El Capricho House

Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Santex Buenos Aires

El Capricho House

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Firm

Leguia Yias Arquitectos

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2025

SIZE

10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft

BUDGET

$1M - 5M

A Suspended Concrete House in Dialogue with the Landscape

Rather than occupying the site, El Capricho House seeks to hover above it.

The project is conceived as a single horizontal concrete volume suspended over a gently modeled landscape, establishing a deliberate contrast between two opposing conditions. The architecture is precise, orthogonal and restrained, while the garden is fluid, organic and constantly changing. This tension between permanence and nature becomes the central architectural language of the house.

Instead of competing with the landscape, the building frames it. Every major space opens toward a large naturalistic pool conceived as an artificial pond, allowing vegetation, water and seasonal light to become part of everyday life.

Architecture as a Sequence of Terraces

The residence is organized across three distinct levels that respond to both topography and program.

The lower level is partially embedded within the terrain, accommodating recreation, wellness and service spaces. An English courtyard introduces daylight and vegetation, transforming what could have been a basement into an inhabitable extension of the landscape.

Above it, the main living level becomes an open platform where interior and exterior merge through large sliding glass panels, generous terraces and shaded galleries. The relationship between house and garden is continuous rather than hierarchical.

The upper level contains the private areas, elevated above the site to provide both privacy and panoramic views while reinforcing the perception of the suspended concrete volume.

Light Defines the Space

Rather than relying on formal complexity, the project uses natural light as its primary design material.

Throughout the day, changing sunlight transforms the exposed concrete, wood and textured surfaces, producing an architecture that constantly shifts between solidity and lightness.

The double-height entrance hall functions as the spatial core of the house. Suspended luminaires emphasize its verticality, while carefully positioned openings draw daylight deep into the interior, creating a quiet sequence of light, shadow and proportion.

A Deliberate Material Palette

The material selection follows the same conceptual clarity.

Exposed reinforced concrete expresses the structural logic of the building. Warm wood cladding softens the scale of domestic spaces, while large glazed surfaces dissolve the boundary between inside and outside.

The restrained palette allows texture, proportion and natural light to become the primary architectural expression, avoiding unnecessary formal gestures.

Landscape as Architecture

Landscape design was conceived simultaneously with the architecture rather than as a later addition.

Curvilinear planting beds intentionally contrast with the orthogonal geometry of the house, reinforcing the dialogue between built form and nature.

At the center of this composition lies a large heated pool finished with Bali stone, designed to resemble a natural pond. Every principal room faces this body of water, making it both the visual and spatial focus of the residence. Its infinity edge dissolves into dense vegetation, strengthening the sense that the architecture emerges from the landscape rather than resting upon it.

Integrated Environmental Performance

Environmental performance is embedded within the architectural concept.

Orientation, deep overhangs, cross ventilation and extensive glazing maximize natural light while reducing solar gain. Radiant floor heating, independent air-conditioning systems and solar thermal collectors provide efficient climate control throughout the year.

The swimming pool shares the same geothermal heating strategy used for the house, integrating comfort and energy efficiency into a unified environmental system.

A House Defined by Contrast

El Capricho House is ultimately an exploration of architectural contrast.

Heavy and light.

Orthogonal and organic.

Shelter and openness.

Concrete and vegetation.

Rather than seeking visual complexity, the project relies on proportion, structure, material honesty and landscape to produce an architecture that feels simultaneously monumental and deeply domestic.