The Top of the Hop

What dictates how you act in a certain space? Are plush couches an automatic invitation to cat nap? If it’s tucked away in an old library, sure! But what if it’s a well stuffed sofa in a highly trafficked space? Obviously you cannot go around sleeping on every soft surface you encounter, but this raises the question: when there are no well-defined rules, how do we know what decorum is socially acceptable or expected? Did you ever consider the interplay between public and private spaces?
The Top of the Hop (TotH) is an in-between space. Visible enough to be considered public, yet isolated enough to allow for a certain degree of privacy. The floor to ceiling windows illuminate every nook and cranny, and the absence of barriers contribute to the openness of the space. Yet, the limited lines of sight and sound disconnect the space from the rest of campus. These design features and the mixed publicity level which define this space, also shape the experience of its users.