Importance Of The Corridor

The corridor is often described as a long passage in a building from which doors lead into rooms. Known primarily as a connecting space, the corridor is a consistent element to be found in every type of building, whether commercial or domestic. Once acting as a great hall, it has now been reduced to a passageway. A place of entry, storage, interaction and most importantly movement, the corridor is yet to be defined with a definitive use for occupation. The purpose of this text is to question the importance of the corridor within a building, as an occupied space for sitting, eating and resting or accepting its fate as a transitional space between the rooms of inhabitation.

‘If we think of space as that which allows movement, then place is

According to Kerr, the architectural space of a corridor within a building was not a space to be occupied for living. (Truby, 2014) The corridor acted solely in terms of route and destination. ‘Kerr, for his part, mobilized architecture in its entirety against the possibility of commotion and distraction.’ (Truby, 2014) The general strategy was compartmentalization and universal accessibility. Any possibility for interaction or occupation within this space was eliminated through the strict emphasis on continued circulation and separation between rooms and social classes. Privacy was the overruling factor for these principles. In Cherry Hill Prison, Michael Foucalt draws strong similarities between the design of prisons with factories, schools, barracks and hospitals. (Truby, 2014) As the movement of prisoners outside of their cell block was kept to a minimum, the corridors largely became observation decks for the guards, an instrument in the evaluation of the prisoner. These elements for surveillance, discipline, visibility and separation gradually became standard features in the design of public

The hall became increasingly associated with entry and gradually reduced to a place of passage. The principal difference between the hall and the corridor was the occupation of the hall. Comparing William Hogarth’s ‘In the Madhouse’ to an evacuation image for the World Trade Centre, the theme of panic arises for two very different reasons. In the Madhouse represents a corridor as an inhabited space and there is a strong connection between the adjacent rooms. There is busy atmosphere and an opportunity to act freely within the space. In contrast, the evacuation image depicts an escape route. Speed and accessibility play a factor. There is the same amount of people in both images, however, the latter image has no interaction between the users or place to pause and occupy the space