Updated: Aug 20, 2022
One of our favorite projects was a home makeover in one of the beautiful suburbs of Cape Town, on the skirt of the Tygerberg Nature Reserve.
Have you ever entered a space and then immediately experienced a sense of presence? What is it about a space that awakes one’s senses and the awareness of being and existing in a space?
Henry Plummer, an architecture professor and photographer, has documented various facets of daylight of masters like Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn.
During this process he observed the following: “A further significance of daylight as a creative tool in architecture is that it has moods, which are able to infuse physical things with a metaphysical spirit, and can totally alter the character of a building. These mysterious phenomena not only illuminate architectural form but also give it emotional depth, while keeping us tuned to the universe outside as well as the world hidden within us. Without the atmospheric presence of daylight, buildings might be able to support our bodies but they would never be able to sustain our spirits—something we require as human beings.”
Louis Kahn regarded light as a “giver of all presences”: “All material in nature, the mountains and the streams and the air and we, are made of Light which has been spent, and this crumpled mass called material casts a shadow, and the shadow belongs to Light.” For him, light was the maker of material, and material’s purpose was to cast a shadow.
“We are born out of light and every space we live in is thought of in the choreography, you might say, in the making of a plan which is in search of light and that the structure is the maker of light. You think of structures where the light is going to be given, not just what’s going to encase a room. So, my consciousness of light comes from that source – that without light you don’t have space, or, you might say, a room.” (Kahn as quoted in, “A House Within a House.”)
Gumus Su Vıllas | Cirakoglu Architects 48000 Gümüşlük, Turkey (2014)
“Gumus Su Villas are located over the hills of Gümüslük Village, Bodrum, a tranquil harbour with over the 4000 years of historical and cultural heritage.
The urge to create a tranquil unity with the impressive nature formed the basis of the architectural approach. The composition that came out of the process is an up-to-date interpretation that blends elements of the local architecture with a new language of design. The basic idea was to define the single house unit strictly within a square, repeat it five times within the site and then leave the rest of the site to the nature.
The rooms that make up a single unit are detached as individual blocks so as to create semi-open spaces in between. The lounge, bedrooms, and bathrooms units that comprise each house are presented as blocks that are independent of each other. The open spaces between these units are reminiscent of shady narrow back-streets that allow cooling breezes to pass through.
The houses’ open courtyard, swimming pool and sun terrace were conceived as intrinsic parts of the construction. When all the parts are brought together, they form a distinct quadrangle and are shaded by a bamboo cane-work canopy. The stone walls and the wide glass surfaces define the different areas of the house in the simplest fashion. The location of the existing trees was one of the major consideration for the site layout. The exceptional view of the sea and landscape also guided the layout decisions.
The primary concern was to make use of traditional methods to provide energy efficiency. Thick stone walls and double walls provide sufficient thermal insulation. The bamboo shelter creates a secondary shading element in order to help to keep interiors cool. The semi open circulation areas let the breeze into the living spaces. Almost all materials are local and natural materials which are used in the surrounding traditional buildings.” (ArchDaily 2014, Gumus Su Vıllas | Cirakoglu Architects, ArchDaily, accessed 21 April 2016, http://www.archdaily.com/488291/gumus-su-villas-cirakoglu-architects/)
Photographs by Cemal Emden
