Level-to-Level Apartment Portholes

Double paned clear plastic windows, circular in shape and about a cubit in diameter that sit in the floor/ceiling between two levels in an apartment building. For privacy, there would be a brass porthole cover (reminiscent of those on old submarines), on a hinge. For the porthole on the ceiling, it would have a rod hanging down like the ones used to close tall windows. At the ceiling of the top level would be a covered oculus and as all portholes would be alligned above each other, on a sunny day, at the right moment, if all the portholes were open, a column of sunlight would go all the way to the bottom floor. This would be rare and special, like an eclipse.

People can keep their portholes open if they don't mind that others can see them, and shut them when doing something personal. This could be useful for scowling at your upstairs neighbors for being to loud, saying hello, or just making apartments seem less lonely and secluded and reintruducing a sense of 'community' in a building where people only see each other when coming or going and rarely get to know each other.

Portholes can also be used as windows between apartments on the same level.