MANIPULATING CIRCULATION

The feeling you get from a house is heavily influenced by how you move through its interior. In a romantic home, the aim is to foster patterns of circulation that will help make the house emotionally engaging. The layout of rooms, passages, and openings should force people to move through the house in a particular way.
Hugh Newell Jacobsen sometimes divides a house into a series of buildings, each containing one or two rooms, and connects them with a series of glass breezeways, just to make sure that it's as exciting to move through the house as to settle down within it. Peter Bohlin creates a home consisting mainly of one big room with an open floor plan; within it he then creates an area that from certain angles looks like a long corridor extending from one end of the house to the other. This forces movement to follow a carefully orchestrated path that draws attention to views of the landscape and emphasize special spots on the interior.
People are often attracted to sunken living rooms. What makes a sunken living room appealing is that you need to climb down into them. Although changes of levels throughout a design may not be practical for every homeowner, where they appear, they add delight. Obic Bowman designed a California house in which the visitor is immediately forced to turn the corner, climb a few steps, and turn again before discovering the living room. The twists and turns not only make the house run to explore; they make the living room, with its breathtaking view of the Pacific, seem even more special upon arrival.

Staircases can be designed to give interesting overlooks, at times splashed with sunlight. Landings should be seen as opportunities, because with a bit of enlargement or embellishment or outlooks, they become distinctive places within a home. When paths intersect at a landing, the designer can make it a pivot point possessing great character. Moving through the house should be an experience, one that offers a variety of sensations. Architecture comes to life through movement that attracts your interest and engages your feelings.