Interpretive Phenomenology of Interface Spaces in House Architecture

 Two main performances, including ‘Accessibility’ and ‘Visibility’, have been proposed in (intermediate) interface spaces for design and organization since a long time ago. However, these spaces have not received much attention in design today and even they have often been ignored. As a result, psychological and intellectual requirements, which are realized in interfaces, have not to be met and responded to. In this regard, some phenomenologist architects have an emphasis on all-inclusive interaction of human’s existential ranges with architectural space and also they have emphasized the importance of responsiveness to psychological and conceptual needs.

The present article seeks to investigate the function of interfaces in house architecture, based on the approach taken by some contemporary phenomenologist architects. This paper aims to achieve optimal performance of such spaces in houses.

To this end, it has been firstly dealt with the description of attitudes from four phenomenologist architects concerning interfaces based on theoretical studies within the qualitative methodology and benefitting from interpretive and phenomenological approach; then using ‘interpretive phenomenology’, the conceptual units were built in their works and their functional capabilities of interfaces have been revised in two perceptual-conceptual and behavioral-functional aspects as well as compatible and responsive formative-spatial features to those performances.

The findings show that interfaces possess optimal performance so that they are capable to provide an appropriate accessibility hierarchy of outside-to-inside space. At the same time, they may provide a sense of being calm and under shelter for the audience and they make all of his/her senses and perceptions involved among them. In response to these three functions, distinctive formative features e.g. application of light and shade with different auditory, olfactory and tactile patterns and also having specific formative boundaries may be responsive to them.