This project uses the central concept of “folding” to link and relate its myriad spaces: from interior to exterior, upstairs to downstairs, and from space to space, the use of materials and visual planes of continuity serve to define their relationships to one another. With a circulation pattern firmly based on day-to-day living, the project manages to achieve a flowing continuity in its spatial arrangement, interior circulation, and visual aesthetics.
The idea of “folding” implicitly requires a certain understanding of and dexterity in the treatment of connections. In a project with such a concept, these then become crucial factors in the control of spatial scale, and towards this, the architect has shown a meticulous yet unconstrained approach towards integration. Whether in space, material, boundaries,aesthetics, circulation, or even in the interaction between occupants, the integration of each finds definition and expression in the usage of materials. For example, from the inner vestibule to the study, and running the length of the central void to the children’s room is the same kind of warm-colored wood paneling; the television wall is visually extended all the way to the inner vestibule with the use of sleek white marble; while the study uses for visual accents the same rough black slate found on the balconies.
Within this space however, the designer has also created a degree of ambiguity,expressed in the organic division of spatial boundaries. Hardware-wise, continuous planes of material provide unity, while software interfaces are left to the ingenious arrangement of circulation.Porous yet individually independent, each space expresses a dynamic rhythm, evident in the smooth transitions witnessed at each turn of the corner.
To describe such a kind of residential space, the architect turns to the metaphor of a small town. Walking along the main street and its myriad its lanes and alleys, each turn yields a different view, yet whether big or small, all are connected to a larger unit that is the block.This project takes such an experience of walking outdoors and—magnifying the experience to a larger scale—uses it within a residential space. From outside to inside, the spaces flow into one another without break, even while each provides a unique and different view. In both experience and circulation one perceives the house as a distinct whole without gaps, lending the project a flowing sense of being.
The project minimizes the boundaries between indoors and out to the minimum, creating within it highly interactive spaces that work without partition. Outside of private rooms such as the bedrooms and bathrooms (which are individually treated), the spaces continually percolate into one another in accordance to form, function, and the interaction between occupant and house.
For such a residential project, creating a fluid and coordinated sense of comfort requires detailed observation and integration skills. Without using exaggerated gestures and interventions, what this project expresses instead is a natural and unpretentious rhythm.
