‘A symbol with what architecture means as such and should accomplish’: On Aldo van Eyck’s concept of the ‘in-between’ and its connection with the dimension of Raumbildung

This article sheds new light on an essential component of Aldo van Eyck’s architectural theory: the concept of the ‘in-between’ and how this concept becomes manifest in and determines his architectural work. First, I argue that the concept of the in-between includes three complementary levels: two (socio-) spatial levels directly related to the dimension of Raumbildung [space formation] and one level tied to Van Eyck’s concept of ‘twin phenomena’. Second, this clarification leads to a new interpretation of Van Eyck’s architecture which focuses on the practical implementation of the in-between in connection with the particular kind of Raumbildung and demonstrates how his focus on the socio-spatial meaning of architecture and a formal-compositional way of designing are interconnected. Finally, the article aims to verify the fundamental significance that Van Eyck attributes to the in-between, concluding that this significance is intrinsically tied to the in-between’s immediate connection with the dimension of Raumbildung.