“The sun sets our bearings, marks the east and west, south and north, the front and rear of houses, what is in the light and what is in the shade, what needs to be sheltered by porches and roofs and what needs to be opened up through windows and skylights. The sun is always a special spectacle and participating in it is a privilege we often fail to take advantage of because of silly little things getting in the way. The entertainment provided by the day’s great cosmic events certainly deserves a bit of attention.”
Italian architect and designer Michele De Lucchi penned these words in the book 12 Tales with Little Houses in 2005 to accompany images of miniature houses he carved with a chainsaw. These observations of habitat and the wider world they are set in is a reminder of what meaningful spaces can do for the body and soul. They come to me as I ambulate through the lightrich home of Paul Tan. From the outside, the all-white architecture appears like a sculpture with round cut-outs, alabaster bands wrapping around glass walls and a curved roof-very unlike the neighbouring houses that are capped with terracotta roofs or mundane box-and-screen constructs.
The front gate,
