Casa en el Paraiso
The site is located 180 kilometers north of the city of Buenos Aires on Route 9 in El Paraíso, which is located in the Ramallo district. The site is quite dominated by history with natural characteristics since it has two landscape areas: the countryside, which we think is extended to infinite levels, and the forest surrounded by millennial trees, which dominates a large part of the land, generating wooded landscapes.
The clients’ demand. Our clients requested a low-maintenance home, with a large meeting space linked to the kitchen and a bedroom, thought as a place where they could spend their weekend days in contact with nature. In addition, taking advantage of the large area of the lot for the domain and training of horses was also demanded by the clients.
The proposal. The house was thought of as a single volume with an elongated proportion. The two dominating areas of the project (social and intimate) were located opposite each other. The separation between both places generates an outside gallery, which has a direct relation with the surrounding landscape.
The form of the house has a relation to the idea of relating visually to the landscape. This is why the roofs are inclined and generate direct visuals of the landscape. In addition, this roof’s inclination allows the collection of rainwater, which ends in a green terrace on the flat slab of the gallery that divides the two main rooms of the house. The excess water, on the other hand, runs to a free-fall system through gutters towards two pools on the open terrace. This collected water is used by the horses to hydrate.
The functional organization. The entrance is through the semi-covered gallery, with the option of being completely closed into two different spaces. The living room-kitchen-dining room is a single space with direct views toward the large grove of trees at the entrance to the lot. The other entrance leads to the bedroom suite with a wide view of the flat floor. The inhabitant has a relationship with nature every time, from the moments shared in the social space of the house, to those intimate in the master bedroom.
The construction. To materialize the house we used concrete, seeking to exploit its sculptural qualities and also avoid subsequent maintenance through the years. The exposed concrete serves as structure, enclosure and floor and does not have any type of exterior or interior finish, attending to the telluric concept that we considered for this house in this location.
The structural proposal is simple: it consists of slabs supported by partition walls and simple beams. The sloping slab allows for rapid runoff of rainwater from the roof to the central roof gutters.
The furniture. The equipment of this house is resolved entirely in concrete. This has allowed us to have a single material language even within the home, generating a homogeneous whole that allows us to highlight certain features of functionality and maintenance required by the client.
