Description

The Paraná River is 4880 kilometres long and forms the border between Brazil and Paraguay and then Paraguay and Argentina. Its last 1000 kilometres are located in Argentina when it becomes the Rio de la Plata before finally reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Not surprisingly perhaps, given the immense historical and economical role of the river, Rafael Iglesia is at odds to make the Paraná both the theme and the focus of this small house on a ravine (Spanish barranca), located approximately 30 kilometres south-east of Rosario, the third-largest city of Argentina.

The project is conceived as a journey from the street to the water passing through four different levels or plateaus. At street level, the first plateau is an open lawn from which only the river and the immense Pampa can be seen on the horizon. The second plateau, containing nothing else but a swimming pool, emerges as one progresses into the site. The swimming pool area is secluded from the street and opens towards the river which can be seen beyond the roof of the house (now visible).

A steep walkway on the eastern side of the swimming pool leads down to the third plateau, where one finally encounters the house. The house is a single rectangular space with a kitchen and a bathroom. The north facade is a continuous span of glass only interrupted by a wall necessary to support the roof. The living room opens onto a generous wooden deck which gives the impression of floating over the river. The journey continues down towards a small jetty which works as the final link in the succession of spaces connecting the street above with the river below.

Indeed, the project is exceedingly simple and relies greatly on theatricality as a source of drama. The roughness of the materials, the water cascading on one side of the swimming pool, the terrace cantilevering over the river, all these features disclose an interesting plasticity and create a strong conceptual link with the site. On the other hand, the enormous north-facing glass span, which receives direct sunlight all day, raises questions about solar gain and heat in a region where temperatures can rise above 30°C in the summer and rarely fall below 9°C in the winter. Nevertheless, this house is the result of an interesting formal and material exploration and, for that reason, it was shortlisted for the second Mies van der Rohe Award for Latin American Architecture (2000), along with Benjamin Barney‘s Casa de la Queja.

 

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