Architecture is like music. Hitting the right notes at the right time brings about a melody.
There’s an aspect that many architects and designers miss, maybe because it’s right in front of their eyes, or maybe because it becomes too obvious to even look at… But just like silence is the first condition to even create music, empty space is the first condition to design architecture.
Starting to add walls, windows and doors before even looking at the empty spaces is the worst initial mistake that can be done in the design process. It becomes a game of barriers instead of a creation of dynamic flows. It then becomes a project that is too stuck to live in and the solutions become weird, and evaluations blame that the area is too small or more outdoor areas should be added. Finally the inhabitants turn their eyes to interior decorators trying to make the space more livable, but the root problem never goes away because it wasn’t designed from the viewpoint of the empty space.
It becomes quite interesting to observe that most of the renovation projects start with the opposite activity. They turn into a cleaning and demolition project. Why? Same reason.
There’s a very applicable concept that talks about the “terminals” in electric motors. These terminals are positively and negatively charged and fixed on a base, and the distance and separation between them creates the exchange of electric flow. In design the same principle applies but instead of having these terminals we have fixed limits that should invite people to move and live between them.
Then we have distance and architectural design.
An art piece can act as a terminal as well: position it well and it will drag everyone to admire it.
Next time your architect or designer states that the space is too small and nothing can be done, politely smile and go to a real one just like you would with the next song on a playlist.