© Nico Saieh

• Architects: 332 Arquitectos
• Location: Colina, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile
• Architects In Charge: Paola Adrovez, Rafael Bas y Daniel Díaz
• Area: 364.0 m2
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Nico Saieh

• Landscape: Cristobal Elgueta

© Nico Saieh

Architectural assignment. 
This project in Piedra Roja is a house designed for a family consisting of a couple and their four children, two small children and two teenagers. Due to this assignment  , the house should have rooms that allow and make compatible the different activities of its members, at the same time foster the convergence of the family group and its friends. 

© Nico Saieh

It was also a requirement that parents have some control over spaces in the house, understanding its spread dimensions. 

Floor Plan 02

In addition, the house had to be developed on one floor and take full advantage of the relationship with its surroundings and natural lighting through large windows. 

© Nico Saieh

The land and the location of the house.
The site adjoins a park that is part of the condominium, and within its almost triangular form, a good part of its boundaries are faces exposed to public spaces. 

© Nico Saieh

Therefore, the first design strategy was to extend the house as much as possible, in order to generate a protected border from the outside, where the main enclosures of the house will be located, in a succession of open volumes To the north, separated by small courtyards and interior planters. This would keep the house garden indoor and private, and all rooms open to this interior space.

© Nico Saieh

The Algarrobo. (Prosopis chilensis)
On the site there is a large Algarrobo tree. Then, the house, along with being extended, was designed to give space to this tree and include it as an integral part of the project. The House´s family spaces  are related directly to the algarrobo through terraces and windows. 

Elevations

Passive architecture. 
Energy efficiency considerations were taken through passive architecture design, using ventilated skins (perimeter walls and decks), orientation to the north of the main enclosures, inclusion of landscaping as a tool to avoid overheating, study and application of Layers of thermal insulation, use of DVH Low-e, etc. 

© Nico Saieh

Section

It emphasizes the projection of ceilings with eaves, according to the solar inclination in order to take care of the room´s sunning, which makes that the house is formally distinguished, without pretending, of the rest of the neighborhood. 

© Nico Saieh

Promenade.
Because of the house´s geometry, programmatic relations between the more domestic spaces are produced; for example, between the workshop, the dining room and the family room is materialized a small south patio that is finally configured as a new way to meet and walk through the house. 

© Nico Saieh

Currently, the gardens of the house have been integrated with the adjacent park and the natural landscape of the hills, making their boundaries blur. Likewise, it is the house that defines its limits and the scope of protection of family privacy, regardless of fences or other normative obligations of the condominium. Indoor, the house is constantly looking at itself.

© Nico Saieh

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Alejandro Aravena at TEDGlobal 2014. Image © TED Conference (Flickr) licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Chilean architect Alejandro has been selected as one of “28 creative geniuses who defined culture in 2016” by the New York Times, in a list that includes personalities such as First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, singer Lady Gaga, photographer William Eggleston and designer Junya Watanabe.

Aravena achieved spectacular success this year, being awarded the Pritzker Prize in January and acting as director of the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale which opened in May. Through his work, he directed a discussion about the role of architects and their impact on society.

Together with musicians, chefs, designers and artists, the Chilean is one of three architects selected by the publication alongside the iconic duo of European Postmodernism Trix and Robert Haussmann.

See the complete list here.

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© Sergio Grazia

• Architects: Brenac + Gonzalez et associés
• Location: 86000 Poitiers, France
• Project Manager: Stefan Tuchila
• Main Project Leader: Jean-Pierre Leveque
• Area: 11000.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Sergio Grazia , Stefan Tuchila

• Client: CHU of Poitiers
• Landscape Architect: Agence Hilaire
• Cost Control: Oteis
• Structural Engineering: Oteis
• Utilities Engineers: ITF
• Acoustical Engineers: Sigma Acoustique
• Façade Engineers: Van Santen
• Lighting Design: Lumesens

© Sergio Grazia

The new building of the CHU de Poitiers gathers all the administrative services, which were originally scattered around the campus of la Milétrie, in a single place. The personnel, whose members have been working without ever meeting or seeing each other, are henceforth grouped together in the same building.

© Sergio Grazia

It is mainly comprised of an agora in the middle of a wooded park, a genuine public place of exchange, generating links and encouraging sociability. 

© Sergio Grazia

The project is based on three powerful ideas:
-Placing the landscape of the site in the heart of the project,
-Creating brightly lit work spaces and friendly spaces for sharing,
-Proposing iconic architecture as a landmark in this vast area

Floor Plan

More than just the form, the originality of the administrative building of the CHU de Poitiers resides in the ambiguity created inside and on the exterior by the presence of an immense central lobby.

© Sergio Grazia

The project of the CHU of Poitiers is composed of two E-shaped branches joined by the large central void, the agora. The site is characterized by the presence of a magnificent wooded landscape and a traffic circle that will undoubtedly become a new axis for entering the CHU. 

© Stefan Tuchila

The two naves frame the landscape. The ETFE roof further links these volumes, creating a sort of display case for the scenery. In this interior/exterior space, plants and a waterfall are domesticated evocations of a luxuriant natural environment.

© Sergio Grazia

© Sergio Grazia

The two branches of the building are placed in parallel and, through a series of gaps and raised volumes, the forecourt and the lobby can be seen from the intersection. These branches enjoy interior patios and generate pleasant workspaces and an interior distribution that enjoys generous natural light, all brought together around the great central plaza. 

Section

Section

The interior street, the first contact with the administrative building serves as reception area and visitor orientation, while also offering a pleasant environment for users. Spaces designed for rest and relaxation and sharing are made available on every level; they all benefit from natural light and the views offered by their triple height volume.

© Stefan Tuchila

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Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

Developed by the architects of the “think-act tank” Archquid, in connection with the indigenous community and other institutions of the parish of San Rafael de la Laguna (Otavalo, Ecuador), this project revolves around the material research of the totora plant, a subspecies of the giant bulrush sedge. The Totora Cube project deepens the understanding of the art and craft with which these fibers have been used since pre-Inca times.

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

From the architects: The “Totora Cube” is an experimental structure and although it has a specific function —to promote the handicrafts created in the local community and to raise awareness of their culture— also has a degree of flexibility that allows different programs. 

It is clearly a definable object: the view we have of it from the adjacent road, and its morphology and materiality, make evident their qualities as an object that are well beyond the limits of the idea of “Architectural Program.”

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

A fundamental part of this project revolves around the material investigation of the vegetable fiber known as “totora” from the design and building of a structure. Inside the multiple implications needed to concrete the project, it was essential the understanding for the art and craft with which these fibers have been worked since pre-Inca times.

It was created an experimental cubical module of 3 meters long, with nine panels on each side, forming what it can be seen as an experiential catalogue of the different fabrics worked by the artisans. It was used a simple pure morphology, resignified from the material aspect, where they explored certain technical, structural and expressive qualities. 

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

An unprecedented use of totora allowed reaching a specific and significant interiority that sieves the light and changes its character in a constant way.

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

The development of the building, as a result of communitarian work, was able to impregnate in a notorious way the inhabitants’ identity, which recognized and stimulated the autochthonous practices. 

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

In the shores of San Pablo Lake, there are “totorales” in constant regeneration. It can be perceived the existence of a spirit and consciousness in the permanent relationship between the people of San Rafael and the material, which establishes an identity with the territory, the population, and the architecture. 

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

The structure is made of wood, formed by two beams with a support strip and joints design to link the elements. The lower plane simply leans on a concrete slab where the cube stays pinned by its own weight. A secondary structure allows the collocation of the totora panels. 

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

We propose, from the start, to consider this project as a living structure that allows changes, replacements, differ­ent configurations and combinations with other cubes. All these, allow us to put into practice the idea of program change. This is an interesting fact: locals, as the days passed and they were starting to see results, and espe­cially at the end when they saw and felt the impact of the new structure began to talk to me in a different way. They began to think of different possible uses. And this raises an interesting challenge. In a community where resources are not many, therefore we must manage them with spe­cial care, it is important to think about these structures as projects that meet several functions at once.

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

The “Totora Cube” raises several issues and challenges:

• How to work in this particular geography and climate with these aspects: an altitude that on average is about 3000 meters above sea level; the magnificent and im­posing presence of the Imbabura volcano —which can be seen from various parts of the province—; a consid­erable temperature range; a strong sunshine several hours a day and a marked rainy season.
• How to work with a material —totora— that is not used for architectural purposes, but for some small handicrafts or floor mats. The issues we address here, in relation to the totora, are basically divided into two groups: 
• The specific properties of this material: its tensile strength, its response when combined with certain paints and other chemicals, its reaction to the use of some particular dyes (both natural and processed) and its resistance to this particular climate.
• Understanding this material from a new cultural angle. 

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

How to organize a particular teamwork, combining very local interests (those of the communal handicraft company and the local population in general) with other topics specifically related to our field (e.g.: ideas and program use, morphology, durability and strength of materials, context, etc.) Apart from these issues, we must consider the governments, the local one (vil­lage council) plus the provincial authorities: they also have, of course, their own goals and procedures.

The cube finally establishes itself as a milestone highly visible from a very busy way, in a particular geographical context (a lake and a volcano) and a specific sociocultural area, which generates a center of identity, reunion, and participation.

The link between the local artisans, the architects, the academy and the government reached identity reinforcement, a vernacular rescue that represented an opportunity to leave a contribution to the community which was tectonically manifested.

Architect: Archquid think-act tank
Director: Federico Lerner
Location: San Rafael de la Laguna, Imbabura, Otavalo, Ecuador
Team: Equipo Archquid / Arq. Andrés Fuentes (Coordinador en Ecuador), Arq. Victoria Jones, Arq. Oscar Jara, Arq. Mercedes Mena
Year: 2016
Construction: Archquid, Totora Sisa and local workers 
Images: Federico Lerner and ARCHQUID
With thanks to: Otavalo Municipality, Prefectura de Imbabura, local community. 

The Totora Cube project was one of the winners on the XX Panamerican Biennale of Architecture Quito 2016 (BAQ 2016) in the C category. 

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© Gonzalo Viramonte

• Architects: MWS arquitectura
• Location: Ascochinga, Cordoba, Argentina
• Architects In Charge: Eloisa Minoldo, Federico Wenk, Julieta Scarafia
• Co Workers: Fernando Stella, Tomas Bressan, Architect Martin Berasategui
• Structures: German Sarboraria, Jorge Palandri
• Electricity: Claudio Vega
• Heating: Gustavo Martinelli
• Technical Directionand Construction: MWS arquitectura
• Area: 750.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Gonzalo Viramonte

© Gonzalo Viramonte

From the architect. Building  an unper ceved 750m2 house are two feactores that should not appear in the same operation, but never the less this two requirements/condition are assencial for the request/petition. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

It is a weekend house proyect, and future residentt place, for a family that lives in Cordoba now adays. They also sped most of ther affective and work life in Ascochinga. This location is a  60 kilometres north of the city, between the rural areas and the Sierras Chicas foot hill. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

In a place saturated of acacias (aproximatels 1 ha). surrounded by a gully from south to west that ceids in a hidden river, that happens to be the best view-side, is where we try to “disolve” the impact of this big surface. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

First Floor Plan

© Gonzalo Viramonte

In splite of we nigth think the program does not have anything at of the ordinary. It is very gererous with each space and by requirement of the client, a one floor house. The place is orieted west and south. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

It will sum 4 bedrooms, a kitchen, livign – room, a studiowork space, garage, techinques apace, “circulation” and of course, big galleries. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

In the case of this project, looking for a small construction would be a mistake. We have plentique land and great views for adding several yords to dispere the succesions of the different areas on the house. 

Axonometric

Taking advantage of a slightly slape on the field (8 metres high and 80 metres lang) we can accomplish the clients requirements: the big building is at the same time, looking smaller. We take as a pont of reference the unique algarrobo tree, that now is inside a gallery. We were able to “buty” port of the bedrooms volume, and at the same time, the material that was dig up we used it on other areas of the constructions to hide it from the outsiders. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

The quality space of the haouse is we to the galleries, in addictios to the yards and the magnificent landascape. This argument give significance to the whole proyect. In this space where there is no difference between inside and outside is where makes the difference with the life. This new one is more relaxed and bucolic to finished, we would like to emphasise that mis dwelling is mean to be ageless, timellss, beyond ony style. The materials used in the constructions. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

We reached to store, wood, concrete, steel profile and elements that give personality to the building.

© Gonzalo Viramonte

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