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- Area Architecture project area Area:
286 m²
Year Year of the architecture projectYear:
2021
Photographers
Description submitted by the project team. This project is a weekend house in the mountains of the Sierra de Arteaga, in the state of Coahuila, in northern Mexico. The house is located on the slope of a former orchard in a mountainous environment, to have minimal impact on the site and natural vegetation. This solution also ensured the best views, as the vegetation in the orchard is much more open and lower than the surrounding forest.
The house is divided into three parts: an elongated 40 m × 10 m rectangle that defines closed areas of refuge, services at each end, and a central social area around the fireplace. All these areas are connected by a long terrace that looks directly towards the mountains through a sequence of beams and pillars that form the external structure of the house while framing the natural landscape.
The volume is perforated with patios that break the program and bring natural light inside.
The largest of these contains a staircase leading to the roof, where there are 360-degree views over the valley and mountains.
Construction comprises exposed concrete walls, poured pillars and beams with horizontal formwork, metalwork details and large glass panels with aluminum frames. The site also contains a gazebo and fire pit independent of the house and an outdoor table with seating for 20, both built as concrete monoliths.
The house is understood as a kind of sanctuary, where its users get away from the city and encounter nature. The house allows them to connect with their natural environment, generating a deep awareness of the place, resources and world in which they live in a safe and pleasant way.
Although the house belongs to a family, the experience of going to their refuge in the mountains generates moments of reflection and self-discovery for each of its members, according to their ages, roles and family responsibilities. The house is understood as a refuge and an observatory, an instrument to observe the landscape, the mountains and the forest and feel how time passes.
