1/2 of PALIKI | jìng xīn yáng
Light Castle
Where does the interior end and the exterior begin?
How to read spatial potential from pure forms?
... if the circulation between programs happens outside?
Is the “outside” still outside?
Located twenty-minute by foot from the closest neighborhood, the project extracts its dwellers, a library keeper and a visiting researcher, from social contact into the primitive environment of men-in-nature. At the same time, it subverts the functional convenience and efficiency and finds meaning in isolated spatial moments connected by relentless contact with the surrounding environment.The exploration of such a theme is first expressed in a fragmented program. Three moments of programmatic space is identified: two circular bedrooms just enough to fulfill the basic need of sleeping and grooming, a shared living space for social interaction, and a series of isolated library chambers with a long corridor with independent study space at the end. Moving from one program to another, one has to confront the natural environment. This reluctant contact distinguishes the house from a traditional natural retreat, which prioritizes comfort over confrontation. The intensity of space acquires the force out to nature or into the self.
The thesis extends into architectonic ideas. Rims of skylight interrupt the roof plates from supporting walls. The light qualities are continually shifting with the circular skylights, blurring the line between the inside and the outside.