Living on the Water [antikvár]

Whether focusing on a distant line where land meets the infinite ocean horizon via a rocky cliff - or sprawling towards the peacefiil edge of a nearby canal, lake or pond - or perching direcdy above the pounding surf or a quiet spring houses built near the water capture that element's sensual poetics. Our world provides many evocative watery settings - oceans and seas, bays and harbours, creeks and canals, natural grottoes and waterfalls - and, like human beings since the dawn of time, we continue to gravitate towards sites like these for the beauty and experience of nature that they provide. A constant awareness of water is the key experience to be achieved by any successful house designed near it. Whether one defines the experience of water in hedonistic, intellectual, spiritual or mystical terms, the elements of sight, sound, smell, humidity and wind lead to expanded human consciousness. A number of planning and building elements can enhance the magic of such awareness: the amount of glazing and anchoring to the site, pathways and access to the water, terraces and patios, lines of sight, directions of sunrise and sunset. Since humidity and wind take their toll on materials and structure, and since sound, sun and water itself take their