In a project completed last year in my company, I decided to remove a wall and a pillar, letting a steel beam that supports most of the wooden ceiling seemingly float above the new sliding glass wall. At first, this seems a small, almost imperceptible gesture.
The owners call it an architecture of desire. A tiny door connecting interior and exterior, overused over the decades, fell apart. The desire to get out into the garden, and the motion through space transformed the architecture. The glass wall is the architectural consequence of a path initially broken by the user, and later transformed into design. Behind the piano lies a heated pool and the garden. These features make the connection between interior and exterior welcome to anyone, not just architects.
The architects who first designed and built the building, intended to mimic the architecture of Swiss country houses. They placed heavy layers of brick between interior and exterior. This was their perception of what a peasant’s house would have looked like.
The wall and the pillar had to go, giving way to motion, light, and ideas.
Architecture, text, and image: Dan C. Baciu ©