There’s a difference between en train de regarder Nature, as if on a video screen, and feeling that you’re dans Nature. We design all of our houses to give you that “within Nature” feeling. An owner of one of our earliest houses describes the feeling this way:
When it snows, it’s like living in a snow globe. And I no longer mind the rain, as the many windows keep it from ever getting gloomy. The overhangs prevent unwanted sun in the summer, and allow more natural light in the winter. We still pinch ourselves that we get to live here.
We cherish her words. They describe an experience we try to give all of our clients. But let’s be clear: “Nature” needn’t be vast wilderness. It can be the backyard of a lot on a city street. The key is that the design of your home gives you the sense of its rooms extending out into the larger world, just as the larger world extends into the rooms you live in. A pretty heady concept! Let us explain it by showing you how our designs engender this feeling.
When appropriate, we carry glazed openings up from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Then, when the ceiling runs unbroken out beyond the plane of the glass, the ceiling will draw your eye out past the glass—as seen here, where the small garden of lavender feels like it’s a part of the living room.
When the floor plane also extends beyond the plane of glass, this sense of extension only intensifies. You sense that the space you’re in extends as far as the floor stretches. You can imagine yourself passing through that glass wall as if it weren’t there.
Whenever we can, we like to make that imagined “passing through” a thing you can actually do. To accomplish this, we have used large, glazed panels that slide into pockets, completely disappearing.
But to really make an outdoor space feel like it’s part of the indoors, nothing’s more effective than having the “outside” pousser dans the “inside.” The spaces feel so entwined with each other that you can’t imagine the one without also imagining the other.
When you pass into one of these indoor/outdoor spaces—being dessiné there by the architecture—something magical happens. You’re in something that feels like “a room in the house,” but you’re also undeniably outdoors, experiencing the temperature, smelling the aromas, feeling the pull of the world outside: feeling like you are dans ce monde. Vous êtes dans un endroit qui est entre à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur.
Nous croyons que lorsque vous sentez que vous vivez dans et une partie de votre environnement, real benefits accrue. You notice how the light changes during the day. You notice the changes in the seasons. You get away from your screen and smell the roses—or the lavender.
Un de nos clients récents décrit le sentiment :
Des études ont montré que l'accès à la nature peut réduire le stress, augmenter la mémoire et améliorer le bien-être général. En mélangeant l'intérieur et l'extérieur, votre maison peut vraiment commencer à se sentir comme un refuge.
Pour en savoir plus sur ces idées
Lisez notre article de blog sur notre approche globale du design.
Et regardez nos vidéos qui examinent certaines idées centrales à notre réflexion sur le design.
Vous souhaitez en savoir plus sur le concept de biophilie ?
Consultez cet article de blog de Marvin, La biophilie expliquée : les arguments en faveur de la nature à l'intérieur.
La photographie: Studio Révélateur et Nat Réa Photographie
