Kotchakorn Voraakhom is a Thai urban landscape architect and hers is one of the most important voices to speak about the philosophy of porosity. This voice echoes in the sound of water flowing through terraced rice fields and among people gathering in the capital’s large parks. She says that porosity, if you know how to recognize it, manifests itself everywhere because it is a primary element of sustainability, not only for the environment, and not only in Bangkok.
In every Italian city, porous architecture extends to include a portico. The portico provides constant passage; it’s an atrium beyond the threshold of the house, a ground-floor wall of a thousand windows. It brings people into contact and protects them within itself, without the intrusion of umbrellas and coats. The portico—this porous passageway—is a sustainable sign of sociability.
And it’s also a sustainable sign of business. Along one side of the portico, shops face their sources of inspiration: the opinions of passers-by. In a free display of the creative process, a portico encourages work that is crafted with transparency, and through listening.