In Praise of Threshold

Discussing conceptual clarity, expanding horizon into what is more than black and white and talking about what is beyond certainty were depicted clearly in a given talk by John Lee earlier in February.
In light of this, let me talk you through one of the most mesmerising concepts that I embrace by heart..

But prior to that, one needs to realise that essentially we create perimeters or even draw boundaries because we need to, unambiguously, secure ourselves from whatever is there on the outside.
One may think of bounding/dividing a space by constraints, like monolithic solid concrete walls for safety and, hence, to define what is outside and what is inside or in another sense what is public and what is private, more or less like saying that is black and this is white.
This brings us to think of what cannot be conceptually classified, for example: a glass wall?
It is then inequivalent to a concrete wall, although it creates a line between the interior and the exterior but it doesn't secure the space enough, perhaps, since it makes a seamless continuity between a semi-private space bounded by a public space.

...We need more than black and white. We need colours. We need thresholds.

Mary Martin, White Permutation, 1965*

Lee customised thresholds in 5 instances; to showcase, exaggerate, expand and turn lines into habitable spaces, through:
_Threshold as portal
_Threshold as buffer
_Threshold as overlap
_Threshold as intrusion
_Threshold as ritual

Threshold as portal, I recall Lee talking about the National Museum of Scotland and the way anticipation, expectation and surprise are main drivers in the space in which successive portals stress + release the visitor's body through walking down passages/paths to refined interiors.

The English heritage house is, however, taken as an example to discuss threshold as buffer. Specifically, the front garden of an English property that divides the enclosures and disclosures.
The buffer is literally the transition between cold wet environment and warm dry one.
A failure to create a porch or a swift transitional space will create intolerable horrible environment like, for example, Manchester School of Art lobby where cold air is actually on the inside and the outside of the supposedly warm welcoming zone.

If threshold as buffer is about peeling layers then threshold as overlap is the opposite. It is about blurring boundaries and creating ambiguous spaces by creating eclectic promiscuous spaces for many different uses and users making such spaces generous and open.

Another kind of threshold is, threshold as intrusion. European balconies, as explained by Lee, are a great example of an intruding space that is owned by one side, the occupier, but intrudes the line of, the public, façade through its tectonics/drapes/washings/ornaments/plastic furniture etc...thus, penetrating one space to create a non-place.

Lastly, threshold as ritual can be seen in the architecture of a typical English church with certain successive points of formulating the structure. For example: street, tower, nave and choir are some entities derived from the ritual architecture to heighten formality and enhance otherness by defining spaces and sub-spaces to finally create a church.

At last, this merely shows that we should avoid dead black and white spaces but rather should look for threshold and what is beyond an absolute answer and seek for abstract meanings....

Mary Martin, White Permutation 1, 1965*

Have a great week ahead!

*Images sourced from AA Files 67

With love,
SIMA