La Maison de La Celle-Saint-Cloud 1974

This space, La Maison de La Celle-Saint-Cloud, emerges from the mind of Jean-Pierre Raynaud, transforming a domestic interior into something else entirely. It’s a building of right angles and a series of repeated squares. I imagine Raynaud, gripped by an idea, carefully placing each white tile, section by section. It's so austere! The mind boggles… What’s it like to be inside that grid? The black lines form an all-encompassing net, the pristine white tiles become an endless labyrinth. The grid could signify all sorts of things, but it almost reminds me of Agnes Martin’s paintings. Yet, this is architectural space, not just a surface. The simple repetition of squares speaks to a larger conversation about minimalism and conceptual art. Where does architecture end, and the monochrome begin? Where does the rational end, and the obsessive begin? I suppose this is what happens when you take the geometry of painting off the canvas, and make it a space to wander around. It’s a kind of painting you can live in.