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Architects: Juan Pablo Aschner
- Area: 1798 ft²
- Year: 2019
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Photographs:Mateo Pérez
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Chaos Group, Alfa, Decoblock, Ladrillera Santafé, Trimble Navigation
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Architectural design: Juan Pablo Aschner
Text description provided by the architects. This is a rest house for a family of three, a few kilometers from El Tabacal lake, Colombia. The area is 4100 feet above sea level and has an average temperature of 73 degrees Farenheit throughout the year. The climate, humid and warm, determined the design of a cool house, which could be naturally ventilated, that could be kept open to the landscape during the day but that could offer insulation at night. To achieve this, lattices are used; suitable materials such as concrete blocks and ceramic roof tiles are used and a considerable interior height is proposed to dissipate hot air. Bedrooms are to remain away from the two facades that receive greater direct solar incidence by means of ventilated circulations.
The house is located on the only esplanade of an elongated sloped lot. It has a completely closed facade to the east because in that direction and very close by is a neighboring house that looks directly over the lot; because the view in that direction has little interest and because the morning sun is very strong. By contrast, it opens completely to the west and towards spectacular mountain and valley views and towards scenic sunsets. Between the two fronts and thanks to multiple openings, cross ventilation and breeze transit are guaranteed. The roof has significant slopes due to the large amount of water that can fall during the rainy season.
The general shape and configuration of the house is a deliberate contemporary reinterpretation of all the vernacular houses of the region. Houses that are all gabled and rectangular in shape and that have open porches in the front where families spend the afternoon talking with others and receiving the breeze under shade.
With an elongated floor plan, the house follows a distributive sequence that goes from the most social to the most private areas. All wet and service areas are located on the eastern side and in succession for functional and economic reasons while creating a buffer zone between the areas served and the neighbors to ensure greater sound and visual privacy. The kitchen, of broad proportions, takes advantage of the area of greater interior height and integrates with the dining room, the living room and the spectacular view of the Valley. The two bathrooms, in symmetry, have generous independent spaces for showers. Between the two showers is an interior garden of lush vegetation. The two showers, separated from the inner garden only by low benches, offer an intimate bath experience but in direct contact with sunlight, breeze and vegetation.
It is a house of contrasts. Very closed to the east, very open to the west; that can be closed tightly when there is no one at home thanks to a ventilated facade system made with metal bars; but that can be fully opened when the family comes to rest, so that they can experience a shady dwelling in direct relation with the landscape.
