ROOT house | Speziale Linares arquitectos

The house is located in a closed neighborhood in the northern side of Buenos Aires and is implanted in a ​​940 m2 lot. At the back of it there is a navigable canal that leads to the Lujan River.

This strongly natural feature and the desire of the client to have a permeable house, closely linked to the environment, were the starting points for the project. We imagine then that the house could behave like a root that is taking possession of the land. A linear element, that bifurcates, goes up or down depending on the obstacles that wants to avoid or the objectives to follow during the growing process. Therefore, the architecture appears in this lot as a living element that will deformed according to the needs of the program or seeking to maximize contact with the outside space.

The program needs can be summarized as three lofts: the social space on the ground floor, the master suite at an intermediate level and the secondary bedrooms upstairs (which can be integrated to form a single space to share activities like studying , resting, playing). The relationship between them is given by courtyards and slopes, playing in an ambiguous way between privacy and integration looking not to lose the spatial fluidity. On the other hand, each sector is associated in a particular way to the outside. The large living–dining room and kitchen continues into the garden through a gallery. The kitchen, at the same time, faces an internal courtyard. The master bedroom, develops to the back to approach the river and rises half a level to win views over it. The two children 's bedrooms on the first floor, extend to a terrace which offers various possibilities of use and especially views over the bay. Finally, note the pool, located strategically along the coast, with an infinite overflow in order to have a visual integration of the two waters (river/pool) and the solarium, a few steps below, appears as a great platform providing a living space in the garden from which to contemplate the surrounding landscape.

Regarding the morphological aspect, we propose a concrete ribbon that gives structure and continuity to the whole, besides generating the different spaces. At the back appears resting on earth slopes and goes up at the front, generating a side yard, the access and finally the first floor bedrooms. As a complement, there are some blind walls that offer privacy and contain the services (laundry, machine room, toilette).

The construction idea has to do with merging skin, structure and enclosure, plus minimizing maintenance costs. It is for this reason that appears concrete as the main material resolving not only constructional or structural needs but also the programmatic and aesthetic. We were interested in a design that results in a rational and expressive use of the material.

To conclude, we can say that this house is intended to be a refuge, connected in a deep way with the place and generating, at the same time, spaces for inspiration.