Waissbluth House | House One

Algarrobo, Chile

Add To Collection

Other Projects by Eduardo Berlin Razmilic Associated Architects

Add To Collection

Paz House | House Two

Waissbluth House | House One

Algarrobo, Chile

Firm

Eduardo Berlin Razmilic Associated Architects

Type

Residential › Private House

YEAR

2001

SIZE

10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft

BUDGET

$0 - 10K

Disregarding the site as a transitional reference of scale,
Casa Uno stands as a self-sufficient architectural entity
within a continuum; the gesture of leaving the countryside unblemished becomes
a necessity when the lack of electrical power and drinking water are taken into
account.
Responding to its isolation, the house incorporates machine quarters containing equipment
that allow it to supply itself with utilities.
As in a piazza, the entrance is
established as a sheltered space that arbitrates between the house’s reception
rooms and these quarters. This space
disrupts the linearity of the 39 meter-long volume that, by resting on the
natural slope, relates all the horizontal planes to the ground.
The particular disposition of these planes articulates the
house in itself, creating a variety of situations. This scheme challenges the
volume’s compact and certain condition, and comes to replace the wealth of distributio that, traditionally, has
been achieved through the floor plan. On a furniture-like scale, the west
façade manages the frequent conflict between establishing an open stance
towards the ocean and minimizing exposure to direct solar radiation.
In a game of times and distances, different material,
formal and functional scales reveal themselves on approach. Allusive fragments presage the programme’s
unfolding, allowing the observer to reconstruct the whole. This deliberate
eloquence grants the dweller a degree of control over the entire project.
Responding to the change of seasons, and to the number of inhabitants,
the house recedes into a smaller unit: a double-height space integrating the
living room, kitchen and dining room as well as the master bedroom which –
connected by a bridge – floats within it.
A large pool deck and a variety of exterior and
intermediate situations act as a counterpoint, disaggregating activity. Functionally
and formally integrated, the disposition of these spaces underlines the self-sustaining principle.