Hallways in Architecture

...
They just don't exist any more. Hallways are considered such a bad design idea in design by so many architecturally-educated. It's always 'Open-space' or 'Modern' or 'Rationalise'.

Well screw you "experts" I say! I like hallways! And for a very good reason:
Hallways guide the user through and architecturally-guided experience. Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion is a great example of what a guided experience could be like.


Why did we, as kids, like castles and fairy tales? Cause they were all about adventure and discovery! These are 2 things which pretty much most of humanity enjoy. Creating a journey restores some of that childhood curiosity which we grow out of. We stop discovering and being overwhelmed by things because we understand and predetermine their experiences.

Now, I'm not saying Open Space is bad. It too has it's experiential effects, but only if well designed. The same applies to hallways. The potential is probably only comparable to a maze. Each corner holds a new shape and path. But why stop there? Each wall can be made from something different to the first; there can be grass; you can have windows; you can do anything... So long as you beat the user's expectation of "what's around the corner", then you can use hallways just as effectively as any other spatial tool.

I think most hallways are considered bad, because they surround you in their architectural style. A plain and boring hallway will immerse you in the building's plain and boring style:


A building which has interesting architecture, will allow you to be immersed in, well... interesting architecture:


Imagine hallways as magnifying glasses for the quality of architecture:
If you look at a turd through a magnifying glass, you experience it in much more depth and detail (you'll probably end up being able to see a little too much detail).
If you look at flower through a magnifying glass, you may discover shapes and patterns you didn't even know were there... (Which links back to discovery!)

So there! That's my two cents worth...