Courtyards in Peruvian Houses: 10 Projects and their Floor Plans

Location: &nbsp;Lima, Peru
Year: 2010

Written by Belén Maiztegui | Translated by Maggie Johnson
Published on January 25, 2023

With the exception of some areas, within the three principal regions of Peru--coastal, mountain, and rainforest--the climate is characterized as tropical or subtropical and the differences in summer and winter temperatures is minimal, rarely reaching beyond 15 °C and 27 °C. This mild climate has thinned the line between exterior and interior spaces, a fact evident in the region's architecture.

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Courtyards, characterized as outdoor areas within the confines of a home or building, have always served as a way of creating a bond between a structure's indoor and outdoor spaces without sacrificing the privacy of the inhabitants.

Courtyards serve a variety of purposes, providing not only outdoor space for a structure's users, but also connecting the other spaces within the structure, and improving its mobility and circulation.

To illustrate how courtyards shape an architectural structure, we've compiled a selection of houses from throughout Peru that incorporate courtyards and highlight their impact on both interior and exterior spaces: