Project: El Maqui House
Architects: GITC Arquitectura
Location: Quebrada el Maqui, Olmué, Valparaíso, Chile
Area: 2,723 sq ft
Photographs by: Felipe Diaz Contardo
Designed by a Chilean practice GITC Arquitectura, the El Maqui House is situated in Quebrada el Maqui, a protected natural reserve along a coastal mountain range just south west of Santiago, in Chile.
This stunning residence is a home for six people, surrounded by a garden that would be predominantly characterized by water.
To avoid destroying any pristine landscape in the construction of the project, the architects sought out a site that was ravaged by erosion and contained no vegetation at all.
From the architects: “The building is located in the eastern hillside of El Maqui Brook, a rural place of The Coastal Mountain Range of Chile. This geographical zone is part of a protected natural reserve with high and important ecological value because its singular and diverse coexisting ecosystems. The client ask for a seasonal house for a family of six and a near garden around the house whose principal element was water. In order not to alter the rich forests and ecosystems we sought an already damaged hillside without vegetation to found the building. The new landscaping project should recover the area. The eastern hillside position assure us prolonged sunlight and optimal exposure to the prevailing ascendant air current.
The program distribution, the volume and the way it stands over the ground will response to two opposite situations: A preexisting one (the geography and weather) and a propose one (the near garden and the water). A dormitory pavilion rises with presence and exposure, oriented to the views, the weather virtues. The common areas volume adopts an intimate and hermetic position focused on the family activities and on its direct relationship with the garden and water.”
“The Water surfaces that round the house were dimensioned by a swimming pool request and by a proposed bio filter pond with studied levels and extensions. This water surfaces and its specific aquatic plants made possible a flooded garden, excavated on the hillside, directly in contact with the internal common area activities. This flooded garden also provides an important fresh air supply necessary to control and manage the summer high temperatures.
The Water surfaces that round the house were dimensioned by a swimming pool request and by a proposed bio filter pond with studied levels and extensions. This water surfaces and its specific aquatic plants made possible a flooded garden, excavated on the hillside, directly in contact with the internal common area activities. This flooded garden also provides an important fresh air supply necessary to control and manage the summer high temperatures.
The material expression will response also to the two opposite situations. The reinforced concrete of the retaining and bearings walls were built by a overlap table formwork system, made on site. It gets a tectonic and solid expression which, at the same time relates friendly with the habitant through its textures, imperfections and shadows lines. The second level will response to an efficient construction system. The steel frame structure allowed to satisfy formals requirements and get light and simples ventilated wooden solutions for the building enclosures to control de heat.”
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