A house inside a vertical spiral hides in the depths of its surroundings. The integration between outside and inside is the main ingredient– much before any construction material or form.
The luminous and protective structure decides to be inspired by the the trees around it. Like roots, it sets its nine supports to stand tall in a vertical slope in the heights of Mexico City.
“Casa Flotante” is much more than all its spaces. It’s a bridge between nature and shelter, which invites all trees and plants inside.
The building site was discovered during a stroll through the forest near the river Enns which raised the desire to live in the middle of nature surrounded by trees. At first sight it seemed to be impossible to build a house there since only a narrow building area is located on even surface, the rest of it is a steep slope of six meters. This special situation was solved with an unusual but also simple construction. The building got only partially placed on solid ground, the bigger part of it is lifted off the ground and reaches into the tree crowns. A steel framework is supporting the construction.
The house gazes at the street and the neighbourhood through the eyes of the two symmetrical windows, punctured on the mass cantilevered above the main floor, which resembles a face sneaking forward. Located at the Scarborough Junction, in the east end of Toronto, it was created respecting the narrow site, the restrictive budget, and all the speculations. Despite all these limitations, the house is like a curious creature; it contaminates its surrounding, made of typical Torontonian infill houses, with livelihood and inspires the possibility of design which belongs to everyone and everywhere.
This project was commissioned by two twin sisters and their families who are going to use this house both for living and working. Thus, the project combines two houses and a workshop within one single volume. The plot borders a road in the south, while in the east and in the west it is bordered by neighboring residential properties. the northern façade overlooks a forest glade. The entire layout is divided into three blocks: two houses and the workshop with a garage. although the blocks have different elevations, they are all united by one single roof. The combination of various functional elements under one roof follows the traditions of Karelian residential architecture.
Before the Boom of the family house started, generations have naturally lived under one roof. Now the society moves closer together due to climbing construction and real estate prices. This is an opportunity and a positive process against urban sprawl and to counteract the social isolation.
For private builders, the semi-detached house is a financially and resource-efficient solution for living together under one roof, for compact housing, with due respect for the demands of individual privacy and local conditions. The house is an outstanding example of a young couple taking some risk to contribute to a sustainable development, attractive spatial planning on the highest ecological standards.
ReGEN House – a house where every generation can live together.
Beginning
After living with his parents till the time he has his own family, our client moved out to his own house located opposite his parents’. The very first intention of our client was to renovate the existing house to be suitable for his first-born daughter – Meena. However, after the completion of architectural drawing, our client changed his mind. From his experience, it is not pleasing when it comes to living apart from his parents. Being a new parent makes our client become truly thoughtful about his daughter and her future. Therefore, he bought another land opposite his house and next to his parent’s house, with an effort to create a place where he can live with his child Meena till the time when she has her own family.
SONATA, as in music, is a compositional procedure that uses two contrasting themes, complexity in its unity and simplicity in its repetition.
Sonata is a quest, a constant quest to offer a unique product within a market full with similar options in size, program and price.
The client asked for the project to be “different”, but economically accessible, in which “nothing felt extra”; any material or element that he felt didn’t have a functional purpose, was going to be removed at the time of construction. With a main façade facing south, in Yucatan, we knew that the protection from the sun was a must, however, a skin or lattice was no longer an option if we wanted to achieve what the client requested; it would be necessary to find within the architectural program a way to protect the user, and at the same time, turn this resource into a fundamental one for the success of the project, which without it, the project could not work.
Nestled longwise into the site and arranged in a semi-circle plot, this one main storey, a mezzanine and an annex playroom house designed for a couple and two children focuses on leisure and family life.
Following client expectations, it plans to maximize the beautiful view to the horizon and to emphasize circulation between the different rooms promoting conviviality, contemplation and inviting to idleness.
Casa Quieta is a residential cluster in the northern part of Cuernavaca with a mild microclimate, rich topography and biodiversity: ponds, streams and Cuernavaca´s profuse vegetation. This natural richness became the design principle for each space in Casa Quieta 12. Architecture unfolds from sights, orientation and trees merging harmonically.
The house essence builds up from its context: its principal axis emphasizes the void between trees with geometric lines it approaches the landscape’s fluency. The design premise was a negotiation with nature: to spread out or fall back where it demanded so; always looking after interior distribution and composition. Privacy coexists with magnificent open views through terraces and gardens. A blind façade to the street solves this paradox and creates great contrast when crossing the threshold into open and luminous spaces.
Casa Brutale is a geometrical translation of the landscape. It is an unclad statement on the simplicity and harmony of contemporary architecture. It is a chameleonic living space, created to serve its owner and respect the environment. It is the inverted reference to Casa Malaparte, encased and protected by the tender earth that has hosted the human civilization for millennia. It is a complete study of aesthetics, structure, function and engineering, which thoroughly detailed, awaits solely its realisation.
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