A Place of Infinite Possibilities

Petite Maison dans les Environs de Castellar: this is how Eileen Gray (1878-1976), a designer active in early 20th-century France, entitled in her cahiers the architecture she built between 1931 and 1935. The villa, later named Tempe à Pailla, is an opportunity to deepen her research on that intense dialog between interior and exterior, between domestic space and natural environment, already experimented with Jean Badovici (1893-1956) in the villa E1027 (1926-1929) in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.According to Eileen Gray’s definition, a house is not a machine à habiter but ‘the shell of man, his extension, his release, his spiritual emanation.’ The theme of spatial flexibility is approached through the design of mechanical moving components that rotate or slide, unfold, and contract, thanks to the possibilities of new materials, in a mechanical ballet that expands the narrow dimension of a maison minimum into a dwelling with a greater width. These solutions are intended to negate the facade as a frontier line between the architectural space and the close surroundings; any hierarchical relationship between furniture, interiors, architecture, and site is denied. The kinaesthetic aspect in Tempe à Pailla is absolute, since the house lives of the relationship between the movement of architectural components and the experiential dimension of the human body in domestic space, all in relation to the surrounding natural environment. This article aims to demonstrate how Eileen Gray’s innovative theoretical framework, exemplified by villa Tempe à Pailla, offers valuable lessons for addressing contemporary challenges. In this context, it highlights the design solutions adopted by the architect to ensure the well-being of inhabitants, even within minimal spaces, emphasizing the importance of transitional spaces between built and natural environments, thereby expanding the notion of the interior. At the same time, it becomes an opportunity to explore how a renewed relationship with nature can offer meaningful insights for contemporary architectural practices, which now more than ever require particular attention to environmental issues.