The Wall as an Architectural Paradigm of Delimitation

The wall is the basic structural element of architecture and is part of its necessary visual language. It is used to separate, divide or enclose a space, and at the level of a construction, as a whole, it forms the boundary of a room or a building. This continuous vertical structure has, above all, a clear functional dimension, that of providing shelter (exterior walls) and compartmentalizing a space (interior walls). The concrete delimitation and the separation between interior and exterior, together with the relationship between them, are the basis for understanding our way of relating to personal spaces, intimate versus public, at sight. If the walls prevent the free entry or exit in and out of a space, it means that their impenetrability can be related to their defensive function, and the separate place becomes, on this occasion, a protective space. The two functions are valid both for real walls (massive, on frames or glass), but also for imaginary ones, so that this concrete, physical construction can acquire many meanings that can be transferred to the symbolic level of understanding it. The wall always has two faces, one inside and one outside, and forms a kind of barrier for people on either side of it, but allows the passage (both physical, but also metaphorical) through windows and doors.