Can Joan Jaume i n'Apol·lònia
When one strolls for this neighborhood he notices the opacity of the houses constructed here. They are stony, with a rocky feeling, tough constructions, hard, opaque, closed
to the street. Rough walls, splashed of tiny openings. Almost impassable walls. Of this early reading, the first will of the project becomes detached: sustaining the opacity of
this new building towards the street.
The wonderful sights that the plot has towards the west have been another starting point for this project. Sights and views that are not meant to be missed. The site as a
watchtower, from where the sight can be lengthened much further than the horizon. So the strategy is served: the house does not want to look at the street, wants to look at
the landscape.
The building characterizes itself as a frame, as a shell, and is descripted by a concrete box, with one side totally open, but a jealousy of vertical pieces of sandstone will
protect for us of the sun. Towards the street the openings will be scarce, towards the sights there will not be obstacles. So it is portrayed as a simple, opaque, strong and
geometrically clear volume.
In contrast with the outer simplicity, the inside becomes complex, unfold, luminous, open and clear. The structure, as it happens in the home-palaces of Mallorca -copies of
the ancient palaces of the Florentine merchants-, is dominated by a central courtyard, of square projection. This courtyard is open to the sky and to the external views. The
house turns around this courtyard and on it. This courtyard is sculpted in the blind volume that we described at the beggining. It is a courtyard splashed by the light. We find
hanging gardens. A big porch accompanies our arrival. The inside is sculpted. The entries of natural light are determined. The different visions multiply. The space expands
until the nine meters of total height. Unexpected entries of light. Cut perceptions of the courtyard. Visions in diagonal. The space gives to the whole building a fantastic
character -of fantasy-, imaginary, something unexpected, that arrives like a surprise.
