The villa the client built some twenty years ago was not in tune anymore with the family’s lifestyle, which centered on the garden. One Architecture was invited to design an extension.
In a brochure of villa examples that One Architecture put together for its client, ranging from Palladio to Ben van Berkel and OMA, only Mies’ Farnsworth house met with his approval. In the subsequent design, Mies was re-Schinkeled in order to achieve a simple increase in size.
Loosely using classical design techniques, One Architecture made a royal extension of the house towards the garden. The extension is slightly elevated such that the big scale of the open plan allows the eye to pass through the building and traverse the entire depth of the garden and landscape. Stainless steel sliding doors in the facade create the effect that the extension feels like a pavilion in nature where from the inside one can breathe the perfume of the trees and feel the warm breeze stroking one’s cheeks.
This anachronistic Miesian extension is loaded with contemporary technical features. The classical stainless steel cornice, for instance, contains a five-meter movable awning, a heating and anti-bug system for the terrace, and lighting fixtures reminiscent of headlamps.
With the artist Berend Strik, One Architecture made a curtain in Barnett Newman red and dark blue, with flowers on the scale of the architecture, which mirror the flowers in the garden.