Most probably Laozi was not talking about functional architecture in chapter 11. Windows and doors are portals that allow coming and going. By letting things freely in and out they enable us to see the outer world, encounter other people.
We make doors and windows for a room;
But it is the empty spaces that make the room livable.
(Lao-Tzu, 1961)
Eyes are like the windows, through them we watch the world, and eyes are windows to the soul. Through them others see us.
According to the Chinese medicine, the soul resides in the heart which opens to the tongue. The opening and closing of a door is a metaphor for the mouth and with the use of the tongue we are able to express our thoughts and emotions through this gate.
We should not hold on to neither the things we see nor we feel. Emotions should be freely flowing, keeping the heart-mind empty and being empty is the art of the heart.
This is just one way of reading and trying to understand Dao De Jing.
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