Hidden Views

Unlike my diagram on the Oshikamo house, where I focused more literally on the hierarchy and separation of spaces, I chose to approach the construction of this book in a more abstract way. I wanted to focus on the idea of view corridors, view separation and the idea of hidden spaces.

The first decision I made was to make the book viewable from two sides, essentially making two books in one. This alludes to the architects’ decision to separate private and public spaces by altering what one can see. If one looked at one side of the book as representing public space and the other side as private from either side you can only get a partial view of the other. The cover is essentially three separate panels, the two solid “exterior” covers, and the “interior” cover which has a “corridor” in the center, giving a physical connection between the two sides (public and private) but making it impossible to see all parts of the book at once. The covers are made up of 5x5 inch squares of Bristol, lightly dyed with green tea, sandwiched between two squares of Mylar, that are melted together. There is also a pattern stitched into the covers, which is an overlay of all the possible circulation paths in the house, but it is not out rightly discernable, which hints at the idea of a series of spaces behind a plain exterior. The pages themselves are stitched together with an x-stitch I came up with which brings in the iconic x shape of the project into the book.

Like the Oshikamo house, which is plain on the exterior but filled with varying views and spaces, this book allows the reader to see only what the designer intends. Moments that allow exploration and those that stimulate introversion.