Stylistic changes that ensure a home connects with its surrounding landscape
Elements in ar . chi . tec . ture part 5
Connection Points with the Earth
A place for your wild side
We’ve all been there, and I would surmise, enjoyed it. The terrace or deck late on a summer evening. The wide porch where we peel off muddy boots or rain gear prior to going in. A place to sit outside, slightly sheltered, and watch a storm move in or the sun set. At this moment I am sitting on the patio outside my back door. It’s mid-morning and it’s gorgeous out. With a table and some chairs, I can experience the garden and nature in a pleasant way. It’s fresh and cool. The best part, I’m neither inside nor in the wild but somewhere in between.
The patio is simple. It’s comprised of a stamped concrete slab enclosed on three sides by flowers, a grape vine and a honeysuckle. In the summer we drape a shade cloth over it. The garden extends beyond this where the surrounding landscaping and arbor make it feel like its own room. It’s a simple gesture, yet because of it, a space is created. It captures the intimacy of being indoors while having access to the outdoor. It’s an area that is particularly special, as it extends the footprint of the home by purposefully blurring its boundary.
Let’s get particular
There are three factors at play in this scenario affecting the level of connection with nature. First, the home, dwelling or building. Second, the garden or land that surrounds that dwelling. Finally, the zone between the two; the border that ensures the home is connected to the earth as well as its inhabitants. It is an area that interleaves the structure to the adjoining area; where the building stops and the land begins. Regardless of the size, identify this zone around your house. Some areas may have a pathway, or a garden bed. Some lend themselves to a deck or patio; a balcony or terrace. There may be nothing, a blank canvas in which to create. Regardless, the space surrounding your home is important to develop. Design, cultivate, and then, love.
Personally, I don’t believe people were meant to withstand long periods of time indoors, it’s not our nature. However, the reality is that we do. So how do we gracefully and thoughtfully integrate these two worlds? Because for some being outside is merely the act of crossing the street. Outside becomes a tunnel to get us from one enclosed building to another.
What is natural, is to seek out and create shelter. Reprieve from the sun and rain, protection from the wind and snow, and an area to comfortably weather the seasons, combined with human ingenuity fuels regional architecture and aestheticism. Having a protected area inside allows aspects of our humanness to come alive and develop, but on the other hand we crave the freedom and expansiveness of nature. The patio or porch are just two examples of creating such a space. Both ensure fluidity between one area and another. Sitting on a patio, I feel the sun, the wind, and birds, but I also feel sheltered and protected.
The metaphorical doorway between in here and out there
From the classic reference book, A Pattern Language, one of the simplest and most profound things you can do to integrate home and landscape is establish and maintain a kind of transition zone. This ambiguous boundary between inside and outside can be a gravel path, a covered terrace, a patio, a wide porch, a pergola or a screened in lanai. Again, it doesn’t have to be grandiose, but something to note when and where you’re moving from one area to another. I also recommend incorporating plants, a trellis worthy vine to climb up and create a natural room with its canopy. Clumping bamboo or rambling roses are also great. I love using plants that flower so that the space is not only beautiful but fragrant. If it’s a deep porch set up rocking chairs or benches to sit. Avoid abrupt transitions with no awning or stoop just a doorway to the outside. The result is creating a pleasurable place to hang out, visit, linger, and relax.
By designing a space, be it a covered area or an extension of the building’s roof line, what you are in fact creating is a languid more tranquil entrance or departure. This also captures and honors the very identity of inside, which is a sanctuary. When coming in from outside, you may notice that you slow down, perhaps even psychologically shift gears. You now, are home. The opposite too can express when we are out engaging in the world.
Depending on where you live, the architectural makeup of your house, and your lifestyle how this looks and how you implement it will be different, nonetheless, it’s important to note. Life takes place inside and outside and everywhere in between. How can you reshape or redesign the transition zone around your home and establish strong beautiful connection points?
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Make it happen
Feeling stagnant or claustrophobic? Want to love coming home to your space?
When you look around, do you feel like you are living in your space or someone else’s?
What do you love, where do you avoid going? Learn how to embody and implement these principles into your life.