Casadetodos / Veronica Arcos

Oct 2009

By David Basulto — Filed under: Houses , Selected , Chile, Steel, Veronica Arcos, Wood

Architect: Verónica Arcos
Collaborator: Anna Pla Catalá, Architect, AADipl, MScAAD
Clients: Rodrigo Arcos, Alejandra Schmidt
Location: Santiago de Chile
Structural Engenieer: José Manuel Morales
Design: 2006
Construction: 2007-2008
Built surface: 220m2
Photographs: Gonzalo Puga
Construction photographs: Verónica Arcos

The Casadetodos villa is a project that arises from a single family house comission, at the high region of El Arrayán, Santiago.

Diagram

The project is articulated from the intention of exploring potentials in non conventional structures; the generation of complex surfaces and ensuring views towards the mountain.

The structural strategy consists in positioning four metalic frames on each axis. Each frame is conceived as a single architectonic piece which varies according to the programmatic needs, creating ruled surfaces, making a loft through them.

The frames are in this way understood as a series of `components´that repeat and variate in the project benefit. These components try to express the structural efforts as much as they can, leaving them naked, at the interior and exterior of the house. Those are inspired on hanging bridges, aiming to get a slender structure of evident structural efforts by built vectors. From here big cantilevers are generated which give lightness to the hanging volumes, and create a covered terrace bellow.

Each room, except the service zone is opened to the mountain. Considering the south facade , the rooms are therefore illuminated from the north with an interior patio and skylights above the rooms on the second floor…-remember in the south hemisphere we get the sun from the north-.

The north facade is completely blind, because it is exposed to the street which is on a higher level. To get a degree of intimacy on the second level, a double curved surface is constructed; it will be a visual protection and also part of the beach-terrace on the rooftop.

In the Casadetodos, the leisure spaces are privileged, spaces that enable a direct relation with the nature in either intimate spaces, or dramatically opened ones towards the mountain.

Structure

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: © Gonzalo Puga

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Construction, © Veronica Arcos

: Diagram

: Floor plan, level 1

: Floor plan, level 2

: South west elevation

: North east elevation

: South east elevation

: North west elevation

: Structure

: Structure

: Structure

: Structure

: Section A

: Section B

: Section C

: Section D

: Section E

: Section F

: Section G

: Section H

: Section I

: Section J

25 comments »

Julio Ramirez Bruna says:

BEAUTIFUL HOUSE,
I’m really proud of CHilean Architecture…. I think it’s like “the bracing house”….” la casa de los arriostramientos”….. hermosa…… outstanding____________seismic architecture, besides the aesthetical and pretty well done shape, the observation of the all complexity is amazing….

Regards Verónica Arcos

# October 29, 2009 at 15:06

jaenal arifin says:

Keren juga..hmm, folded architecture?

# October 29, 2009 at 15:16

Nicolas says:

Very interesting shape.. and surprisingly the plan is not a chaos, and very “latin” with the maid room there. I couldnt think of a house like that if i had only seen the plans, which is cool.
very well done!..

que sigan los buenos proyectos en latinoamerica!

# October 29, 2009 at 15:27

@fariatomas says:

Gostei muito,parabens!

# October 29, 2009 at 15:50

PanamArq says:

I appreciate the construction photos! Thanks so much!
But Nicolas, why does a maid room make the plan very latin?? Thats like saying a 3-car garage makes any house very North American

# October 29, 2009 at 15:59

M. says:

And doesn’t it?

# October 30, 2009 at 06:21

creeper says:

spot on. lol

# October 30, 2009 at 06:39

hj says:

*starts arranging paperwork to get a visa for Chile*

# October 29, 2009 at 16:51

Edu says:

Tv to blame, PanamArc. All families in south-american soap-operas have house-maids… or in US movies and tv series, you always can find a latin house-maid…Not a very fortunate remark but I believe it was without purpose.

Pretty cool house. How much time to build? The metal backbone should have been very fast

# October 29, 2009 at 18:08

alejandro says:

Pobres vecinos, First of all I would like to say that I really like the project, with all its complexity as they say lines above. I even think is brilliant. But we live in a mess…
That house with the other neighbor’s houses… makes an ugly cocktail.
We should make an effort as architects to do something about the greater space and not only built our differently flavored villas.
They may say that house interacts really well with Chilean geography, tectonics, seismic nature, blah, blah; they may say that the house responds better to the actual natural context that the other houses, but at the end what is crap is the neighborhood.
Imagine these in 100 years? It won´t be a postcard
What really bothers me is that I bet you that the people there have lots of money, are well educated and perhaps have some culture, so why don´t they spend their money wisely and create civilized human space, with proportion, rhythms, balance, beauty and not this. They may argue that it goes against an individuals will, or private property but believe me the most beautiful gated communities I have visited have a framework that gives a standard were the individual then pursues his own personal objectives. The same is true to beautiful cities such as Haussmann’s Paris or Cerdas Ensanche in Barcelona.

# October 29, 2009 at 18:38

diego pinochet says:

niiiiiiiiiiice , congratulations to that young and talented architect. go vero!!!!

# October 29, 2009 at 19:26

Lou pan Design says:

unik & Beutiful…..

# October 29, 2009 at 22:23

Sam Seaborn says:

WOW!
Veronica Arcos, you just became my heroine!!!

# October 30, 2009 at 05:03

colint says:

Great stuff…..again from Chile. Is it just me or has there been a little explosion of good architecture coming from Chile?

# October 30, 2009 at 06:56

daniel daiber says:

is it that? or that this is a Chlean website?¿?¿?

# October 30, 2009 at 18:42

Patricio says:

Congratulations veronica … to the end someone dares with not conventional forms, probably the only one commentary exchange of location the Mediterranean bath of the second level …….
I like me your audacity

# October 30, 2009 at 07:43

lebu says:

com on guys its already really boring.

# October 30, 2009 at 08:19

Elena Arcos Pecoraro says:

Brilliant architecture.

# October 30, 2009 at 10:28

frank Wilson says:

Context does not match the proposed building. Totally out of place. It is an interesting building. Lots of texture and bla bla bla.. it is definitely an import from scandinavian architecture.

It is a good effort that chilean architects are looking for their own language but for now…This house is like speaking chinese in a south american street. It is totally out of place.

# October 31, 2009 at 13:36

Gorgos says:

Congratulations Veronica for having the cojones to be different!

Im from Greece. There’s really no way of dealing with neighbouring buildings when they are kitsch (which they usually are here….) The only plus is they make your building look even nicer.

Your building is unique in a very good way, and I cant see how it could fit in well in any neighbourhood, as some seem to imply.

# October 31, 2009 at 14:56

emcee says:

it’s a beautiful project, congratulations, it is beautiful to let the structure (and the constructive method) “talk” clearly, but I really miss some further information about “the house”… neither the cool shapes, nor the cool wooden surfaces; but the space inside. It is very easy here to get super excited about cool shapes, large cantilevers and fancy photos and say “brilliant architecture”, but we shouldn’t forget that true “brilliant architecture” does depend on some other things as well, doesn’t it?

So I’d really have appreciated less artistic photos and more “real life” photos…pictures of a room, the kitchen in use, the hall… beyond the beautiful wooden skin, how different and innovative is the house space? the house life?

I’d really love to know, by the way, what does happen inside the north facade cantilever? You can’t see that in the second level floor plan. Is it just a blind box??

# October 31, 2009 at 17:54

airegui says: