A space accumulates atmospheres, subtle and abstract, yet these arise precisely from tangible sources. To connect the two—to draw a line from the physical to the atmospheric—is to understand each element through the narratives it carries.
K. Malevich, Suprematist composition, 1916-1917
Birch, Simon. The Barmecide Feast. 2017. The Spaces
"The house we were born in is more than an embodiment of home, it is also an embodiment of dreams. Each one of its nooks and corners was a resting-place for daydreaming. And often the resting-place particularized the daydream. Our habits of a particular daydream were acquired there. The house, the bedroom, the garret in which we were alone, furnished the framework for an interminable dream, one that would be forgotten in the course of a few years."
Bachelard, G. (1994). The Poetics of Space.
The texture and materiality, often the more natural ones, offers occupants a deep connection point to place.
The Miller House in Columbus, Indiana; Designed by architect Eero Saarinen in 1953, with the interiors, including this pit, designed by Alexander Girard.
Suzuki Harunobu, Narcissus (Suisenka) from an Untitled Series of Flowers, c. 1765–70, woodblock print (nishiki-e)
A small dining table surrounded on three sides by couches – was a dedicated space for food and talk.
Nesbitt, R.O. and Smith, D.E., [no date]. [A Roman Triclinia].
Case Study House #9, Entenza House, Charles & Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen & Associates, Completed in 1949, with the design published in the December 1945 issue of the magazine
Dezeen, 2019. TWA Hotel by Eero Saarinen at JFK Airport reopens in New York City.
The camera lingers on the characters interacting within the worn, comfortable, and light-filled traditional house (Kamakura), occupying rather informally and commonly, the edgy of the engawa, a threshold between the inside and the outside, suggesting a sense of being within whilst looking out, denoting their relation with home home through action and emotion.
Eiga.com (2015) Our Little Sister movie poster
Emptiness (ma) is actively used and how the essence of home is created through daily rituals and the dynamic relationship between people and objects, rather than through fixed furniture and defined rooms.
Bird’s-eye view of the rocks at Ryoanji Temple, Arata Isozaki, 1976. source unknown
The house being disconnected by a void with a bridge; or in another word, showing the front and the back of the house connected by a void with a bridge, forming a patio.
Thisispaper, 2024. Row House (Azuma House) by Tadao Ando
WikiArquitectura, 2024. Azuma House – Row House.
This chapter explores the home as a fundamental human institution where existential meanings are gathered. Norberg-Schulz provides a philosophical framework for understanding how a house transcends its physical form to become a ‘home’ by acting as a repository for identity, memory, and one’s place in the world, a concept applicable to both Scandinavian hygge and Japanese ie (household).
“The home constitutes an existential foothold for man. It is the place where he can be what he is, and where he belongs. In the home, the environment is ‘condensed’ to a centre of special personal meanings. The home is the image of the self, and its rooms represent the various aspects of the inhabitant’s life and world. Thus the home becomes a concrete manifestation of existential space.”
Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980). "The Architecture of the Home." In Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture (pp. 189-200). New York: Rizzoli.
Positive | Wall Surface Storage | Past
Negative | Void Space Emptiness | Future
Peter Zumthor, Therme Vals, 1996, Vals, Switzerland, Sketch
“For me, the core of architecture is the creation of atmosphere. I am not interested in a building that is just an object to be viewed. I am interested in the space inside, the quality of that space, how it makes you feel. This comes from the light, the sound your footsteps make on the floor, the smell of the wood, the coolness of the stone. These are the things that make a room into a place, a house into a home.”
Zumthor, P. (1998). "Peter Zumthor: The Poetry of Space." El Croquis, 91, 4-31.
Material swatches for the iconic Miller House in Columbus, Indiana, Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard, 1957