The Interior Design Reference & Specification Book

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THE INTERIOR DESIGN REFERENCE + SPECIFICATION BOOK

Chapter 6: Sequencing Spaces

Although the art of composing a plan would seem to be the province of the archi-

tect, the interior designer must be involved in choreographing the sequence of

spaces, so that a project reects a single design approach. Acknowledging the nec-

essary collaboration between architects and interior designers, it is important to

understand the two primary vehicles for organizing the relationship between rooms:

the plan and the cross section.

Through-Room and Independent Circulation

Interior design typically begins with the plan. Fundamental to the logic of the plan is the

distinction between rooms that can serve as both places and as routes for through-

circulation—such as the living room, dining room, and kitchen—and rooms that, because

of issues of privacy, require a separate circulation space or network of spaces to access

them—such as bedrooms and bathrooms.

Servant Spaces

A third type of space comprises closets, storage rooms, pantries, replaces, and powder

rooms. Spaces of this category should be consolidated into systemic

create acoustical privacy between larger rooms and to generate a logic for the plumbing, ven-

tilation, and mechanical systems and overall structure of the house. When composing a plan,

it is useful to consider these consolidated smaller spaces as solid masses, in opposition to

the open spaces of major rooms. In the late 1950s, American architect Louis Kahn qualied

this as an opposition between “servant” and “served” spaces. In the 1980s, the consolidated

zones of servant spaces came to be called the

technique used in the nineteenth century at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris (from the French

pocher

Relationships between Rooms

Networks of rooms can be conceived by aggregating rooms, with the gap between each

room functioning as both a thick-wall poche zone and a threshold space. Rooms can also be

created by subdividing a space with thick-wall zones or chunks of poche, as the Farnsworth

House illustrates below.

The plan of the Robie House is

composed of two distinct wings

that separate the public from

the private space.

The plan of the Farnsworth House

is a modern example of poche; the

kitchen, bathroom, and storage

areas are collected into one single

volume in the open plan.

section

plan

COMPOSING A HOUSE IN PLAN

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Job:02-30056 Title: RP-Interior Design Reference and Specification

#175 Dtp:216 Page:85

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Job:02-30056 Title: RP-Interior Design Reference and Specification

#175 Dtp:216 Page:84

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spaces, so that a project reects a single design approach. Acknowledging the nec

-

understand the two primary vehicles for organizing the relationship between rooms:

Servant Spaces

A third type of space comprises closets, storage rooms, pantries, replaces, and powder

rooms. Spaces of this category should be consolidated into systemic “thick-wall” zones to

create acoustical privacy between larger rooms and to generate a logic for the plumbing, ven-

tilation, and mechanical systems and overall structure of the house. When composing a plan,

it is useful to consider these consolidated smaller spaces as solid masses, in opposition to

the open spaces of major rooms. In the late 1950s, American architect Louis Kahn qualied

this as an opposition between “servant” and “served” spaces. In the 1980s, the consolidated

zones of servant spaces came to be called the “poche,” a term borrowed from a drawing

technique used in the nineteenth century at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris (from the French

pocher “to ll in”).

Frank Lloyd Wright, Robie House

Mies van der Rohe, Farnsworth House

Relationships between Rooms

Networks of rooms can be conceived by aggregating rooms, with the gap between each

room functioning as both a thick-wall poche zone and a threshold space. Rooms can also be

created by subdividing a space with thick-wall zones or chunks of poche, as the Farnsworth

House illustrates below.

The plan of the Robie House is

composed of two distinct wings

that separate the public from

the private space.

The plan of the Farnsworth House

is a modern example of poche; the

kitchen, bathroom, and storage

areas are collected into one single

volume in the open plan.

Job:02-30056 Title: RP-Interior Design Reference and Specification

#175 Dtp:216 Page:85

(RAY)

Job:02-30056 Title: RP-Interior Design Reference and Specification

#175 Dtp:216 Page:84

084-091_30056.indd 85 3/4/13 7:32 PM