During daytime, the internal void lends light to the house. At night, the house returns the favour. Natural and artificial light enter into a dialogue…
The Portico House features an empty volume, which punches through the levels of the building from the lowest below ground, all the way up to the rooftop, and around which all the other rooms are organized. Apart from bringing light into the basement, which would otherwise be left useless in terms of living spaces, it connects all the different levels of the house, allowing them to visually communicate. But at night, the light well’s function is reversed. While the house throws its light into it, the void, in turn, gives back shadows, drawing outlines of branches and leaves onto the surfaces, turning the atmosphere of the house’s interior, otherwise devoid of external views, into a space filled with nature.
Photo: Tomaž Gregorič
