![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM18.jpg)
Hidden Lines by Studio JVM
Amsterdam designer Jeroen van Mechelen of Studio JVM has created a vaulted, cardboard guest room inside a villa carved out of a mountain in Vals, Switzerland.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM08.jpg)
Called Hidden Lines, the angles of the cardboard panels are defined by radials from the circular patio and the contours of the mountain.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM17.jpg)
These were converted into two vaulted rooms and the resulting profiles transferred to the 40mm cardboard panels, then CNC-cut.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM10.jpg)
The design was inspired by a medieval painting and incorporates a guest bedroom and bathroom.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM04.jpg)
Here's some text from the designers:
--
This design for a special cabinet creates a guesthouse within a newly designed villa that was carved out of a mountain wall in the village of Vals in Switzerland.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM06.jpg)
This special villa, designed by the renowned architectural firm SeARCH in collaboration with Christian Müller architects, has only one visible element which is an elliptical patio, manifest as a circular hole in the steep mountainside.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM05.jpg)
By materializing the invisible lines that define the very conditions of this house (the contour of the mountain, and the radials of the patio) a 3-dimensional cardboard matrix is created.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM02.jpg)
Two typical chapel-like volumes are carved from this matrix.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM03.jpg)
The cavities created are the bedroom and bathroom now enveloped by a 3 dimensional library cabinet.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM14.jpg)
The idea was inspired by the medieval painting 'St. Jerome in his study' by Antonella da Messina.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM16.jpg)
Above: the invisible lines - the contour of the mountain and the radials of the patio
Like this painting, the cardboard-carved "inverted chapel" becomes an autonomous space, which -like the mountain house-reversed- materializes in the genius loci of the house.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/12/dzn_Hidden-Lines-by-Studio-JVM15.jpg)
Above: the painting that inspired the design, St. Jerome in his study by Antonella da Messina
Lightweight cardboard sandwich panels were directly CNC-carved from the design files. In 2 days the cardboard space was simply pieced together by the design team.
Credits:
Project: Hidden Lines, a cardboard cabinet
Design: Jeroen van Mechelen, Studio JVM
CNC Carving: Nedcam b.v.
Design Villa Vals: SeARCH in collaboration with Christian Müller architects.