ACCORDION HOUSE: Integration by Parts
This single-family home, with a roofed surface area of 141.51 m² plus a garage and swimming pool, is located in a unique scenic and environmental setting in the province of Málaga, the Serranía de Ronda. Bordered by the Sierra de Grazalema to the west and the Sierra de las Nieves to the southeast, the building unfolds, fragments, and rotates to create a perfect symbiosis between the surrounding exterior world, the programmatic needs, and its interior atmosphere. A home permeable to the landscape.
The rural environment where it stands is just 2.3 km from the urban center of Arriate. The area, known as Los Picachos, is strongly influenced by the natural landscape surrounding it and the Arroyo de la Ventilla, a watercourse lined with various plant species and frequented by wildlife from the mountains. A living context.
The intervention site is undergoing a transition from abandonment to consolidation. Accordion House emerges as one of the first homes to become part of the built environment and serves as a model for coexistence between architecture and landscape, the true protagonist.
From the green olive groves to furrowed soil, from the rugged mountain profiles to a vast green carpet spreading freely across the ground, and from the whitewashed walls and tiled roofs of scattered rural constructions to the blue sky that dominates them all—a world of colors, sensations, and stimuli shape the project’s guidelines to minimize its impact upon arrival. To this end, the existing topography of the plot is fully respected, with excavation limited to the foundation trenches for the load-bearing walls that form each volume, while the rest of the plot remains untouched, structured only by gravel pathways and vegetation.
The built complex consists of three large square prisms connected in sequence, constructed with thick load-bearing walls under the shelter of an extensive white rammed earth perimeter wall. A modern interpretation of the Andalusian cortijo. Each volume has different heights according to spatial needs and follows a bioclimatic strategy. By separating these structures, flared outdoor spaces are created, generating pressure changes that induce breezes to help cool and regulate indoor temperatures during warm seasons, while also providing shaded outdoor areas. Similarly, the proximity and varying heights of these volumes cast shadows on façades and roofs, reducing the high temperatures these elements can reach due to excessive solar radiation. Additionally, vegetation and trees surround the house, acting as thermal and acoustic buffers.
These volumes are connected by invisible bridges, creating a journey that invites one to experience a series of sensations triggered by the way exterior stimuli are perceived from within the building.
Regarding the functional program, the house is divided into three modules: the first, which houses the garage and is therefore closest to the entrance; the second and central module, with two floors containing the bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen; and finally, the third module—the farthest from the entrance—connected to the central unit by a bridge and directly linked to the outdoors and the pool area.
