyse the route our eyes take to create sequences as Magritte’s Man Reading a Newspaper (1928) suggests. Framing can also provide signifiers that reflect our voyeuristic desire to be spectators, in which our desire to gaze at one another is highlighted. What seems to become problematic is when a frame asks us to look into it, rather than beyond it, as in the case of Mary Cassatt’s, Woman in Black at the Opera (1879). Perhaps this is because, a painting should be thought of as a symbolic window, in which it is ‘by its very nature […] meant for looking out of, not the reverse. A view of the inside from the outside [therefore] confuses and perverts the ontology of the window and makes it a voyeuristic instrument.’ (PérezGomez, 2004, 235). Whereas Mary Cassatt’s painting seems to depict an insular closed narrative, the Impressionist paintings offer up numerous unfinished stories, the frame becomes a window to look out of, rather than in to.

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FIG 12 - Edward Hopper, Eleven A.M, 1926

Edward Hopper portrays this same theme of voyeuristic desire in his painting, Eleven A.M. (1926), in which: ‘[A] naked woman is staring fixedly at the courtyard from an open window, thus problematizing the entire issue of voyeurism’ (Palassmaa, 2001, 169).

Juhani believes this problematizes the issue of voyeurism because it subverts the idea that ‘the inside is always definitely somebody’s territory, whereas the outside is anonymous’ (Palassmaa, 2001, 169). In other words, even if the nude woman in the painting is putting her body on display, we still feel as if we are invading her personal space. When looked at in this way, the painting reinforces the idea of gendered internal and external space that the architect Adolf Loos puts forward ‘the exterior of the house […] should resemble a dinner jacket, a male mask; as the unified self, protected by a seamless façade, the exterior is masculine. The interior is the scene of sexuality and of reproduction, all the things that would divide the subject in the outside world’ (Colomina, 1992, 94).

One cannot deny that the internal space of Hopper’s depicted home is feminine, and indeed a “scene of sexuality” with the nude woman. Like Juhani, I believe the painting subverts this idea that space outside is male or “anonymous”. To agree with Loos, would be conforming to a sexist idea of the cloistered woman, unable to break free from her shackles of home life. If we are to take Le Corbusier’s belief that ‘the exterior is always an interior’ (Colomina, 1992, 67), we can deconstruct this idea of the male gaze and the cloistered woman, and de-gender the space beyond the bedroom window.

The naked woman is therefore, an active subject, not because of her body, a language that Loos would like us to take up, but because of a hinted-at “event” about to take place - her visible yearning to travel into the exterior space beyond the boundaries of the painting. Space beyond the frame, therefore, has the ability to de-construct the male gaze of Mary Cassatt’s voyeur, and break down sexist interpretations of the home being a place for women to be shut away in. ‘The arbitrary framing of subjects in Impressionist paintings strengthens the sense of the real and brings the world and life, continuing beyond the boundaries of framing, into the consciousness of the observer’ (Pallasmaa, 2001, 35). This supports my idea that we have an instinct to move, when we look beyond the frame in order to discover new perceptions of reality, thereby suggesting the importance of the window within architecture, it is the frame into a reality beyond the boundaries of the home.

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FIG 13 - Wim Wenders, Million Dollar Hotel, Film Still, 2000

The film maker Wim Wenders says: ‘A Narcissist is someone who cuts himself off from the world, preferring to see his own picture than to a picture of the world’ (Hoffman, 1996, 57). The architect Bernard Tschumi’s comment about the instability of architecture, therefore, questions the language that we use to talk about reality, in much the same way as the narcissistic protagonist in the novel by Sartre, Nausea (1938), says: ‘When you are living, nothing happens. The settings change; people come in and go out, that’s all. There are never any beginnings, days are tacked on to days without rhyme or reason, and it is an endless, monotonous addition [...] that’s living. But when you tell about life, everything changes [...] events take place one-way and we recount them the opposite way’ (Graf, 2002, 60). The protagonist discusses how we interpret reality, and how even when we attempt to apply form on a narrative, our narrative will always cease to reproduce the exact way in which things happened. What is needed, therefore, is an architecture that draws attention to our inability to impose form on something. Moreover ones understanding of a building, or of the world outside, is transformed though the frame of a buildings openings. “At night we, when we look into an illuminated room from the dark outside, we can see inside but cannot be seen ourselves. A similar situation exists in the motion picture theatre… We sit in the dark looking at a light screen; this gives a definite feeling of depth” (Maile Petty, 54, 2006)

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FIG 14 - Adolf Loos, Michaelerplatz, Vienna

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Chapter 3

Le Corbusier, the influential architect of the 20th century emphasized the importance of openings in architecture with this. “The history of architecture is the history of the window.” (Hochberg, 32, 2010) Social and technological developments during the 20th century has changed the predominant qualities of windows in building. Advancements in construction and manufacturing enabled the ability to create vast open floor planes and façade openings in architecture. It is possible now to make a multitude of different openings from round windows, vertical strips, horizontal bans, or even entire walls of glazing, the possibilities are endless. This style of slim, lightweight construction became predominant in the 1920’s during the modernist period. The advancements of concrete and steel meant the walls became the window, and the floor slabs acted as horizontal frames.

Traditional ornamentation which was part of the construction of lintels, reveals and parapets was done away with, as the leading architects of this period were banishing decorative detailing’s that existed previously. Adolf Loo’s was one of the first modernist architects to act upon this simplifying of ornamentation, specifically around windows.

If we look at The “Looshaus” in Michaelerplatz in central Vienna we can see the simplification of the white façade. This building was highly controversial at the time as it is a steel construction with large spans with no exemplification of load bearing structures.

The building had to be compromised in the end, by adding flower boxes to the windows, as it was seen to be ugly and inappropriate for the time. This was just the beginning of the simplifying of the window in architecture.

Construction detailing is a crucial element of architecture as it is the details that determine the quality and character of a building however extraordinary or simple they may be. It could be argued that a strong architectural concept is conceived through its details, it can either support or undermine the concept. Windows are technically difficult and are the transition between inside and outside, the house and its situation. They are complex in they are both part of the technical and conceptual realm and host responsibility as they are what give access in and out of a building. ‘As a consequence, they interrupt the enclosure that provides shelter. They are the exception to the rule and inevitably demand special attention.’ (Talarico, 75, 2005)

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FIG 15, 16, 17 - Mies Van Der Rohe, Farnsworth House, 1951

If we look at Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe, finished in 1951 it is a clear representation of modern living, exemplifying the most modern technologies of the time, large spans of glass raised on pilotis with only a few solid steel vertical elements. The roof appears to float above the ground, creating an interior that is sitting within the exterior. The house sits in an open natural environment surrounded by trees and open land, the glazed walls create a clear opening that envelopes the entire house, the relationship to the exterior is undeniable.

The detailing of this house is immaculate, pure and part of the architecture as a whole, they are part of the architectural strategy which lets the building carry certain resonance to the winder context. However, the resident of this house, Mrs Farnsworth expressed her struggles in living in such an open interior, telling a story of the rubbish bin. The rubbish bin was designed to sit under the kitchen counter in an open compartment, this view however could be seen from the exterior of the house when looking in. This disrupted the image of the ideal home, perverting the idea that one can live as rationally and minimally as the architecture they dwell within. This meant that Mrs Farnsworth moved the rubbish bin to a closet near the kitchen in order to paint a picture to the visitors of the interior and exterior of a perfect life.

Another demonstration within this house which would suggest that this extremely modern, open living is not sustainable is that Mrs Farnsworth after several years of endeavouring to live in clean, minimal perfection she could not take it anymore, and added curtains around the entire house. This need for privacy and shutting out of the exterior world in order to dwell comfortably internally relates to the argument of the exterior gaze in architecture and the in between space of the interior and exterior. This example of architectural detailing can be seen to be appropriate and correct in its strategy, concept, technicality and production, however it poses the question of liveability.

This example of The Farnsworth house is a good spring board for discussion, however it must be weighted in knowing the economic and social standpoint for this client. A wealthy man from Illinois who was able to fund a home designed by a high end architect. Therefore today’s economic, social situation is vastly different, with housing shortages in most of the world’s growing capitals. The growth of cities over the past 50 years has been historical, the need for housing in cities is a high topic of discussion for architects and city planners. If we look at the emergence of social housing over Europe from the 50’s we can see a trend in architectural strategies; design for building rapidly, low cost materials, standardisations and repetition. This decade was fortunate enough to have the advancements in technology and manufacturing to create low cost housing in a short space of time. However, some of these architectural developments have proved to be neither sustainable nor durable.

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FIG 18 - Ernő Goldfinger, Trellick Tower, London, 1970 FIG 19 - Hong Kong, Tower Block, Jason Langley photograph

A lot of new apartment buildings are often designed as high rise buildings with vast amounts of glazing used as a façade, or are of a vast series of repeated patterns of openings and closures across a façade. The issue which lies within high rise buildings these days, are one of ventilation, sound, view and contact to ones surroundings.

Openings provide contact with the outside world, so that residents know where they are and can observe their surroundings and communicate with those outside. One of the criteria a window has to fulfil is to ventilate and therefore be operable. Opening a window to receive fresh air, or hear the noise of the activity taking place outside is what helps one feel connected to their surroundings. Some safety regulations now require windows above a certain height to be fixed. Thus creating a completely enclosed interior world, not allowing fresh air to travel freely, or as preferred through a space.

This means that all air flow through an apartment becomes artificial. Air conditioning, controlled climates and technology controlling basic human functions prevent dwellers from interacting with the activity of opening a window; which engages the user with their own home, and the relationship it has to the exterior world.

Renzo Piano once said “You feel that your life is being lost in a room where sound dies.

We need reverberation.”(“El Laberinto” 2016) This raises the question of the effects of modernised noise cancelling, triple glazing in windows and how they can affect our relationship with the exterior world. We experience qualities of space with the use of sound, this helps us to perceive sizes and boundaries of space. The sound of a large train station is memorably different to that of a library. Or more relevantly, the sound of a furnished home to an empty home. Hearing becomes different, yet just as beneficial way to experience space compared to vision. Vision helps to define size of space as in length, width and height, whereas hearing can determine the volume. Aurally, the volume of space is measured through reverberation and, in most cases, the longer the reverberation, the larger the space. The window plays an important part in our measuring of space, within the interior space of an enclosure, it can create different atmospheres for the dweller.

Other elements which have been effected by technological developments, and new requirements of energy related issues is glass. The glass which was used in the 1920’s and 1930’s is drawn glass, which is very crystal bright and incredibly thin. Newer glasses are tinted with green and blue and do not let as much light pass through, therefore effecting the admittance of light into a space, creating a layer between the exterior and interior – separating the user further from the atmosphere of the exterior space.

The former Dutch sanatorium, Zonnestraal was designed by architect Jan Duiker in the 1920’s and 1930’s and in 1995 was listed a UNESCO site. This is a piece of architecture that is totally focused on the experience of daylight. As a former sanatorium, patients only method of treatment for tuberculosis was exposure to daylight and sunlight.

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FIG 20 , 21, 22 - Jan Duiker, Zonnestraal, Holland, 1930

of glass in this building is vast, creating entire walls of slim metal framed drawn glass. The glass is so bright and clear, from bother internal and external experiences of the space, the building seems almost transparent, and glistens with light even on a grey day. Old, thin glazing allows for the effect of weathering. Weathering creates curvatures and imperfections in the flat plane. This quality which is made up over time sets a story for the building. A building made of up older methods of construction and materials is discernible by its very decaying, by the traces time leaves on the material. These traces are what personalise spaces and buildings which humanise contexts to set their own narratives and imagination of what has happened over the course of time, Walter Benjamin stated ‘To live is to leave traces’ (Arendt, 2016)

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FIG 23, 24 - McLaren Excell Architects, London, Victorian home extension, 2015

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Conclusion

It is difficult to conclude to a single point from the previous discussions, as throughout this essay and the research, the role of the window in space and architecture has become more complex. Posing the question of how can we dwell more fully in today’s society? And how can the architectural element of the window influence these experiences. With rapid changes of city life and ever-growing populations of cities, the home has become a place of sanctuary, a place to rest and enjoy spending time in. This in turn demands more from our domestic built environments, especially the window; for the multitude of responsibilities it holds which have been discussed. These demands are interesting to consider in means of the manufacturing and production of the built element of a window. Questioning the use of materials and their effect on our daily human experiences, within the threshold space of a window, we can become more responsible as designers in our design choices. Whether it be the blind, or shutter we chose to layer space from the exterior and the interior, the thickness of a window frame or the type of glass pane used to create shelter. The ability a window has to set narratives is incredibly important within society. It is these moments which allow us to feel humanised, to see other humans living and acting, and to allow viewers a sense of freedom and imagination, Albert Einstein once stated that “imagination is more important than knowledge� (Goodreads, 2016) and by creating architecture that allows for imagination we can help people dwell more fully.

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Image References

COVER IMAGE - Landmarks Illinois, (2010), Farnsworth House Interior [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-lifson/now-is-a-good-time-to-vis_b_134746.html [Accessed 17 December 2016].

FIG 1 - SUBTILITAS. (2016). [online] Available at: http://www.subtilitas.site/post/536035693/peter-zumthordoor-handle-detail-at-the-st [Accessed 20 Dec. 2016].

FIG 2 - Caspar David Friedrich, (1822), Woman At The Window [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.wsj.com/ articles/SB10001424052748704503104576250651293724650 [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 3 - Wienberg Architects and Friis & Moltke, (2014), Family House [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www. dezeen.com/2014/01/26/house-weinberg-architects-friis-moltke-cosy-oak/ [Accessed 18 December 2016].

FIG 4 - German Window, Photographer unknown , (1954), German Window [ONLINE]. Available at: http:// www.payer.de/judentum/jud513.htm [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 5 - Erica Overmeer, (2015), Antivilla / Brandlhuber+ Emde, Schneider [ONLINE]. Available at: http:// www.archdaily.com/627801/antivilla-brandlhuber-emde-schneider [Accessed 15 December 2016].

FIG 6 - Erica Overmeer, (2015), Antivilla / Brandlhuber+ Emde, Schneider [ONLINE]. Available at: http:// www.archdaily.com/627801/antivilla-brandlhuber-emde-schneider [Accessed 15 December 2016].

FIG 7 - Erica Overmeer, (2015), Antivilla / Brandlhuber+ Emde, Schneider [ONLINE]. Available at: http:// www.archdaily.com/627801/antivilla-brandlhuber-emde-schneider [Accessed 15 December 2016].

FIG 8 - Michael Wolf , (2015), Windows Watching [ONLINE]. Available at: http://blog.casa.it/2015/05/11/windows-watching/ [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 9 - Gustave Caillebotte, (1880), Interior, Woman at the window [ONLINE]. Available at: http://impressionistsgallery.co.uk/artists/Artists/abc/Caillebotte/80-85.html [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 10 - Rene Magritte, (1928), Man With A Newspaper [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/ artworks/magritte-man-with-a-newspaper-t00680 [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 11 - Mary Cassatt, (1878), Woman At The Opera [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/in-the-loge-31365 [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 12 - Edward Hopper, (1926), Eleven A.M [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/27/edward-hoppers-11-a-m-1926 [Accessed 16 December 2016] FIG 13 - Wim Wenders, (2000), Million Dollar Hotel [ONLINE]. Available at: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg. com/originals/ab/e2/9b/abe29b46391bfd12ee66ba198e536427.jpg [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 14 - Simon Glynn , (2007), Michaelerplatz 3 (“Looshaus�) Vienna [ONLINE]. Available at: http://architectuul.com/architecture/loos-haus-vienna [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 15 - Urut Berdasarkan, (2015), Sweet-farnsworth-house-diagrams-with-farnsworth-house-historic-site. jpg [ONLINE]. Available at: http://inspiringhomeideas.net/marvellous-farnsworth-house/sweet-farnsworthhouse-diagrams-with-farnsworth-house-historic-site/ [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 16 - Urut Berdasarkan, (2015), Sweet-farnsworth-house-diagrams-with-farnsworth-house-historic-site. jpg [ONLINE]. Available at: http://inspiringhomeideas.net/marvellous-farnsworth-house/sweet-farnsworthhouse-diagrams-with-farnsworth-house-historic-site/ [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 17 - Urut Berdasarkan, (2015), Sweet-farnsworth-house-diagrams-with-farnsworth-house-historic-site. jpg [ONLINE]. Available at: http://inspiringhomeideas.net/marvellous-farnsworth-house/sweet-farnsworthhouse-diagrams-with-farnsworth-house-historic-site/ [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 18 - Phil Learney, (2012), Trellick Tower [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.phillearney.com/council-flat-london/ [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 19 - Photomichaelwolf.com. (2016). MICHAEL WOLF PHOTOGRAPHY. [Online] Available at: http://photomichaelwolf.com/#window-watching/4 [Accessed 20 Dec. 2016].

FIG 20 - Edward Tyler, (2014), Zonnestraal Sanatorium by Jan Duiker with Bernard Bijvoet [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/attachments.aspx?attype=P&storycode=5062877&atcode=1776332 [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 21 - Edward Tyler, (2014), Zonnestraal Sanatorium by Jan Duiker with Bernard Bijvoet [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/attachments.aspx?attype=P&storycode=5062877&atcode=1776391 [Accessed 16 December 2016] FIG 22 - Edward Tyler, (2014), Zonnestraal Sanatorium by Jan Duiker with Bernard Bijvoet [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/attachments.aspx?attype=P&storycode=5062877&atcode=1776391 [Accessed 16 December 2016] FIG 23 - Nick Guttridge, (2014), McLaren Excell, Victorian London House [ONLINE]. Available at: https:// www.dezeen.com/2015/06/07/mclaren-excell-adds-a-concrete-and-weathered-steel-extension-to-a-victorian-london-home-england/ [Accessed 16 December 2016].

FIG 24 - Nick Guttridge, (2014), McLaren Excell, Victorian London House [ONLINE]. Available at: https:// www.dezeen.com/2015/06/07/mclaren-excell-adds-a-concrete-and-weathered-steel-extension-to-a-victorian-london-home-england/ [Accessed 16 December 2016].