柯笠建筑 ATELIER LI

Quadrangle Garden Villa, Suzhou 四合园墅，苏州

Garden design is a process of becoming, evolving into an arrangement that connects with the world. Drawing from the theory of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, the concept of "becoming-garden" is likened to a rhizome. It deterritorializes the traditional garden and reterritorializes it upon encountering the residential systems of modern architecture, charting its own path along the line of flight to form a new rhizome.

The project site is situated in a villa district in the southern suburbs of Suzhou. The client aimed to demolish the old house and construct a modern garden-villa. Most villa districts exhibit a figure-ground relationship, where the house is positioned at the center, enclosed by boundary walls, resulting in a monotonous area. The house is merely a volume containing its interior, and the yard is just an open space without any spatial permeation between the interior and exterior.

Our design strategies begin by dividing the entire structure into four two-story volumes, creating a central courtyard. Corridors are then positioned along the boundary walls, and pavilions are placed at key junctions as needed. This arrangement forms a main garden in the southeast area of the site, situated between the main building and the corridors. Visitors enter the villa through the northeast entrance, walking along the corridors, passing through the main garden, and arriving at the central courtyard. Alternatively, they can first turn west, enter the central courtyard, and then visit the main garden in the southeast. The interplay between the inner and outer spaces creates an engaging promenade experience and a profound sense of layering. The transparent façade of the main salon in the southern volume intensify visually the permeation between inner and outer spaces.

Another crucial aspect is leveraging the vertical layout of the villa, which consists of two floors and a basement, to create a three-dimensional garden. A series of courtyards and terraces are strategically placed on the second floor, designed to make occupants lose awareness of the floor they are on. Additionally, an "L"-shaped swimming pool, a sunken courtyard, and a duplex space are incorporated, further blurring the sense of being on the basement level. This design approach effectively fuzzifies the concept of "floor," creating the illusion of infinite spatial experiences within the confines of the building.