One of the clearest indications of a more distinct segregation of actors and functions was the addition of a door that led from the rear of the courtroom to a separate passageway leading away from the vestibule. Whether this passageway, today considered an undisputed necessity, was accessible to the public or locked from inside the registry has been difficult to determine. However, the door enabled a new spatial organization and social practice. In the 1930s the combination of a planned new Book of Judicial Procedure and the modernist architectural movement resulted in spatial segregation taking a radical turn. In the rural district courthouses built after the Second World War, the previously monolithic edifice was split, normally into an L-shaped structure with distinct areas for different functions. It was the final break with the classicist private mansion. Actors, functions, and space were now divided in such a way as to create systems of separate circulation (Fig. 10.4). The new courthouses were still built in towns or cities, close to the railway station but still not on the square or the main street. They tended to be the first building in a new quarter and as such were not fully integrated into the existing urban structure for several decades. The spatial design of the architecturally most prominent part of the L-shaped courthouse, purpose-built for the court in session, resembled the traditional configuration. It had a vestibule that opened into the courtroom, and two separate rooms intended for the parties to proceedings and witnesses. The central axis was broken, but the shallow structure that made up the courtroom remained only two doors away from the pavement. As for the courtroom furnishings, a certain level of standardization, prompted by an official architect’s drawing of 1934, had resulted in less variation. The dais, double bars, and 50–100 seats for the public were standard elements in the rectangular room. Doors opened in both short sides, allowing all parties to enter and leave the courtroom without physically meeting. part ii • legal cultures • eva löfgren 154 Final segregation
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