Villa dall’Ava

Several years ago, when Rem Koolhaas was one of the most talked about architects in the world, I had the rare opportunity to briefly stay in one of the houses he designed in Paris. This house, called Villa dall’Ava, received worldwide attention in the architecture world after it was completed in 1991.

I first saw architectural models of Rem Koolhaas’s work at MOMA in the early 90’s. This was around the same time the distinguished Japanese architect Tadao Ando had his major exhibition at the museum. Back then, Ando was considered one of the ten most important architects in the world while Koolhaas was still on the rise. Honestly, I don’t remember much about Ando’s exhibition, but I can still clearly visualize Koolhaas’s models in my mind.

Generally, for the Japanese, precise craftsmanship in all things is the bare minimum. Everything, from architectural models to labels on beer bottles, must be perfect. The models I saw at MOMA were almost sacrilege in that respect. Everything was out of alignment and irregular. Hardly anything was straight! At the time I couldn’t understand how, or why, someone would make something with such a lack of precision, especially a model. How could this translate into an actual building?

An architecture model is neither a sculpture nor a painting – it is a tool to convey the intended design and gain a degree of understanding how the architecture will look when built. It is a fascinating object to be sure, but a brief stopping point between an idea and the realization.

Despite my preconceived notions, Villa Dall’Ava turned out to be an architectural gem. There was a fascinating harmony of strength and fragility. Honestly I was almost disappointed not to see any signs of “sacrilege” there. Despite that there was something convincing and persuasive about the design…the house whispered into my ear, “Imperfection is beautiful.”

The house has a life of its own. It was cold but warm, heavy and light at the same time, filled with intimate contrasts which I had never found in Tadao Ando’s works.

This is, of course, not to say imperfection always adds a human touch to a work of art, but after having used my hands to create art for many years, I have finally realized that work with impeccable finishes often lack the warmth of human ki (qi or 気).

ー１９９９年に、パリ近郊にある、レム・コールハース設計の住宅ヴィラ・ダラヴァに滞在した時の思い出と、MOMAでの建築展で見たコールハースの建築模型の印象。ー

100% LOVE
*****

The video below was added to this post in May, 2008.