Garden Pavilion in Smetlede
- Hartmut Raendchen
The Belgian town of Smetlede, south east of Ghent, is located in a rural area composed of fields, meadows and forested areas. These landscape components are apportioned by a loose network of lanes and streets. It is only on the edges of these pathways that one encounters houses grouped in smaller colonies or villages. Indra Janda has carefully inserted this solitaire in an existing farmyard. The pavilion becomes a part of an ensemble made up of the main house and auxiliary buildings. By siting it between two structures the architects created a defining back edge of the garden. The positioning of the massing is as practical as the building form itself. Smaller and more compact than the neighbouring structures, the new pavilion adopts their gable roof and aligns itself with the main building, but maintains a discrete distance. The matter-of-factness of the solitaire continues over to its surface and the scales of white, translucent polycarbonate shingles sheathe the entire volume.
