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Architects: Riofrio+Rodrigo Arquitectos
- Year: 2013
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Photographs:Fernando Barranzuela
Text description provided by the architects. The house is located in northern Peru, near the equator, in the city of Piura. Intense heat is an important factor when designing for this area. This particular external characteristic impacts how the home’s inhabitants use conventional spaces.
We observe that the terrace is the most important social environment so we made it the protagonist of the design by moving its location to the center of the house. The entrance of the house invites you right back outside by leading you to the terrace, and as an afterthought the garden and pool. You can find the more traditional living room and dining rooms on the flanks of the terrace, as if containing it.
The house juxtaposes the image of a massive volumetric block with interior spaces that are more open and luminous. Together, they create increased privacy, maintaining and maximizing intimacy for the family and their daily activities. This effect is best noticed when walking from the courtyard entrance into the vaulted ceiling entranceway.
The various materials used—from exposed brick to impacted cement and natural stone—marries rustic design with ‘strong’ volumetric figures and clean lines. These materials also serve to highlight the introverted personality of the design. Finally, we maximized airflow and ventilation into the various wings of the house and minimized direct.
