ABSTRACT
Autonomy is an ideal of the self-authored life. The way that architects design public buildings has an impact on people’s capacity to exercise their autonomy. The two ideas, autonomy and depth structure, can be brought together usefully to offer pointers to designers of public places. The term ‘autonomy’ might make us think that this is about giving the individual maximal freedom of choice without interference. Depth structure is Clossick’s term for the landscape of boundaried sociospatial zones within which the social life of human beings takes place. A depth structure is composed of zones, thresholds and boundary conditions. Kelvin Hall is an example of a building with clarity in its depth structure which enables self-directness for its users. Kelvin Hall is exemplary on both clarity and self-directness and was designed purposefully by the architects to be so.
