Casa LaPaz, Baja California, Mexico

墨西哥北下加州　共生之屋

Ludwig Godefroy Architecture

此宅沒有封閉的立面或圍牆，而是以花園為主體，讓住所成為附屬，透過引入戶外空間，融合花園與房屋，創造視覺上的的廣闊感。整體而言，無立面的設計主要緣於兩個因素：

The Casa LaPaz project inverts the traditional house model, flipping its common scheme of a house with a garden, in order to create a garden with its house. By making the external element an integral part of the living space, the house and its garden cease to be two distinct entities and merge into a single unified element. The fusion of the interior and the exterior generates a sense of expansiveness of the habitable space of the house. This new permeability between the garden and the house erases the classic hermetic border between in and out, leading to the creation of a unique habitable garden. To realize this idea of a garden/house, the key was to preserve and work with the original essence of the land and its topography, ensuring its identity would be preserved and transferred to the house itself. But how can the land identity be transferred to the house without destroying it during construction?

一來是在保持通風之餘，體現設計師對戶外生活的推崇，透過敞開的設計鼓勵居者走向室外。二則是基於期望保護和利用當地地形，以延續其地質特性和價值。過程中，最棘手的即是位於南側與土地緊密相連的乾溪。團隊為了避免截斷原有地形的樣貌，決議將建築完全敞開，讓土地「走入」基地，地形樣貌亦能自然延伸並持續演變，讓住宅則成為乾溪地形的一部分。

There was a subtle preexisting relationship between the land and a dry creek on the south side, where both were merging. The challenge of the project was to integrate the house into the topography of the land without disrupting this preexisting connection between the land and its creek. It is precisely at this point that the balance between destruction and preservation had to be found. The house had to allow the land to enter, the project had to become permeable, never interrupting the topography. In this way, the land could continue to express itself and evolve, moving from its relationship with the creek into a new relationship that includes the house, placing the house in between those two original elements, without trying to tame either the land or the creek. Casa LaPaz project, by embracing the topography and allowing it to remain, seeks to preserve the feeling that existed when walking the untouched land for the first time, like walking through the land and, by extension, through the house. The house isn't static; it invites people to move, to explore, and the enjoy the land as it changes throughout the day, under the action of the successive lights. The house appears as a collection of pavilions, creating multiple corners and, thus, multiple atmospheres.

最終，自然地擁抱地形的「共生之屋」就此誕生，降低人為痕跡，讓居者有種「踏上未開發陸地」的感受；當漫步於土地上，便不自覺地走入住宅，感受著不同時刻的光影如何改變地景樣貌。此外，即便占地不大，該屋亦憑藉一系列的「亭型結構」，為不同角落營造多種氛圍，讓人們都能在此找到專屬的一隅，靜靜獨處而不受干擾。

It's a small house, but made of multiple spaces where people can coexist in the same place without always being aware of each other's presence. The project encourages living outdoors, thereby eliminating the fundamental architectural element of the façade. The project proposes to build a house organized around a large void, without a façade, which does not create an enclosure. The house is permanently open and ventilated, but still meets the basic needs for protection and privacy of its inhabitants. Casa LaPaz is a house conceived from its negative space. Rather than starting from the design of the built living spaces - the positive space of the house - the project was conceived in reverse, beginning with this void that defines the garden. This empty space of the garden is the crucial element that protects the house and all of its interior spaces, serving as a buffer between the house, the street, and its surroundings. These large void controls the view from the neighbors' properties, allow the house to open up, and generate a strong sense of interiority outside in the garden. A sense of well-being envelops each space of the house, which is nestled among the tall organ pipe cactus, thick elephant trees, and twisted desert bushes.

在一片平靜而舒適的氛圍之下，住宅安靜地佇立於仙人掌、象樹，以及彎曲的灌木之間，成為與自然共處的靜謐居所。

By responding this way to the reality of the land, the conventional idea of what would normally be a living room has been redefined. The entire ground floor, its garden, and every single tree became one large open living area. There is no longer any distinction between interior and exterior. The garden becomes the living room, kitchen, and dining room, in their entirety. Casa LaPaz inverts the traditional scheme of a house with its garden to create a garden with its house.