The interweaving of indoor and outdoor spaces in #house#1.130, by Madrid architect Estudio Entresitio, recalls the condensed landscapes of classical Chinese gardens in Suzhou: tightly framed vistas are crossed in close succession by multiple spatial events–glazed pavilions, light wells, bridges, terraces, beds of vegetation, a covered pathway angling slightly out of view. Like many of those Chinese gardens, this 6,200-square-foot house is shoehorned onto a small site (in this case, a quarter-acre plot in a leafy Madrid suburb) and hemmed in on either side by neighboring houses (occupied by the client's mother and sister, respectively). So the house turns inward, its principal spaces and circulation paths looking back and forth among themselves. The project's odd name is a code the architect uses to maintain the client's anonymity.

The parcel originally formed part of the yard of the mother's rather conventional mansion, an oasis of greenery that the architect felt was important “to give back to the site,” says José María Hurtado, a partner in Entresitio together with his sister, María Hurtado (currently teaching at the New Jersey Institute of Technology), and César Jiménez. The firm kept the house low to the ground, following the 10-foot slope down from the street, and covered its various levels—including the main roof—with planting beds.