One of the passages that I found fascinating in Walden is when Thoreau was discussing how he and his guests used the space around them to facilitate conversation.
“In my house, we were so near that we could not begin to hear,- we could not speak low enough to be heard; as when you throw two stones into calm water so near that they break each other’s undulations. If we are merely loquacious and loud talkers, then we can afford to stand very near together, cheek by jowl, and feel each other’s breath; but if we speak reservedly and thoughtfully, we want to be further apart, that all animal heat and moisture may have a chance to evaporate.” (pg 220)
He kind of uses the idea of space that is opposite of how people would usually use it. He says that talking in low tones requires people to be further apart in order to give space for the idea and for all of the distractions to dissipate. However, louder and more vibrant conversations need to take place in a confined space.
However, even though it is counter-intuitive, his reasoning sort of makes sense because sometimes when people are having a serious conversation, being in close proximity to people makes them feel pressured and more confined. Also, when people are really exuberant and happy, they sometimes like to be closer to people so they have energy to feed off of.
Thoreau, using the same technique that he does throughout the book, also frequently speaks of conversation as a physical, animated object which makes its own use of space that more interesting.