Project: X House
Architects: Sincresis Arquitectos
Location: Cordoba, Argentina
Area: 2,098 sf
Photographs by: Courtesy of Sincresis Arquitectos
X House by Sincresis Arquitectos
Sincresis Arquitectos have completed a project in the Argentinian city of Cordoba. Very quickly noticeable, the X-shaped exterior is the source of the title for the X House – a contemporary single-story family home with just under 2,100 square feet of living spaces. It also has a strong connection to its outdoor surroundings through the large glazed surfaces that serve to bring some warm, natural light to the minimalist interior.
This project is located north of the city of Córdoba, Argentina, immersed in the environment of a closed neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. Located on a corner lot, and favored by the orientations and existing vegetation, the construction lies on the major axis in order to preserve the existing trees and to generate openness towards the north. A harmonic atmosphere is generated in the front of the yard to which the opening of all the environments will be directed. This is done with the help of landscaping and working the terrain in order to create a filter in the contact of the house with the street.
This single-family housing project is developed under the premise of maintaining the continuity and fluidity of both the indoor and outdoor spaces. In Casa X, plasticity plays a fundamental role, expressing itself in the form of two ribbons that structure the upper and lower levels.
The first one emerges from the ground as the floor of the social spaces and folds while becoming the ceiling of the private areas, keeping the same height in the bedrooms and the bathrooms. The second one forms the floor of the bedroom area and becomes the ceiling for the kitchen, living room and dining room, extending into a gallery with a barbecue, and presents a two-way inclination gesture (longitudinal and towards the bottom of the construction) that increases and prioritizes the angle of visuals from the social area to the outside.
The scheme of the organization of the spaces is crossed longitudinally by an axis of circulation that divides the service spaces, located in the back. The access to the house is produced in the center, leaving the bedrooms on one side and the living room, dining room and gallery to the other. The strip of services is in turn sectioned by a courtyard, separating the dependencies of the social area (kitchen, laundry, barbecue) from the ones of the private area (bathroom and dressing room) and providing them with natural light.
Regarding the materiality, three elements are adopted and granted specific functions. Concrete is used to materialize the main skeleton of the construction. Because of its plasticity and movement the imprint of the facade is generated in a central point. In order to emphasize it, it is given a white finish. The side enclosures have glass as a primary material, forming boxes contained by the slabs
In the social sector, this material is presented almost exclusively, while in the bedroom sectors it is combined with masonry to generate privacy for each of the spaces. The slabs extend as sunscreens, generating a large shaded space into the open gallery and barbecue sector. As a second visual and solar filter in the bedroom sector, mobile panels of perforated sheet are installed.
Casa X was designed at a time of full exploration of Síncresis Arquitectos, which resulted in the generation of the concept of Habitable Sculptures. This governs our way of conceiving architecture, from the emotional and sensory experience to the past, present and future of our clients.
–Sincresis Arquitectos
