CM House is located in a private neighborhood in Escobar, Buenos Aires, on one of the last available lots within a context marked by strict and deeply traditional regulations. Among its requirements, the code demanded that all roofs be pitched—a condition that, at first glance, evoked a conventional and repetitive image. Yet this limitation became an opportunity to explore how to build architecture rooted in tradition but with a contemporary twist, reinterpreting the rules and projecting a different way of living.
The proposal takes shape through three brick volumes, each conceived as a monomaterial block in which envelope, roof, and walls merge into a single logic. These three bodies, carefully positioned on the site, organize the program and establish a dialogue with their surroundings. The initial image is almost archetypal: three gabled houses, simple and essential, as if drawn by a child. This sought-after simplicity stands as a manifesto of clarity and synthesis.
The contemporary gesture, however, lies in the way these volumes are related. To break away from the inertia of convention, one of the blocks is set transversally, resting upon the other two. The move is neither whimsical nor gratuitous: its aim is to create a broader, more open spatiality, erasing boundaries between interior and exterior. By elevating a volume, a public space emerges on the ground floor, directly connected to the landscape. The forest at the rear becomes the true protagonist, framed by architecture yet sheltered from neighboring views. The result is an area that seems to float, where the weight of brick loses its gravity and transforms into a light, permeable structure.
The project can be read through two scales of simplicity. At the macro scale, the image of three pure volumes that comply with regulations and resonate with tradition, yet reinterpreted in a unique way. At the micro scale, the decision to resolve the entire envelope with a single material enhances coherence and reinforces the idea of timelessness. Brick, with its texture, color, and durability, becomes the guiding thread of the project—capable of enduring across generations with minimal maintenance, and inscribed within a logic of material sustainability.
Sustainability is also addressed through environmental strategies. Natural cross ventilation ensures passive thermal performance, allowing air to circulate without relying on mechanical systems. Natural light is carefully managed, avoiding glare and excessive heat gains through the use of louvers, filters, and eaves that regulate solar incidence. In this way, thermal and luminous comfort is achieved efficiently, while reducing energy consumption.
The timelessness of brick is complemented by this logic of passive efficiency, making the house sustainable both in its material conception and in its everyday use. The robust, low-maintenance envelope not only resolves constructional demands but also builds identity and belonging within the neighborhood’s landscape.
CM House is ultimately an exercise in reinterpretation. It begins with rigid regulations and a traditional language, yet evolves into an architecture that, without abandoning the familiar, introduces a shift toward the contemporary. This shift goes beyond mere appearance: it manifests in the lived experience of the house—open, fluid spaces directly connected to the outdoors, framing nature and privileging life in relation to the forest.
Project: AtelierM + Nicolas Krause
Team: Matias Mosquera, Nicolas Krause, Camila Gianicolo, Lucia Ayerbe Rant, Carolina Tobar, Francisco Gomez Paratcha, Cristian Grasso
Structure: Gustavo Carreira
Landscape Design: Carolina Pell
Photography: AtelierM
Year: 2020 - 2022