Views are the designer’s opportunity to connect, connect to the outside environment or to the inside of any building or structure. Dramatic views, well planned, can create more than visual interaction and trigger emotion or provide a moment of stillness (or exuberance).
Focus vs Distraction – Contrast or Similarity:
The art of a powerful view lies, as much, in the choice of view as in the distraction (elements/architecture) around/below it. Contrasting distraction will power-up the perception of the focus or focal point. Consider light, shadows, textures and materials on all planes leading up to the focus.
Damushan Valley Tea House BY Dna Architects, China
Photo Credit: www.archdaily.com
Views and contexts powered-up by internal structure mimicking natural structure can be very effective to create that powerful continuance and relationship to the site. The Tree House: By van der Merwe Miszewski Architects use an internal structure similar to that of the surrounding forest.
Tree House: By van der Merwe Miszewski Architects – Photo Credit https://archello.com/story/4260/attachments/photos-videos/3
Framed or Frameless:
Views can be constrained by a prominent frame to lay emphasis on the view or frameless glass elements to blurr the threshold between the inside and the outside.
A Framed view: Picture House by Barilari Architteti, Photo Credit: https://www.archdaily.com/95153/picture-house-barilari-architteti
A frameless view – EYRC Architects – Sajima Residence – Photo credit: EYRC Architects. https://www.eyrc.com/
Framed or Underlined:
Architect Alberto Campo Baeza simplified these view ideas with his De Blas House, Madrid, Spain. In this design he created a solid Platform with a glass box over as vantage point and described it as underlining the view. He describe the underlined view as a way to bring the landscape closer while the landscape seems more distant with a framed view.
Sketch: Alberto Campo Baeza – House De Blas Photo credit: https://www.campobaeza.com/blas-house/
Landscape underlined: Alberto Campo Baeza – House De Blas Photo credit: https://www.campobaeza.com/blas-house/
Landscape framed: Alberto Campo Baeza – House De Blas Photo credit: https://www.campobaeza.com/blas-house/
The Power of a View:
Mitchell Parker wrote an article: “Why We Want a House With a Great View” (July 28, 2013)
Find it here: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/why-we-want-a-house-with-a-great-view-stsetivw-vs~15071371
In this Arcticle Parker writes: “Psychology professors Stephen and Rachel Kaplan at the University of Michigan would go on to pioneer research that shows how environments can have restorative properties. Basically, when people look at nature, it helps restock mental energy.”
A view is a snippet of the context that is already there and firstly has to be identified by the designer and surrounded by architecture that heightens the experience and restorative values thereof.
