16

In the history of western architecture, the space reserved for the isolation of the individual, whether for study or inner contemplation, has been conceived in various forms, and yet is attributable to a single, easily recognizable tradition. From the Roman villa lost in nature to the monk’s cell in isolated monasteries, from the office desk of the mediaeval and humanist era to the library rooms in certain of Le Corbusier’s residences, there is always an oscillation between the individual and social sphere, between a closed space and an open natural world, between isolation and sharing. Architectural structures have always made the distinction between these two environments, but also have always placed them in a mutual relationship; it was from this reciprocal relationship that a specific place for the production of thought was born and became visible in history.