RESIDENCIA MEZZÉ | Najas Arquitectos

The Mezzé Residence is the first of a series of 4 private residences seeking to re-imagine the  central courtyard typology house which is very common on colonial South America through parti variations that uses bar shaped volumes.

We implanted the first residence of the set on a 1400 square meters suburban site taking in consideration 3 mobiles of design:

1 .- Rescuing and integration of a 75 year, 18 meter high Jacaranda tree.

The architecture sought to strengthen the centrality of a pre-existing jacaranda tree slightly eccentric to the west of the site. Spatially, it was recognized as a referential node for integrating indoor and outdoor activities of the house. As for the volume, the tree is embraced by the elements so it becomes a fundamental part of the architectural object.

The tree responds to this gesture, providing shade that penetrates the interior spaces and projects shadows over the volumes. The goal was to make its presence evident from all rooms and paths inside the house.

2 .- Mezzé - The dinner and lunch as experiential axis.

Mez-zé (meh-Zay): A term of Arab origin. Prelude to a big meal often served as part of a social gathering at which you can spend a long time.

For the owners, of Lebanese origin, the meals are always a congregation ritual around the table. With this intention, the main dining room has a bigger hierarchy by a double height and a physical integration through its two sides with the outdoor areas and the Jacarandá Tree. This hierarchical and flexible space, once you have opened the glassed screens that flank it, forms the space for the "mezzé” and allows the barriers between interior and exterior to disappear so it becomes  a central courtyard / deck that is pierced by the Jacaranda tree.

The “mezzé” become the epicenter of the house.

3 .- The “Central Courtyard” Parti

Unlike the other 3 houses in which the design strategy sought insight into a back yard, The Mezzé Residence has a front lawn according to the sunlight requirements, views of the Ilaló mountain and the necessity to become more introspective to the inner site by giving it´s back to the street.  This "H" shaped party opens all views to the south-east where it allows the discovering of the mountainous landscape.

At ground floor, the west is flanked by a service volume covered in quartzite stone, and upstairs, another bar shaped volume cantilevers the bedrooms in close physical and visual relationship with the jacaranda tree and the Ilaló Mountain.

Upstairs, a 5 meter cantilevered volume is embedded in the tall glassed social areas. It contains the master bedroom which "levitates" above the tops of the existing orange trees and, with a rotation of 8 degrees to the south-east, looks straight to the Ilaló Mountain.

The longitudinal circulation system proposes a narrative that runs through the empty spaces inside and the physical and visual openings to the outside to selectively disclose all the elements mentioned above.