Diez – Foamboards Blog

Architects: Taller Diez 05
Location: Boca del Río, Veracruz, Mexico
Architect In Charge: Manuel Herrera Gil
Collaborators: Luis Enrique Alvarez, Eder Ferreira, Francisco Dorado
Area: 55 sqm
Year: 2013
Photographs: Luis Gordoa

From the architect. Located in the south of Veracruz City in Mexico, the Pavilion – S is an annex of an existing dwelling house that has the intention to accommodate different complementary uses as a multifunctional space.

In terms of design, the architectural concept is originated from the idea of INSERTION to an existing contained space with typological and natural default conditions.

As this was an established consolidated dwelling, there were certain typology aspects to put onto consideration that established the environmental space from the site such as: vertical apertures, flares, lattices and historical reminiscences of San Juan de Ulúa historic fortress, that were the starting point to analyze the main signs to shaped permanently this project.

While being compromised by a magnificent existing green area, the strategy changed on making minimal contact with the adjacencies and fully structured vegetation elements, taking advantage of the natural views to the immediate environment.

At the same time this intervention was located in an area of the property that allowed the visibility of an existing green wall, that is why the overall idea was creating a block that compresses the interior program through a “Spatial Bond or Belt”, releasing its longitudinal fronts, where the view from the dwelling is predominant.

To formally define the building, the Pavilion is connected to the existing building trough a wood box connector as a link between these two elements; there is a concrete wall framing the living room area where gently gets involved with a narrow zone of vegetation.

Pabellon-S / Taller Diez 05 originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 21 Nov 2013.

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Architects: Diez + Muller Arquitectos
Location: Valle de los Chillos, Cuenca Canton, Ecuador
Project Architects: Gonzalo Diez P, Felipe Muller B.
Project Area: 550 sqm
Project Year: 2012
Photographs: Sebastían Crespo Camacho

Construction: Ing. Diego Cueva

From the architect. The design of this house arises from previous research and understanding of the regional architecture of the Ecuadorian highlands, and how it engages with a modern system through understanding the place, tectonics and space of each, creating a tension between the two systems.

First are the traditional architectural and spatial elements, such as the courtyard, the wall, porch and slope. At the same time, the open plan and the continuous space are modernist concepts contrasted with the elements previously mentioned. The material palette includes local stone, wood and tile as local or endemic materials, and exposed concrete, steel and glass as modern materials. This mix not only expresses a formal idea, but also a structural and constructive idea that reinforces the argument.

In an area of approximately 2 hectares with a steep slope, the house is implanted in the highest part of the site, with a privileged view. In plan, the house is designed linearly, taking advantage of the views from every room. The design in section becomes important, access is from the upper level of the site to the social area, kitchen and terrace. The most private areas and bedrooms are on the lower floor.

The house is stratified into two zones: the stone base and glass box on top. The base is a stone bearing wall, where private areas are distributed. This base, true to its characteristics, is the support of the house on the ground, and contains the excavated soil for its settlement. It comes into view in full from certain viewpoints, while from others it is half-buried and seems to arise. At the back and at the entrance of the house, a large cut in the ground generates a submerged courtyard which serves mainly to illuminate and ventilate the bedroom areas on the ground floor. At the same time, it becomes one of the most important areas of reference of the house. It is contained by an exposed concrete wall, contrasting with the stone wall, thus creating tensions between the two systems.

The arrival to the house is through a steel and glass bridge that intersects with the stone wall, and opens the space to a large steel and glass nave that contains the social areas of the house on the upper floor. On this nave rests a traditional mud tile roof.

Finally, the finishes of the house are simple materials like concrete and wood on floors, concrete walls, wood deck, etc.. The lightness of the glass top volume is even more evident at night when artificial light exposes its permeability and the great nave of the roof, which is juxtaposed with the monolithic volume of the base on which it rests.