Marindia House
Slatted timber doors unfold along house in Uruguay by Masa Arquitectos
URBAN | SUBURBAN
Montevideo’s east urbanization has been spreading from Ciudad de la Costa up
to the Canelones’ seashore, converting summer resorts into residential areas.
Such places have been gradually changing its landscape, into a crossover
between the city and its coast, the urban and suburban. To consider a house in
this environment implies working in this duality between permanent and
temporary inhabiting. This duality intensifies when considering that the soil –the
foundations- is located in one of the least residential areas of the summer
resort. A wild piece of land on a recently urbanized area.
NATURAL | ARTIFICIAL
Despite its known antagonism, nature and artifice are complementary words.
They are defined by its contrasts and they reinforce each other in its mutual
presence. The natural landscape emerges in contrast with the geometry of the
construction, and the house seems more cozy and protective within a rough
environment. Such concept allows solving this dichotomy, merging both,
blurring its edges.
The facade behaves as a screen, a veil, which can be widely opened, inviting
outside nature into the artificial interior.
RUDIMENT | SOPHISTICATION
Air conditioning systems, power lines, domotics…the contemporary life
demands more and more availability of technological devices that provide
comfort for its customers. From the conceptual framework this house is
conceived to unfold the boundaries of such duality. A rudimentary exterior shell,
made from primitive elements with a few aesthetic additions, is defined to
contrast its interior technological sophistication.
