Odile Decq Designs French Home as a "Box of Natural Light"
To better cater to the needs of its partially-sighted owner.
The design of this house by Odile Decq goes way beyond what you see at face value. In fact, the French architect has created a home for a client who is suffering from progressive and irreversible eyesight loss, which will eventually render him only able to see outlines and shapes.
With this in mind, Decq and her team developed a design that made use of translucent walls, which would allow daylight to flood the entire space equally, without creating glare or bright spots. She describes the space as being a “box of natural light”, which from the outside, appears to be tilting across to one side. “Located in a suburban neighborhood at the entrance to the town of Carantec, the glass house is an unusual object,” the architect says. “But at [the client's] request, the light had to be perfect, homogeneous, and without glare. Entirely made of glass, the house is a box of natural light.”
Upon entering the house, via a sheltered patio, visitors arrive at a double-height open-plan space, which includes a dining room, kitchen, and living room. Details are minimal, and pops of color arrive through furniture and artwork. A staircase made entirely of glass leads the way upstairs to the first floor, where two bedrooms are located. One is double height, and the other has a large en-suite. In the spaces that require an added level of privacy, such as the bathroom, black glass was installed.
Outside, landscaping has been carefully executed, in order to match new plants with the existing species found on site. At night time, the house softly glows, with its light diffused through the milky glass panels, as if it were a lantern.
Take a look around “Maisons de Verre à Carantec” above, and for more design – check out the new studio of digital designer Andrés Reisinger.
