International project:
Casa Tunquen
The House of Tunquén is situated at
an intermediate level that occurs at a
terrain with a slight slope facing the
North front of the Casablanca stream
wetland. The house is intended as
a decomposing horizontal block
eventually converting into a forest.
T
he private enclosures are lifted up
from the ground with the purpose of
levelling everything over the depth
of the natural landscape and can be
accessed by a gallery surrounded by
a section of native vegetation.
This gallery links all throughout the
house and its different levels while
maintaining a continuous sky at the
same level for the interior space/area to receive
height and catch the vertical elements of the
forest.
The public sector opens up to the landscape
through large panes of glass while changing
the supporting structure of the solid walls to
pine columns of 20cm diameter, whose green
impregnation is accentuated with the purpose of
generating a visual continuity with the outside
forest. This is reinforced with two large corner
windows between the living room and the
terrace which can be hidden by sliding to the
side generating a continuous sight and the idea
of “taking the outside inside”, in both ways space
and experience.
The space and enclosure of the social areas is
organized in a way which intends to welcome
the event of family meetings and resting in a
sequence of different conditions: winter/summer,
inside/outside, day/night, between being-eatingcooking, this is the event, the celebration of the
events themselves.
The terrace is supported by columns from which
canvases are hanging, creating the feeling of
being on the deck of a caravel.
A concrete wall of mid-rise is put up to protect
the outdoor dining area from the wind and
also houses a barbecue. This wall generates
the boundary of the house symbolizing at the
same time the bow which directs the view to
the ocean. AD
africandesignmagazine.com
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