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[Music]
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L on the the House of Glass built in
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Paris between 1928 and 1932 by Pierre
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SHO
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[Music]
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it is impossible to classify Pi
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sharu is he an ornamentalist a Furniture
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designer an interior decorator or simply
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an
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architect he started work at the
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beginning of the 20th century but only
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set up on his own account in 1919 he was
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part of what was to be known as the
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avangard
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movement his furniture was an
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incarnation of the modern style
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and could be found in the apartments of
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the Rich and cultivated middle class and
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in Marcel L's
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films this is furniture designed by an
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inventor simple in appearance but with
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surprising mobile and articulated
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elements wood and metal the modern
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material par excellance are united here
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Shar was one of the first to use it for
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luxury
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furniture sherro designed the most
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original of his furniture like this fan
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leaf table for his oldest customer Annie
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berim the wife of Dr
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daras it was for them at the age of 47
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that Sho became an
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architect in the s De District in Paris
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the couple owned a parcel of land on
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which stood a small and unpretentious
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private house between a courtyard and a
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garden they wanted to pull it down and
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replace it with a new house but the top
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floor was let and the Tenant refused to
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leave Sho took up the challenge to build
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a positive tour to
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force the first two stories were
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hollowed out only on one side he kept an
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entrance and a staircase that served the
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tenants apartment that was left just as
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it
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was the new building was inserted into
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the empty
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space a steel framework that supported
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both the former second floor and the
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Upper
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Floor glass facades enclose the volume
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at the back and front and a side Wing
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that completes the hole
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[Music]
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the new building lacked the normal
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attributes of a
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house it had no roof and was set between
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two party walls the facade giving onto
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the court yard and hardly standing out
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from the original building is totally
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without relief or detail it is a flat
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opaque and completely neutral set of
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glass bricks translucent but not
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transparent
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industrially produced glass bricks that
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are normally used in basement ceilings
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or to provide a bit of light in passages
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and public
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lavatories is the unique material
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employed in the main facade of a
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prestigious
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building there are no openings in the
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glass wall on the courtyard side
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behind the house which overlooks a large
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private Garden the treatment is very
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different the basic material is still a
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glass brick but the house is opened up
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by windows and projections two bay
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windows and a large Terrace
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this difference in the treatments of the
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courtyard and garden sides is a great
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help against losing one's way in the
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interior Labyrinth if nothing can be
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seen other than translucent glass bricks
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then that is a courtyard side if
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transparent glass is visible then that
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is the Garden Wall unless you find
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yourself somewhere between the two
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caught up in a set of superimpositions
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and
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Reflections the cour faade gives an
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image of Simplicity and sobriety but the
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Bell push post at the entrance gives an
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idea of the complexity of the program
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the delas couple obliged the architect
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to
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[Music]
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obey a restricted space had to include a
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Doctor's practice with a waiting room
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space for a
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secretary an office Consulting rooms in
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which patients could be examined by the
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Doctor Who was a Pioneer In Obstetrics
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and also a place for society life as it
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was known at the time where the couple
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could welcome their guest
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properly the service areas kitchen
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laundry Maids room and rooms for the
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master and his wife and children to
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spend their evenings
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together this this was the style for a
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large townhous but Complicated by the
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lack of space the inclusion of the
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Doctor's practice and the desire to be
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absolutely
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modern the part scooped out of the
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original building was built up on two
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levels ground and first
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floors to enlarge the living space the
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architect created a supplementary
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level the house would have a ground
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floor a first floor and a partial second
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floor leaving a large double height
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space in front of
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it the floors are hung on metal
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girders there are no loadbearing walls
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only partitions with no structural
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purpose that the architect placed where
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he liked to organize the spaces he
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wanted a glass box sliding under the
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main facade served as the entrance for
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both family and patients
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the practice was on the ground
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floor partitions divided the secretaries
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and doctor's offices and the examination
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rooms the waiting room set at the rear
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has no
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door with its Long window onto the
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Garden it is an open space designed to
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be peaceful and functional but
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functionality is just an outward show
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here next to the low ceiling waiting
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room Shar designed a high ceilinged area
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that has no practical
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justification other than to let the
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doctor's patients admire the
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constructional principles of the
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building the steel framework and the
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glass
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wall the doctor's office which is just
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behind also has an excessively high
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ceiling giving the feeling of a
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cathedral which is emphasized by the
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diffused light from the glass bricks
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the juter position of these spectacular
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initiatives creates surprisingly complex
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areas Shero considered that the plastic
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effect was more important than the
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restraint and comprehensibility that
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generally ruled the modern
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movement enclosed in a stairwell made
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from rounded metal plates and glass
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partitions the central feature of the
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ground floor is the grand stairway
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leading to the first floor
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Grand is the right word the metallic
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staircase with rubber covered Treads is
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suspended like a ship's ladder a
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Monumental ladder as a Critic wrote at
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the time because despite its functional
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appearance it is a ceremonial
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stairway it is also in an unusual
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position instead of facing the entrance
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it is in the middle of the
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house going upstairs means following a
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glass partition then making a half turn
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to ascend in the opposite
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[Music]
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direction so the visitor goes upwards
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facing the glass wall and gradually
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discovering its true dimensions
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that is a surprise of the first floor
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the Great Wall of the courtyard facade
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is not just for a single space one room
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furnished as a drawing room but has the
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dimensions and the appearance of an
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artist studio or a factory
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here the structure becomes a
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Decor the steel gird is enhanced with
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red paint and clad in slate are real
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works of
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art yet they have a job to stand up to
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the glass wall confronted by 50 square
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MERS of abstract and pure Luminosity
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they lose all relief and are nothing but
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Silhouettes against the
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light in one of his very rare writings
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mentioning the house Sho defends his use
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of glass in this way he says that his
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idea was to bring as much light as
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possible into the house but that classic
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Windows would only have partially
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lighted
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it and there is
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light in the drawing room it is
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impossible to escape the hypnotic effect
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of this light diffuser that has often
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been compared to a cinema screen but
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this is a screen that makes it
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impossible to see or be seen
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contrary to the modern movement that
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extols openness and transparency the
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translucent glass insulates the house
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and its inhabitants from an environment
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that they
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repel this is the avowal of a retreat
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into the interior of the sole values of
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the individual dwelling a wall without
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Windows is what we call a blind wall
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all the same there are Windows onto the
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courtyard in the service side
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Wing only the servants in bedroom
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laundry or kitchen rooms that need good
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ventilation can see the sky
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[Music]
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the ventilation system of the drawing
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room is on the same scale and in the
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image of the
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site nothing to remind us of traditional
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fenestration in this crank handle these
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gears or these shutters that are in view
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to show us that we are in a machine
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house yet tucked into a corner of the
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room so as not to spoil the permanent
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spectacle of the glass
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wall the drawing room has no apparent
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lighting system the main lighting is
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hidden
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outside when night falls powerful
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projectors replace the daylight playing
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on the glass facade so that they
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continue to perform their task of
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diffusing
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light an enthusiastic comment written in
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1933 stated sho's house is
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cinematographical but it is also a house
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for working and living
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in the representative areas the great
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staircase and the drawing room are
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placed at the
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front the more intimate areas are at the
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back where the house regains its two
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floors on the first floor along with the
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drawing room there is a second office
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for the doctor
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and next to it separated by one of the
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rare fixed Dividing Walls is the dining
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room all these areas communicate freely
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when it was really necessary to
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segregate them as in the case of the
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doctor's office sharo employed a
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metalclad sliding door that is as big as
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a
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wall when the doctor was not using his
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office the movable partition could make
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the whole extent of the first floor
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available from the cold abstract wall of
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glass up to this space at the back of
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the house that seems to float halfway
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between the inside and the
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outside this is the last room the most
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remote the most intimate room on the
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first floor and also the most open Annie
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D sas's budoir projecting into the
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garden by the extension of the large bay
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window which helped the architect to
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gain a few more square meters of
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space there is the same fluidity on the
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courtyard side from the dining room to
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the kitchen the space runs free hardly
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at all encumbered by the single glass
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door in the angle of the dining room
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Shar set a sort of drum to indicate the
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passage from the formal area to the
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service
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Corridor seen from the dining room this
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mobile style metallic cylinder looks
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like a
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sculpture a review in 19 1933 had no
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hesitation in comparing it with a work
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by caler or
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jati seen from the other side it is a
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broom
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[Applause]
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cupbo the cupboard is in full view but
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at the same time veiled by its own shape
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which seems to be composed of some sort
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of Cubist work along with the
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overhanging large black triangle that
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conceals the stairs leading to the Upper
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Floor the family area where the
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architect installed their bedrooms and
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one for the servant
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but in his anxiety to provide his
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customers with the greatest possible
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freedom and comfort sha always included
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a choice of access a second stairway in
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fact a fold away ship's ladder allowed
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the Mistress of the house to go directly
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from her budoir to her
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bedroom the rooms are Set Side by Side
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All Along The Garden facade the private
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quarters for the married couple
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comprises a bedroom with an even larger
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adjoining
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bathroom then come the two children's
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bedrooms each with a built-in
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shower all the rooms give onto the large
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[Applause]
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Terrace the style of the house and the
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lack of space denied the architect the
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use of traditional window
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Windows he replaced them with sliding
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Windows like those used in Railway
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carriages a sort of invitation to travel
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into the garden from rooms treated like
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[Applause]
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compartments on the other side the areas
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reserved for private life Loom over the
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drawing room this is without doubt where
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the contradictions between the aesthetic
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of the house and the demands of everyday
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life were the most difficult to
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resolve the problem was to preserve the
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openness and fluidity of the space while
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still protecting the intimacy and
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Tranquility of the
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bedrooms between the bedrooms and the
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drawing room Sho made a sort of Passage
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the drawing room side is lined with a
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screen made from wooden elements and
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metal shelving on perforated metal
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sheeting through which framework the
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Cummings and goings in the drawing room
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could be admired as if from a
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gallery on the bedroom side he set a
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real partition with double doors in
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curved metal plates like all the other
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nonsliding doors in the
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house but there is a trick to the
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petition wall between the bedroom doors
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the Apparently solid wall is also made
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of doors doors to double-sided cupboards
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that the servant could fill from the
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passage without disturbing the occupants
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of the
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bedroom the partition cupboard serves as
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an airlock storage space and for
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insulation blurring the usual
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distinction between architecture and
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decoration
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the same idea is push to the limit in
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the couple's bathroom the metallic
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screens delimit the various areas and at
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the same time serve a storage cupboards
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that look like cabin trunks
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[Music]
00:20:01
the term machine suggests something cold
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and unpleasant wrote an architect of the
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period who continued in the sense that
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there is no mechanization in this house
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such apparatus is treated so lightly
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that it is organic rather than
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instrumental
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since the beginnings of the project in
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1927 the house has always been known as
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the Mond de because of its
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facades but it is really the iron work
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that is the most
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remarkable with the help of Lou dalb an
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iron Craftsman of Genius Sho fitted the
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whole house with the metal work stairs
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cupboards and doors that give it a Tempo
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and its particular
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style some items seem quite simple like
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this curved grill for the garden
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door or this steel filigree staircase
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with its detachable grating Treads that
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gave the doctor direct access to his
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office on the first
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floor others are obviously complex like
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the foldaway ladder between the budoir
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and the bedroom a sort of metal insect a
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mechanical toy sprung from the
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imagination of a geometrical Dreamer
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this is not a case of decorative fantasy
00:22:02
but the Essential Elements to make the
00:22:03
house work
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properly this pivoting screen hung at
00:22:08
the bottom of the main staircase is one
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of the architect's solutions to the
00:22:11
problems caused by having a medical
00:22:13
practice on the ground
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floor patients visitors and the
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inhabitants all came down the same
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passage but the patients were supposed
00:22:24
to continue onwards to the waiting room
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and not take the stairs to the first
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floor
00:22:29
door so the door is a visual sorting
00:22:34
point when patients pass by the door
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remained closed it is made of glass
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covered with a fine transparent mesh the
00:22:43
staircase is both visible and
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inaccessible it is no more than an image
00:22:48
to which only the masters of the house
00:22:49
had the right to give substance
00:22:59
it is a set of subtle hints about the
00:23:01
boundaries that bears witness to a very
00:23:03
careful regard for others like this
00:23:05
mirror that patients could adjust for
00:23:07
their own height before going into the
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waiting
00:23:12
room this house is made to measure a
00:23:15
Precision Tool where a specific and
00:23:17
original solution was found for every
00:23:19
problem
00:23:20
encountered like this Notch that enabled
00:23:22
the door to open in spite of the rail
00:23:26
[Music]
00:23:37
such a riot of invention is what makes
00:23:39
shar's work so rich but it also
00:23:41
underlines the limits of his
00:23:46
architecture it is a toy noted in
00:23:48
Architectural Review in 1933 an
00:23:51
ingenious toy thought up by a cunning
00:23:54
artist for his own delectation
00:23:59
here is the ambiguity of a project that
00:24:01
employs industrial materials in
00:24:03
craftsmanship to give a resolutely
00:24:05
modern form to a program that is less so
00:24:08
at a time when other Architects were
00:24:10
thinking in terms of standardization
00:24:12
economy and housing developments Sho was
00:24:15
the exception to the rule going for a
00:24:17
lifestyle reserved for a wealthy
00:24:20
Elite a house that sheltered the
00:24:22
privileged cut off from the herd and
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wrapped in its own material envelope it
00:24:27
gave all except one thing this
00:24:29
confrontation with the outside world in
00:24:31
which the architecture loses in
00:24:33
Perfection What it gains in life
00:24:39
[Music]