Description

The small fishermen’s town of La Pedrera has become a desirable destination for vacationers – mostly from Asuncion and Argentina – and, for that reason, there has been a steady increase in the construction of holiday homes. Relatively modest in scale, the four houses that comprise Casas Mar Abajo display great spatial complexity and environmental awareness. The houses could be described as the interconnection of two circulation systems, one external, the other internal. The external system consists of a succession of outdoor spaces which fulfils multiple functions: it separates the houses from one another, it allows for air circulation, and it guarantees views of the ocean from all public areas of the house. The first of this succession of spaces is a little front terrace which is separated from the street by a wall. This intimate area is connected with both the kitchen and the backyard below via an outdoor stairwell. The second space is the balcony formed between the outdoor stairwell and the wall of the house. The third is the backyard situated at the level of the bedrooms, one floor below.

The internal system consists of the entry, kitchen, social area and terrace (in the upper level) and the bedrooms (underneath). It is accessed through a narrow passageway between the walls that envelop the front terraces. Once inside, the passage takes an 11 degree turn to the north and then opens onto the social area which focuses on the ocean in the direction of Cabo Polonio, a focal point to the north-east which justifies the slight rotation of the social area in relation to the kitchen. At the end of the social area there is a large terrace which works as an extension of the interior.

A narrow stairway, near the entrance door, leads to the bedrooms which are tucked below the social area. The bedrooms are intimate and secluded spaces; they are not exposed to any public area, nor do they have views of the ocean. Instead they have small windows that open onto the narrow passage between houses. This disposition prevents the direct incidence of sunlight into the bedrooms but maximises the reflection of natural light on the wall opposite to the window. Thus, the bedrooms are naturally lit by indirect sunlight and remain fresh through the severe summer heat; this effect is aided by the social area above which doubles as a climatic cushion.

The four houses are made with the most conventional materials and built mostly by local unskilled labour. The floor slab and the roof are made of cast-in-situ concrete supported by load-bearing brick walls. The walls are white-washed, both in- and outside, while concrete elements are exposed in most areas of the interior. Though the palette is exceedingly simple, materials are exquisitely articulated in such a way that they create a sense of homeliness and elegance rather than austerity. The four holiday houses have an outstanding spatiality and demonstrate Campodonico ‘s thorough understanding of the conditions of the site.

 

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Originally published in: Felipe Hernández, Beyond Modernist Masters. Contemporary Architecture in Latin America, Birkhäuser, 2009.