La Cunka Mountain Shelter
La Cunka Mountain Shelter is located in the Sierras Chicas of Córdoba, Argentina, overlooking Los Molinos Lake, near the small town of Potrero de Garay.
The project emerges from the intention to inhabit the eastern slope of a mountain in a temporary and sporadic manner—an experience conceived as brief, concentrated, and intense. Conceived for tourist use, the architectural response is deliberately minimal: two independent shelter units carefully inserted into the existing landscape, providing essential comfort while maintaining a respectful coexistence with the natural environment. Everything else was already there.
Each unit rests on square foundations built from local stone masonry and is oriented to frame panoramic views of the lake. The primary structure is composed of a series of prefabricated metal frames assembled on site. The exterior envelope is clad in specially treated wood, giving the shelters a dark and restrained presence within the landscape. In contrast, the interior is wrapped in natural local wood, creating a warm atmosphere that defines what the project understands as “sufficient comfort.”
The interior program is organized as a single continuous space for cooking, resting, and sharing. This space is complemented by a bathroom with direct visual connections to the surrounding nature and a small swimming pool immersed among the trees, reinforcing the idea of inhabiting the landscape through minimal but precise interventions.
Construction combines industrial precision and local craftsmanship. While the metal structure was prefabricated in a factory, walls, floors, and ceilings were built on site by local carpenters, strengthening the relationship between the project and regional construction knowledge.
Minimalism is not only a formal choice but a clear architectural position. By reducing the project to its essential elements, La Cunka Mountain Shelter proposes an intense way of experiencing the mountain landscape through austerity, material clarity, and spatial restraint.
