The House of Time
The House of Time reflects on new ways of inhabiting and sharing—reconnecting architecture with the natural environment, embracing slower rhythms, and valuing the processes and time inherent in craftsmanship, all within spaces designed for serenity and collective exchange.
Architects: Natura Futura
Year: 2026
Location: Babahoyo, Los Ríos, Ecuador
Area: 180 m²
Illustrations: Kevin Araujo
Photographs: OHFA
The House of Time
Architecture as a biological clock
Located in Babahoyo, Ecuador—a city historically and culturally connected to the river—the project responds to a way of life that has gradually become accelerated and disconnected from the natural context and the artisanal processes to which we belong. The House of Time proposes a place where domestic living can coexist with collective learning. Time is understood through inhabitable cycles: the river, craftsmanship, and shared experiences.
Contextual Time
Seasonal changes in river tides, humidity, and heat actively shape how the house is inhabited, in constant interaction with tropical fauna, light, and shadow. The design incorporates interior courtyards and a body of water that help regulate temperature, wooden lattice screens that filter solar radiation while allowing cross ventilation, and skylights that mark the rhythm of daylight.
Artisanal Time
The crafts of the carpenter and the mason—and their local techniques—have been diminished by the speed and immediacy of contemporary construction. This project seeks to rethink the house through local materials, techniques, and processes. Brick is reinterpreted as a modular element—forming walls, floors, and even lamps—while local wooden beams extend outward to create a roof that protects against seasonal rains.
Shared Time
Shared spaces gain exponential value over time as they transform from one use to another. The project converts its creative studio into a multidisciplinary workshop space; the courtyard boundary wall folds into pivoting doors that function as a projection screen for documentaries, and when opened, act as a threshold between the house and the front patio. Descending toward the river, stepped platforms serve as an auditorium for theatrical and musical performances.
The program is organized around a central courtyard that extends and opens toward the river. On the left side are productive spaces for creative work and workshops; the central area contains living and leisure spaces; and on the right are resting areas. The project sits on a 23 × 13 meter plot, elevated on a base 1.4 meters above river level. Its structure consists of paired wooden columns spaced at 1.75 meters, supporting a single-sloped roof. The beams connect to the wall through a metal plate that separates them, creating skylights.
