Coffee Plantation House
This house is located south of Guatemala City in Central America, surrounded by a lush coffee plantation farm. Lots of tall trees, that shade coffee plants, create a humid and fresh atmosphere that´s also dark and exotic. The dialogue with this environment, builds the concept of this house. First between nature and architecture, and between the different parts of the building that articulate outdoor space.
We understood that the house should increase the awareness of living with “the green”, so after some research we found wonderful “bucolic” paintings from great baroque artists that are so important in Latin American culture. They are mainly black or very dark settings contrasting with the amazing greens of nature. That contrast, increases the beauty and magical effect of the forest, which is what we wanted to achieve when we built an all-black house that´s immersed in nature, sometimes in front of, sometime behind it.
The second concept is the geometric dialogue between the parts of the building; it’s always our intention to have very simple, almost naïve forms, that represent the most significant functions of the house; so that anyone can understand and relate comfortably with them.
Once we have the set of simple parts, we start playing with the “relation or dialogue” between parts, and the complex spaces between them. This has always interested us, it has been a constant in our work, trying to achieve a new, interesting, rich and complex whole, thru a comforting set of known simple parts.
As a result, the house works with a set of five parts: three black triangular monopoly like houses, and two completely square concrete boxes. All forming two main gardens that protect the intimacy of family living, at the same time that work as “sets” as in a stage for outdoor living.
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