NOV 1 THE SPACE BETWEEN
The “Space Between” is often regarded as void, extra square footage or neutral.
Little consideration is given to the space between buildings, walkways or corridors that ‘connect’ our interiors unless you are located in a tight urban location where every inch free is one exposed inch closer to nirvana.
Case in point, terrace gardens on the back of townhomes or on roof tops. Any opportunity to gaze at the sun or let light in is cherished.
An elevated platform garden in soil or elevated is carefully manicured and maintained.
Every blade of light filled grass becomes as precious as a top rated Zagat dining experience.
Yet, as we are warned that arid landscapes may not be inhabitable in one hundred years from today due to excessive heat and as the 7.5 billion persons that inhabit the earth continues to climb, all space, every inch rather than square foot is now being considered.
Afterthought no more, the ‘Space Between” ranks supreme.
The Keret House is a prime example of design thought and planning to the centimeter.
Almost vessel like in plan view, the Keret House is the ultimate "Trompe L'Oeil".
Link: http://www.kerethouse.com/
Almost vessel like in plan view, the Keret House is the ultimate "Trompe L'Oeil".
Link: http://www.kerethouse.com/
Real estate is valued in views and one might say that a void that prospects out on a water view no matter how narrow is golden. The water view in the image below trumps the provenance romance of the worn shop facades-no merchandise can compete so void or deliberate?
Below, the escalation of hand pourded stairs beacons the tourist to look upward and focus on the prize for mastering the incline, simply a corner of an unadorned building yet it is the dramatic angle that impresses...perfectly centered on the gap between the buildings.
Approx. ten feet wide may be all you need to exist happily especially if your dwelling is not year round.
However for some like the "Sliver House" inhabitants, ten feet in width works more than fine in wrapped up in a contemporary statement.
"The Sliver House (its owner prefers to call it the Glass House) has been built on the site of a single-story wine vault that served the adjacent pub. From the street it looks impossibly small, with a 3m frontage and 8m height. It looks even smaller because of its wide and high neighbors, all brick, terracotta, stucco and tall sash windows: those great stalwarts of Victorian life, the terraced and the public house."
http://inhabitat.com/incredibly-skinny-sliver-house-slips-into-a-lot-as-narrow-as-ten-feet-across/008-tif/
Interiors offer an unending array of spacial challenges and hallways are no exception. However, it is the clever designer or home owner that puts thought into the passageway that often yields a welcome and stunning vignette, a respite from a busy day no matter the square footage shortage.
http://www.spaced.com.au/
http://www.spaced.com.au/
Below in Thailand, "The building stands on a narrow lot, squeezed between other buildings and trees, and the free-flowing volume makes the best use of the space. The concept is based on the dichotomy of the real world and the dream world, in other words the form follows the function and the typical free form that responds to the needs of small children."
http://www.livegreenblog.com/materials/a-new-kindergarten-in-thailand-prachasongkroa-school-9146/
http://www.livegreenblog.com/materials/a-new-kindergarten-in-thailand-prachasongkroa-school-9146/
Urban architects and landscape architects alike are creating sensitive spaces that do more than shade a building or cyclist passing by especially in tight urban environments like Tokyo, Japan.
"Yoshiaki Oyabu makes use of leftover space between four buildings to provide an extension to the public realm."
http://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/open-architecture-by-yoshiaki-oyabu-architects-tokyo-japan/5218404.article
"Yoshiaki Oyabu makes use of leftover space between four buildings to provide an extension to the public realm."
http://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/open-architecture-by-yoshiaki-oyabu-architects-tokyo-japan/5218404.article
To fill or not to fill may be an option but today if you hesitate, someone might claim the real estate and it may not be another architectural firm... it may just be mother nature herself, the ultimate architect, landscape architect and designer rolled into one.
http://studyabroad.isp.msu.edu/photocontest/2014/honorable_mentions/norway_rogaland_kjeragbolten_s_grassa_21.jpg
http://studyabroad.isp.msu.edu/photocontest/2014/honorable_mentions/norway_rogaland_kjeragbolten_s_grassa_21.jpg