Kreuken IV

A lesson in unpitting. And in being kind to your neighbour in ways that go well beyond lending sugar. Another paved-over site, narrow too. Shadows and stone everywhere; the building gets in its own way. We build in order to unbuild. Fewer square metres, but better ones. A recurring paradigm.

Again, but smaller this time. Softer and greener too. A short but tall rear extension is enough to reorganise the home. Suddenly, there's room for a small city garden. Height makes up for the narrowness and the shallow depth; space for the eye and the mind. Tall, yes, but not where it would take light from the neighbour. There, the oof tilts downward, becoming sloped. It intersects the flat roof, and where the two meet, there's room for a window, for even more light. Twice the light: light for the neighbour, and through the window, light for the house itself. The centre of the home lights up.

The structure runs from front to back, not across the plot. That would be the shortest direction, yes, but those crosswise lines would read like a disruptive barcode through the spatial experience. So instead, the beams follow the long axis. Of course, at some point, forces must return sideways, down into the ground. The beams don’t rest, they hang. Hidden from view. A portal with two round columns stands lightly in the garden, like an airy gate. Light and sight pass freely around all the captured forces. Blue and soft, like a summer sky.