The Villa is articulated as a "Vertical Overlap"
as the main entry into the house is from the lower level garage. The stairs
from the garage emerge through the pool at the garden level and enable the
Owner to experience a sense of purification and transition as it leaves the
hustle of the business world behind and enters into his Domestic Retreat.
The
Pool, symbol of Life and Purity, extends into the inner courtyard, where a
solitary tree is planted, as a center and pivot for the house upper levels
rotation and splitting. The villa in Taiwan explores the idea of a "double
void" via the means of a reflective pool which transports the exterior
front of the house into the inner courtyard of the villa.
The house, which is
located on a sloped site is experienced vertically through a set of stairs
which connect the lower garage level to the garden entry emerging through the
water of the front pool. This intimate relationship with water produces a
"translucent" effect of progressive discovery of the house presence,
imitating a deeper "purifying" ritual important for the Taiwanese
culture. The house is carved and exposed around the ground waters on the garden
level, but becomes progressively internalized and visually selective on the
second floor private bedrooms. Materials and apertures all reflect this
"progressive translucency" and allow the house the e-merge from its
immediate context.
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