Threshold and transition
Entry passage
housingcourtyard houseapartment buildinghotel
It is the covered space just behind the street door that leads to the interior or the courtyard of the house.
What it solves
It filters the street without closing itself off from it. It lets the breeze through to the courtyard and protects the interior from noise, direct sun and prying eyes.
Today
Use it as a filter between the street and the house, with good height, cross ventilation and a place to leave a bicycle or an umbrella.
Common mistake
Closing it with solid doors on both sides until it becomes a dark, airless corridor.
Tomorrow
In dense buildings the entry passage can return as a shared, ventilated and visible room for bicycles, strollers and parcels. A place of passage like that also brings neighbors together.
Where it comes from
- 1Andalusian world Iberian Peninsula, Middle Ages
The Spanish word zaguán comes from the Andalusian Arabic istawán, and that from classical Arabic. - 2Hispanic courtyard house Spain and Spanish America, colonial period onward
It connects the street door with the central courtyard in a straight line. - 3Adobe house Costa Rica, 17th to 20th centuries
The wealthier houses had corridors or entry passages for moving about without crossing the rooms.
See also
Also in Threshold and transition
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.