kawahara krause's acrylic glass garden shed challenges our perception of space

building onto to their series of installations and pavilions dealing with the perception of space, kawahara krause architects recently added a further project playfully probing the boundaries of space. parallel to their ‘line, surface, space’ installation, the complex overlaying of a repetitive geometry is used to generate multi-faceted aspects as well as to explore the depth of architectural space. the grid structure developed for their installation ‘migrating books’ was further evolved and refined so the geometry of the single modules changed in a way as to create the archetypical shape of a house by its repetitive addition.

all images © kawahara krause architects

after the abrupt toppling of a giant tree, a huge gap was left in this german garden’s site, overgrown densely with high bushes and trees. in an attempt to revive the garden, germany-based studio kawahara krause architects built an intricate white structure in its place. in the shape of a classical garden shed, the ‘garden folly’ merges well into its dense green surroundings, creating a serene place to enjoy the outside.

the volume consists of a grid structure using acrylic tubes, connected by joints developed especially for the project. two two-dimensional cross-shaped acrylic parts interlock, creating simple three-dimensional joints. while the tubes are transparent, the joints are lasered from white acrylic, accentuating the white, star-like joints depending on the lighting. the volume of the ‘garden folly’ then turns into a seemingly hovering cloud of points in space. if the sun light is strong, the acrylic tubes gleam in the sun and emphasise the grid’s structure.

depending on the view point, the impression of this rational geometric complex oscillates between clearly structured or arbitrarily arranged. thus the ‘garden folly’ unites contrary characteristics: the contained space of the archetype of a house and the open, flowing space, mass and lightness, outside and inside, structure and arbitrary, clearness and ambiguity, the conventional and the conceptual.

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynn chaya | designboom