Enclosure

What is meant by enclosure and what occurs when enclosure is created?

“ If a wall forms an enclosure or a cell then it divides an ‘inside’ from the ‘outside’; giving something to and taking something from both. “

(Unwin 2004)

This is true in an architectural sense, however, enclosure naturally exists outside of the built environment. An enclosure can be defined as any area which has been enclosed or contained. The actual means of enclosure is open to interpretation. A naturally formed scarp can be used by sheep as an enclosure to shelter from the elements. Their traffic further erodes the slope creating a place, improving the qualities which make it suitable.

This is just as much an enclosure as a man made sheepfold. They fulfil the same purpose in terms of shelter and containment with the latter being a refinement; adding security in that the opening can be closed.

Enclosure cannot exist without a form of barrier. This barrier can be demonstrated in something as simple as a line in the sand. But at what point does the line become an enclosure. If we imagine the circle instead as a square, how many sides can be opened before the sense of enclosure is removed? This judgement will be subjective and will vary from individual interpretation. It is however important to note that enclosure need not completely encircle a space to contain it as the barrier can be explicit, implicit or lie in the grey region between the two. This is demonstrated in the diagram below; the twigs are all enclosed even when the barrier is simply suggested by markers.

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