Overture

Individual houses are the short stories of architecture, or perhaps the short films.

Palladius’s Villa Rotonda on the top of a hill by Vicenza is a high point to the theme of house as shelter, glorifying human reason, culture and power over nature. Since then houses have been manifestos of enlightenment or hedonism, of the progressive or conservative values of the architect and his client. A private villa has thus been for centuries an independent theme in architecture, in which a special relation is established between the architect and client. The world and the public are put on hold, brought down to just the pair – architect and client.