Glass House
Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (AHK)
2016
The concept of the glass house started by questioning where does privacy stop? Does it end on the limit of the house window or on wherever our eyes can see? The programme was made for a single family house and the proposal was to use glass as the predominant material in its exterior finishing, in a way that it allows the residents to integrate with what is on the outside but keeping the privacy inherent in the house, preventing the outside to see the inside. To do so the house was set back seven meters from the sidewalk and it differs in height from the neighbours by being around 11 meters high, in the front yard and back garden trees are placed so the views are blocked strategically. The structure is mostly composed of steel beams and columns, which gives more flexibility to clad the columns with timber boards without losing the desired slenderness of the facade. The layout of the interior is also composed of glass floors in certain rooms, allowing even more integration between the spaces and delivering the sense of seeing but not being seen to the residents.
Due to technology we are able to create entire walls with glass and this technology brings an exceptionally beautiful feature to contemporary architecture. It allows total light penetration, passing through without any distortion, it brings a sense of space and integration, a sense of minimalism and sharpness. But while the inhabitants can enjoy the views outside, at some point they will have the desire to be secluded from the outside to have some privacy, it is intrinsic in the human being the necessity of being sheltered (the feeling of protection), this comes since the prehistoric age. Differently from before, nowadays we build bigger openings exposing our lives to the outside environment, it is a different life style than what was common in the past; nowadays we build open plan spaces, integrated rooms. So, if we live differently now, how do we perceive the typology of canal houses that were built 100 years ago? And how will architects 100 years from now perceive the canal houses that we are currently designing?