Enticement & Architectural Pleasure

By benmoore

House Thinking, by Winifred Gallagher, discusses the five notions of architectural pleasure. So far, we've covered peril, prospect, and refuge. Today, I'll share what I have learned about enticement.

Gallagher says, "everyone loves a surprise, and the quality of enticement gives a home some innately appealing frisson." (I had to look up frisson: a sudden strong feeling of excitement or fear, pronounced: free-SOH^N.)

To create a feeling of enticement, the home must hide some information yet provide for safe exploration -- a "teasing combination of risk and safety." Check out this winding path. Does it have a nice balance of risk and safety? I think it does.

Much of the path can be seen, but we can't see where it ultimately goes. It "hides information" at just the right amount.
scary

On the other hand, hiding too much information, such as this dimly lit hallway leading to a dark and unknown place, is the trick of horror films -- adding lots of risk and no safety.

According to Hildebrand, the right amount of enticement will consist of "a view and opportunity for movement from one space to another whose features are only partly revealed, the occupied space being relatively darker and the partly revealed distant space relatively brighter."

Here some architectural examples of enticement.