INTERMEDIATE SPACE
In the traditional Japanese house, the distinction between interior space and exterior space is not clearly defined. Nature is drawn into the house, rather than excluded from it, by a variety of means such as shoji, bamboo screens, and the entranceway or veranda. Similarly, the interior can be extended beyond the walls of the house with the same devices, as people attempt to live as one with nature.
A comparison of Arab, American, and Japanese house plans will show that the Arab house is constructed around a courtyard, with thick walls built to the edge of the site. In the American suburban house plan, there is often no hedge to designate the boundary. The house, with reinforced doors and windows, is merely surrounded by a lawn. The Japanese house, in contrast, has a hedge around not just the edge of the lot, but the perimeter of the building as well.
The enclosure around the Japanese house is "soft," as opposed to the hard walls of the Arab house, and the open area around the American house. Or, put in another way, the distinction between the public and private areas in the Arab and American plans is clear, and one knows whether one is inside or outside a house, whereas the Japanese house has a certain ambiguity.
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