Intelligence
Purity – Simplicity – Symmetry
The concept of intelligence doesn’t come up too often in Félibiens book “Les plans et les descriptions de deux des plus belles maisons de campagne de Pline le Consul” but it’s always present while reading it.
The book describes two buildings which belonged to Pline le Consul. These two buildings have a lot in common like the importance of having a pit, a yard or even an attic. The route of the wind has to favor all the rooms in the houses so that there are warm spots during winter and cool and pleasant ones during summer. The ventilation system is possible thanks to the position of the windows and its opening side. The constant pure air around the house is for Pline le Consul one of the most important aspects of the buildings.
Le Laurentin is a bigger building with more than eight houses located next to the sea as well as to a forest and to the mountains. This building is not complex, but it isn’t too simple either. It is very isolated from the outside but on the inside, you can hear everything around you. Pline mentions the constant sound of the sea as something negative in Le Laurentin.
Maison de Toscane is the second building described in this book and is known for looking symmetric but not being it when looking carefully. This house is located high in the mountains next to a forest and with views to nature. It contains eight houses and not one of them is similar to another one. In Maison de Toscane as well as in Le Laurentin there is a lot of communication between the single rooms.
Pline le Consul mentions intelligence because both are buildings which weren’t built for efficiency or to save space but to enjoy the stay and be able to relax and to recover from the city life. Everything in these two buildings has to favor the views, the temperature, the light and everything else is from less importance.