Saturday, December 27, 2008

A Room of One's Own


When I was a child I used to hide in a wardrobe to read in peace and quiet. In my special hiding place there was no little brother to annoy me or mother to send me out "to play in the fresh air". It was where the extra quilts and winter coats were stored so it was very comfortable, and it had louvred doors which let in enough light to read by, and allowed me to peep out but no-one could see in. It was the perfect hiding place to devour the latest Famous Five or Nancy Drew adventure. I could spend hours in there without anyone finding me. Since then I've always dreamed of having a library, a room lined with books from floor to ceiling, where I could escape comfortably into the pages of a book. This beautiful reading room by Andrew Berman Architect provides all that I'd dreamed of and more.

It was designed as a library and writing studio for a historian. It sits at the threshold of an open field and wood and there's even a stream visible through the trees at the bottom of the site. As you approach it is just a doorway at the edge of the woods. You enter it and climb the stairs and it opens up into a beautiful light filled tree house. The interior is lined with douglas fir, books and light. The exterior is clad in copper which will change colour and appearance over time.

This short film conveys the tranquillity of the building by simply inviting you to enter and experience the pace of the writer's world inside. Enjoy!


Private Library from A Space In Time on Vimeo.

5 comments:

Molly said...

i suppose i did have one of these hide-outs when i was young
it was a shed at the bottom of the garden!
lovely post

Molly said...

thankyou for the comment!
would you like to link exchange?

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse said...

What a lovely place and intro you gave it. I can remember when I first got my own room and no longer had to share with one or both of my sisters...privacy to read! I still need it. :)

young-shields said...

Wow what a lovely video.

I've tagged you miss milki! y-s x

twenty.seven.cents said...

Just stumbled upon your blog and after reading this entry, it reminded me of when I was little and I'd hide in the office cupboard and look at photographs from my parent's travels. I'd kind of forgotten about it until now.
Nice post. :)