自建别墅丨阿根廷

Architects:Santiago Berlotti

Area:400m²

Year:2024

Photographs:Gonzalo Viramonte

Manufacturers:EGGER,Canteras del Mundo

Lead Architect:Santiago Bertotti

Category:Houses

General Construction:Federico Monjo

Landscape Architecture:Blas Spina

City:Mendiolaza

Country:Argentina

Text description provided by the architects. The house is situated on a raised section of the lot, taking advantage of the gentle topography and deep views of the surrounding rural landscape. The main volume is arranged in a strictly longitudinal manner, aligned with the predominant boundaries of the land and integrating into the terrain through a green platform that follows the natural movement of the soil. The project is organized around two simultaneous formal operations: a monolithic body of continuous walls in earthy tones that creates a blind front towards the vehicular access and another that is completely permeable towards the landscape; and a support pavilion, with a lighter and more contemporary language, characterized by black carpentry, glass planes, and horizontal sunshades.

In terms of its functional and spatial organization, social life is concentrated in an integrated core of living room, dining room, and kitchen, conceived as a continuous and flexible space that connects with a parallel longitudinal gallery, whose orientation and openings allow for the extension of activities to the outside. The private sector is located in the right wing of the volume, where the bedrooms are isolated by a linear hallway and the thermal mass of the walls, managing their openings with controlled openings that provide privacy and climate stability. A complementary volume appears slightly separated from the main body, with a contemporary language in which the metal structure and sunshades filter the light.

The landscaping reinforces the connection with the environment through a garden of native species—grasses, herbaceous plants, and indigenous shrubs—arranged loosely and with a naturalistic intention. It does not function as decoration, but as an extension of the mountainous terrain, following the topography and softening the boundaries of the volume. The linear pool, located in direct relation to the gallery, acts as a mirrored horizontal plane that prolongs the straight geometry of the house and interacts with the surrounding vegetation.

The materiality and tectonic expression are defined by a coherent palette with the climate and geography: walls of pigmented cement plaster with a handcrafted texture and mineral finish that provide chromatic unity; solid wood structure in the main gallery, formed by irregular columns and slatted ceilings that function as a continuous element; and glass and black metal carpentry in the complementary volume, where transparency is regulated by sunshades and slats. This choice of materials in earthy tones and natural textures reinforces the image of an architecture that is rooted and closely linked to the site.

From a conceptual synthesis, the house is understood as a linear cut in the landscape: austere towards the access and permeable towards the views; massive in its blind front and light in its galleries. Its composition arises from tensions between matter and void, weight and transparency, protection and openness. The house is conceived as a territorial piece rather than an architectural object, a presence that accompanies the landscape instead of imposing upon it, reading and amplifying it. Its character is born from this operation: an architecture that dissolves into the colors of the earth, into the texture of the climate, and into the temporality of the site.

The tone and material character are expressed in a monolithic and pigmented main volume, whose earthy hues replicate the colors of the rural environment. This materiality obeys more to ecosystemic reasons than to aesthetic ones: the walls absorb the light of dawn turning pink, acquire deep ochres at sunset, and appear matte and silent on cloudy days. The access front is almost blind, contained, and introspective, while the front towards the landscape is open, extended, and deep. This alternation of solids and voids allows for the management of exposure according to the climate, wind, sun, and privacy, configuring a body that does not confront the environment but dialogues with it.

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