The sea has been an inspiration and a place of longing for centuries. For many, it is a symbol of freedom and isolation. A place where you can look ahead and feel the infinite space. Contact with the sea gives us a sense of a temporary escape – a moment of retreat from our daily life.Primary, architecture was to provide shelter, creating closed and isolated space from outside. Buildings enclosed small spaces, giving a sense of security and privacy. Architecture became a shell – specifying the boundaries of our existence.

On the one hand, people need shelter, and on the other, they are looking for freedom and solitude. Both of these conditions became an assumption for the project and further spatial embodiment.To embody those needs it is proposed to create a holiday house based on the idea of an endless corridor space of a retreat. The corridor connects two parts of the house located on two different levels. The entrance is located much higher than the other one art to lose the visual connections between both elements. The act of going down is an original gesture of retreat, seeking refuge.

The corridor house is located in Locarno, on the higher part of the steep slope surrounding lake Maggiore. By itself, the corridor is the only element dividing the spaces and determining the different levels of privacy. Even though the house consists of two components, it remains as one organism in the mind of a visitor. At the end of the corridor, we have to make a decision. We can choose between the outer space of the house where all life happens and the contemplation room. The outer part surrounds a glass facade.

On one side opens towards the lake and valley, and on the other, surrounded by a slope – giving a greater sense of privacy. In the middle is situated the only room in the whole building – a place for contemplation. The height of the room is lower to emphasize the difference and enclosure of spaces. The room is devoid of any external stimuli that make us feel distant and complete seclusion. Space reveals itself in the light shining from above.