| 3 Faces |
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3 faces explanation plan
Three Faces is the subtle name of this imposing structure dug into the mountainside. And that is fine, for it's owner intended it to be symbolic. If viewed when uninhabited, this structure perched in the Swiss Alps appears ready to strike Haute Nendaz. The façade is dominated by a large cedar rectangle. Closed translucent shutters seem to reject and exclude the viewer.
On another night one may be surprised to see that the oversized shutter has disappeared. Now a warm, red rectangle of light dominates the centre of this slope among the home leagues Swiss Chalets. Clearly the owner is in. A new face has reveled itself - an enormous glass facade framed in concrete, breaking through the red cedar cube.
The third face only emerges when the weather is very hot. Only now does this structure reveal its true character; a cave in the hillside. A high tech cave in the middle of a mountain dreamscape. A cave in which James Bond would feel at home. The long glass facade appears to shield an earthen mouth. Peering into the mountain's red maw one glimpses a shadowed dwelling hidden in the surrounding idyll. A space of uncluttered, minimalist luxury. Yet this glimpse is as tempting as it is frustrating, for no eye can ever fully enter this Zen grotto. Is the glimpsed billiard table set ready for play? Is the slideshow playing behind the shutters or flickering outward? Are the mountains giving a concert or does the music swell from this hidden recess? Who has created the most spectacular scene - the designer of this construction or that of Bernese Alps? And what will the idler who dwells here chose to do? Will he enjoy the play of the sunlight, futilely seeking a way into his lair, or watch the moon dance on the snow? No one will ever know. It will remain a secret that the three faces will always guard. The casual observer will forever be decieved, thinking the face he sees is the only one. But the three faces will play and change, as unpredicatable as life in the Alps where the seasons themselves decide which face the mountains will wear.
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