אדריכלות ישראלית

Residential Lobbies

Architecture of Israel #

109

May

2017

page

english

residential lobbies

exchanging the functional

stairwell

for luxurious

hotel lobby

Architecturally, the lobby is the ultimate

meeting place for tenants – a potential

arena for social interaction – a means of

mediation between the different world views

of people who find themselves together,

without previous say in the matter.

This article focuses on the various

architectural meanings of the residential

building’s lobby, which has in recent

years become a Real Estate banner – a

representational flag that determines a

building’s value and, as a by product,

its tenants’ socioeconomic status. This

new trend is a gradual transition from the

minimal functional stairwell, to a luxurious

entrance hall reminiscent of a hotel lobby –

an architectural attribute that demonstrates

the fundamental relations between “must”

and “possible”, in which first impression

plays a significant role.

Psychologically, the first impression is of

an event that occurs when we encounter

something for the first time. This is usually

influenced by visible representations that

actually create the mental image of an

object. A related old saying is that “first

impressions never get a second chance”.

And wise men would say that “A man is

known by his pocket, glass and anger”. And

not without reason: we are talking about

three components that express the real

person’s attitude to his mates, environment

and, wiser men would add - to himself as

well.

All these can naturally be translated into

The interface between the public outside and the private inside of the lobby is a

“no man’s land” - neither private nor public. However, it is through the lobby that

tenants express their attitude towards their neighbors, their environment and, in

fact, towards themselves. Functionally, the lobby serves as a link between the

street, the elevators, the stairs and the parking lot - particularly in places where

tenants reach their homes by private vehicle. Therefore the passage must be

situated effectively, with as short a walk as possible, and accessible to the

handicapped according to law.

architecture: the pocket – budget; the glass

- form; and anger - behavior.

A recent survey by AI revealed a minimal

use of the most invested items in the lobby,

particularly the expensive ones. It appears

that the only components intensively used

are the encoded entrance door, the often

enormous mirror, and about six square

meters in front of the elevators. This, when

expensive components such as benches,

armchairs, marble paneling, and most of all,

open space explicitly intended for tenants’

interaction, remains abandoned or, as wise

men would say, wasted.

Entrepreneurs have learned that investment

in visible public areas reinforces first

impressions and therefore helps promote

marketing their apartments, although they

are much smaller today than the average

apartments built at the beginning of the

twentieth century. Aspiring to survive,

architects have adapted to the situation

whereby in order to please the entrepreneur,

they must invest in appearance because

experiencing a building doesn’t really

interest the entrepreneur.

In this light it is proposed to re-examine the

ratio between the architectural investment

in expensive paneling, floor tiles, entrance

counters without a guard, and the

architectural value. In other words - deal

less with form and more with content.

However, there is good in every bad, and

relating to the lobby as a sign of architectural

Michal

Han, Ami

Ran