Casa 4x6x6
I'm aware of a pressing reality when designing a house. There are always two questions in the minds of 90% of people (unfortunately not only from customers, but also from many colleagues): "What is the maximum area of implementation?" and “What is the maximum number of floors possible”. And with that, the eternal battle begins to try to fit a huge volume in place, often with divisions with completely absurd areas, without ever having a real concern with what really matters: The real needs of those who will inhabit the house and the harmony and creation of a space that is really practical and comfortable to be lived in.
And with this, a huge battle starts, trying to stay right on the edge of the legal limit (most of the times). But even worse, it usually results unpleasant volumes that occupy way to much space just because.
It is in these points where Asian architecture fascinates me, managing to do a lot without much. The “strictly necessary” is culturally rooted, living with very “little” (and we are not talking about an economic point of view, but about priorities regarding material goods).
And in the times we're living, we travel through the computer.
I came across this project, a simple 3 floors house, with 24m² of implantation, and a useful area of 45m², something apparently. But isn't it enough, though?
This house is created as an unique space, where the different areas are separated by levels and views. A simple construction, with white walls and floors and ceilings in cement, with white technical gutters (for passing electricity) punctuating the concrete ceiling.
A house that in theory would prove to be cold and basic, but that it shows to be comfortable, extremely well thought out and “human”. The false simplicity is revealed in the complexity of designing a 3 floor house using exclusively 4 walls (5 if we consider the bathroom strategically hidden in the corner of the 0 floor, outside the main volume).
project @ dua studio
Photos @ William Sutanto, Jonathan Aditya Gahari
