House in Azpitia / Estudio Rafael Freyre

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Text description provided by the architects. The house is located in Azpitia valley, in the coast of Lima, Peru. Approximately 90 Km south of the city of Lima and 20 km away  from the seashore. A  place known by the local vineyards and  its pre-columbian ruins; a kind of natural oasis for people escaping  from the big metropolis of Lima.

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The landscape is characterized by the dryness of the desert that  contrasts with green areas along the course of the river Mala from  the mountains towards the Pacific Ocean. A valley consisting of  small mountains and picks rising up from the desert on both sides  of the river,cchanging colors from beige to light brown, to reddish,  anthracite and soft grey.The house sits on a slope, at the foot of the  mountain with a view to the path of the river Mala towards the sea, ¡ facing the vineyards.

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The project was intended to integrate the house with such dry  landscape and to develop a geometry and a palette of textures  and colors according to this environment. Furthermore, the project  should be seen as a new layer on the landscape above the old  existing ones:  the pre-columbian sites and textiles and ceramics  remains. An image of different time layers all together.

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For such purpose we decided to use different materials layers,  specially working with local handcrafted materials and techniques,  merged with other industrial ones. Twenty kilometers away from  Azpitia, at the Chilca shore, we still found traditional local handcrafted  brick ovens. The bricks, made of clay and sand have thermal  properties, an irregular texture and particular colors that relate to  this dry landscape.

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The foundation of the house is composed of platforms -made from  local stone- covered with xerophyte plants hiding the internal program  of the Sauna. Above the stone layer is located the terraces: an extension  of the social area -kitchen, dining room and living room- covered with a  wood roof that protects form sun radiation. The roof is a kind of textile  grid that allows light entrance. The grid is composed from a wood pattern  developed according to the sun path, avoiding direct radiation. The roof,  as an elementary architectural, creates a transitional space -shadow,  semi-shade and open areas-  projecting the interior life towards the  outdoor space. All the first level of the house, comprising the social  areas, is an open space surrounded by gardens and views. The second  level contains the private areas: the main and secondary room, both  framing special views of the valley.

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