# Spaces of the House **The spaces of a House** distribute movement, admission, and the direction of holding. A stair or opening can become a boundary of belonging; a courtyard or cold passage, an outlet for tension. The meaning of a place is determined not by the plan itself, but by whom the House lets through, where it stops them, and what it allows to be carried outside. ## Space Establishes Order The interior space of a House distributes not only movement, but also the right to be in a particular place. A passage, stair, or open courtyard can mark a degree of admission, a direction of holding, or the possibility of release; architecture therefore operates here as part of the social order. ## Passages and Boundaries [The North Stair](page:57116) and [the Seventh Opening](page:57121) connect movement with hierarchy and admission. Such places matter not in themselves: they show whom the House lets pass farther, where it requires them to stop, and how it turns an ordinary path into recognition or refusal. ## Places Where the House Opens Out [Courtyards and gardens](page:57140) and [open spaces](page:57141) give holding an outlet to the outside. This is not the opposite of the interior House, but an intermediate area where its order meets weather, the city, and people who have not yet entered the closer circles. --- ## Links here - [Structure of the House](page:57038) --- [All pages](https://wikilayer.org/smee-again/the-house-of-the-inner-wind/en/index.md)