Pondering Existential Depths in this Vertigo-Inducing “Floor-less” Bathroom

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Pondering Existential Depths in this Vertigo-Inducing “Floor-less” Bathroom

April 27, 2012

Penthouse PPDG by Hernando Silva Architects

Stumble into the bathroom tucked away in architect Hernandez Silva‘s renovation of a 70s Mexican colonial-style penthouse, and you’ll come face to face with…THE VOID. Silva fashioned the small powder room/water closet from an unused space that had been originally excavated as a circulation shaft for the installation of a second private elevator. Whereas the architect’s tastes for colorful reflective surfaces, his preference for unmitigated, partionless spaces, and his widespread use of white task lighting impart a “refined atmosphere” to the apartment’s living and social quarters, the bathroom’s thick glass floor reveals a portal to another darker, grimier world that is at odds with the ordered composition and sleek image projected by the exterior of the residence.

Silva’s intervention is pure affect, a Surrealist joke of sorts meant to humor party guests. The vertiginous anxiety induced by the shocking transparency of the floor is significantly lessened by the obvious (and necessary) structural system and the bright accent lights that expose the walls of the shaft, thus, spoiling what could have been an utterly disorienting and legitimately terrifying effect. Not to say that we’d want to spend any more time than necessary in here. We’ll hold it, thanks.