Gallery Surround
. . . we continue to fill out the Building Edge. Assume that arcades have been built wherever they make sense—Arcades; there are still large areas within the building edge where BUILDING EDGE tells you to make something positive—but so far no patterns have explained how this can be done physically. This pattern shows you how you can complete the edge. It complements Roof Garden and Arcades and helps to enliven the Pedestrian Street.
Problem:
If people cannot walk out from the building onto balconies and terraces which look toward the outdoor space around the building, then neither they themselves nor the people outside have any medium which helps them feel the building and the larger public world are intertwined.
Background & Research: Not Included on the site—Go read the book!
Solution:
Whenever possible, and at every story, build porches, galleries, arcades, balconies, niches, outdoor seats, awnings, trellised rooms, and the like at the edges of buildings—especially where they open off public spaces and streets, and connect them by doors, directly to the rooms inside. A warning: take care that such places are not stuck artificially onto the building. Keep them real; find the places along the building edge that offer a direct and useful connection with the life indoors—the space outside the stair landing, the space to one side of the bedroom alcove, and so on.
Usage:
These places should be an integral part of the building territory, and contain seats, tables, furniture, places to stand and talk, places to work outside—all in the public view—Private Terrace on the Street, Outdoor Room; make the spaces deep enough to be really useful—Six-Foot Balcony—with columns heavy enough to provide at least partial enclosure—Half-Open Wall, Column Place . . .
pg. 777