It's the plants that welcome you home
Transformative, they can make or break how entrances look and feel. The front porch continued....
I couldn’t help but continue the conversation around last week’s post with more visuals where you could see the design elements actualized. In the few I’ve included below, there is a clear and common through line—the creative, textural, and playful use of landscaping. Plants can welcome you home, shelter you from the sun, and create screens for privacy and peace.
The more I think about it, I find that these transitional zones are just another opportunity to connect with the wild wonderful ancient rhythmic world, that is Nature. It is through them that we put ourselves in the way of beauty, hopefully slow down, notice, shift our point of view, and be drawn closer in. We need plants. Maybe they are the threshold we need to snap out of our fast-paced distracted lives. They support us in our efforts to create a languid, more tranquil way, in which to arrive or depart. Plants have the innate ability to break up hard lines and give a sense of dynamism to otherwise rigid forms.
I absolutely love this first image. What a stunning breath of fresh air! It’s the entryway of a small family home in Buenos Aires, Argentina. You enter off the street into a sweet yet expansive room within a room, a beautiful sheltered patio. The tiles are even organic and textural, a nod to large stone pebbles or waxy shade loving leaves. It’s a brilliant use of elemental design. There’s also vegetation dripping off the walls and climbing up the staircase. All of these deliberate plant features, which will naturally grow and morph over time, enhance the coming and goings of life.
Though on the surface it looks completely different, the second house is harnessing the same conceptual elements as the Argentinian patio. The grasses, giant succulents, and super deep front porch play off each other. There is contrast and tension, yet as a whole they are complementary. The whimsical movement of the feather grass juxtaposes the smooth, almost marble like, mass of the agave. Even the palette of gentle greens set against the severity of the charcoal house just works. It’s texture and dimension appear effortless. Harmonic balance is the conversation.
I love these next two images. Mostly because of how a few textural details can dramatically change the vibe. Without which, you see them for what they are: large cement blocks with a door. Imagine these two homes without the layers of plants, vines, flowers, cyprus tree, bougainvillea, and bench of soft pillows on which to sit in the shade. Sad may be too strong of a word, but I’d find it uninviting, for sure.
Blurring the lines with landscaping, elements from nature, or some simple objects like a chair or bench can shift our focus as well as breathe life and depth into a space. On the surface it may look so simple, yet it’s because of the plants that I want to linger, relish the time, or see what is happening in the micro world that’s been created.
These last two capture what happens when the inside and outside commingle in such a way where the conversion creates an entirely new room. I adore how this ancient clematis vine is the roof line. By hanging, it holds the space together. Or how easily a line of miscanthus grass can be a living screen that softens and makes an otherwise hard and cold facade intimate. It’s of no coincidence that the mood, experience, or overall vibe can be affected by plants and their placement. Play with it. Whether it’s coming, going, or just chilling out while having a glass of wine or morning coffee with the birds.
Yours, Erin
PS. Tell me if you’re interested in this kind of elemental expression in architecture. Happy to share more!
Image references in order of appearance:
Great lesson, Erin! Its so simple, but if you are unaware, as I was, it could never be incorporated it into my life. now, I’m gonna be sitting there with my coffee or wine thinking about it. Thank you.