Wooden Interiors: 10 Cabins Bringing Warmth in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and More

Written by Agustina Iñiguez | Translated by Antonia Piñeiro
Published on May 05, 2024

Acquiring diverse expressive possibilities within interior design, the use of wood in regions with a wide range of climates and temperatures such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, or Ecuador enables the creation of attractive and captivating spaces that capture the attention of their users by contrasting, blending, or integrating with their surrounding environment. Being a natural element and presenting a negative carbon footprint at the end of its life cycle, wood offers multiple finishes, textures, and tones that can be associated with being outdoors and providing, on some occasions, spaciousness, warmth, and relaxation at the same time.

Over the years, the application of wood in construction has evolved to the point where multiple innovative techniques and treatments are developed to highlight its strength, ensure its durability, and enhance its efficiency and sustainability by reducing environmental impact. Combining solid structural properties with aesthetics, the potential of wood demonstrates versatility and an expansion of its use from small to large-scale projects, involving its application on structures, ceilings, facades, enclosures, floors, and more. Whether through slats, panels, or boards, promoting interaction with nature as well as incorporating the landscape into interior spaces are common variables often incorporated into the design of contemporary cabins, located within forests or jungles, on the shores of a lake, or on uneven terrain, among other conditions.

For example, the Gallareta House in Villa La Angostura, Argentina, uses a mono-material cladding of Guatambú, a light-colored wood without knots capable of contrasting with the exterior and providing spaciousness to the space. The entire interior design, including its furnishings, is made from the same wood, aiming to create a clean, monolithic, and simple appearance that blurs the boundaries between furniture and wall. It is worth noting that being a noble material in panels, aesthetically pleasing, and quick to install due to its size, construction processes were accelerated.

Emphasizing the construction process of different types of cabins, wood, often used in modular architecture, accompanies a sustainable construction strategy to reduce solid waste generation, speed up construction timelines, contribute to a circular economy, and reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, among other factors. While several professionals, experts, and researchers in the field strive daily to overcome the limitations posed by this material through analysis and the development of new technologies and resources, the future of wood still has a promising path ahead.

Next, discover 10 cabins across the Latin American territory that choose wood as the protagonist of their interior spaces.