Theory Reading #4

After reading the exert from A Pattern Language, I have a whole new understanding of the intimacy gradient of a building.  Understanding not only the way people use rooms, but also how to make people more comfortable within each room is incredibly important.  The article goes through important details from the placement of windows within rooms to the proper circulation of rooms within a building.  These concepts are going to be very important to our next design project.  In designing the Writer's Retreat, we have to consider the different spaces within the building and how to define the public vs. the private.  As the Writer's Retreat is meant to be a space in which one sleeps, eats, works, and entertains, the organization of rooms and the definition of space will be very important.  In terms of defining a specific pattern to the building, it makes sense for the more public spaces to be toward the front of the building, while the sleeping quarters and more personal spaces should be more private and perhaps in the rear of the building.  The Retreat is supposed to be inviting to not only the people who live there, but also the people who visit, and finding the happy median between both the public and private sections of the house is going to be a challenge, but using the suggestions in this article will help create a successful design.