La Viña Suburban Dwelling

Our scope for architectural production is based in the city of Alta Gracia, located in the Mediterranean province of Argentina.

A mountain town with a Jesuit Hispanic origin, and very strong in the nineteenth century by the arrival of the railway and its iron and steel infrastructure.

An atemporal container supported on the semi-urban grid, as an artificial element that only seeks to contemplate the environment, as well as the environment seeks to contemplate it. In a contemporary way, its boundaries evoke the remnants of the industrial era of Alta Gracia, the English style steel sheet houses, the station and the train.

Diaphanous environments, without fanfare. What matters is the interaction of the object with its surroundings. The intermediate spaces pose the eternal tension between the natural and the human impact.

Located in the west of the city of Alta Gracia, in a peripheral area of high environmental quality. On a plot of 12×50 party we design a compact house, prioritizing good natural light and the views to the mountains and creek. The level of support is above 2.5 meters with respect to the sidewalk, this allowed us to generate large openings without prejudice to privacy.

The social areas are linked to the intermediate spaces on the north party wall and the bedrooms are slightly separated from the south party wall. Thus the spatial continuity between the common areas of the house and the site seeks to integrate the program between interior and exterior.

The main materials used are exposed reinforced concrete on the upper level and black metal sheet on the side enclosures, the intention of minimizing maintenance of the dwelling was determinant in the choice of materials.

The structure is designed with continuous walls made of common brick, supported on reinforced concrete bases and metal columns on the corner windows. The flat roof was built of exposed reinforced concrete.

In order to minimize the impact of moisture, as it is an area of lush vegetation and little sunlight, we decided to cover the peripheral walls in black metal. The frames are made of natural aluminum combining mobile and fixed panels. The interiors have granite floors and kitchen and bathroom areas are clad in Venetian tiles. We sought material and structural coherence according to local resources and techniques.

The house has no specific clients, it was constructed for the purpose of the real estate market, where the challenge was to propose a more proactive concept as critical to the perverse ways of real estate production that propose housing as an object of profitable consumption.