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Architects: iHouse estudio
- Area: 969 ft²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Aldo Lanzi
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Lead Architects: Andrés Garcia, Marcelo Mederos
Text description provided by the architects. In a void area of a consolidated neighborhood, the owners of this land, cautiously begin to form this garden isolated from the surroundings and full of vegetation, directly connected with de center of the block. Particularly, the land was full of lavender from the beginning and consequently, the main idea was to maintain the land as it was.
The design starts with the expectations of the owners who always had intentions of building a “Quincho”, taking the esthetic and functionality as part of the concept. A “Quincho” is like a classic barbecue, this name stems from “Quechua”, a term used to designate Indigenous people. This defines a semi-covered space attached to the main house, generally used for outdoor activities. This typology was used in rural houses along the country and in the colonial upper class. Actually, is used for flexible spaces like barbecues.
Based on this information, the team starts to design the house trying not to modify the land.
This is something important, we never would have made it in traditional housing because of its logistic problems but it perfectly marches with prefab housing, produced in iHouse production plant, deeply controlling the process, isolated from weather conditions, and all the necessary equipment to obtain the expected product. So, the house arrives and sits on the terrain with minimum contact.
The idea tries to mix a house type and a “Quincho” type. It starts with a lineal block that remarks the direction of the access, then two L-shaped blocks in order to respond to the local regulations, so the back of the house provides it with privacy. One block contains the bathroom and the other contains the kitchen, wood stove, and storage furniture, so the other planes open entirely to highlight the connection between exterior and interior with a large glazed opening, taking full advantage of the garden. Finally, a gallery is projected to merge the interior and exterior as part of home life.
