Casa Aire | Cinco Sólidos

The house is based on a previous construction that was transformed considering two main variables: the geographic and landscape conditions that surround it and the lifestyle of its owner, our client. In terms of its conceptual development, the house revolves around the interest of expressing lightness and buoyancy as principles; the design ensures that its interior and exterior are perceived as separate from the land on which it sits, as if it were a house in the air.

In programmatic terms, the house aims to be flexible to the changes that occur in lifestyles, so it is composed of traditional spaces (dining room, living room, bedrooms) arranged in disruptive manners. In this way and accompanying the spaces with unconventional lighting and furniture designed specifically for the site, the house oscillates between calm and movement, sobriety and eclecticism.

The inspiration for the house comes from a deep reading of the client and the pre-existence of the site. Again, the design seeks to communicate lightness and buoyancy, so the inspiration of Japanese Zen architecture becomes valid as a design tool. Raw materials, reflections against mirrors of water, dry gardens, colored light and furniture combined with the elevation of its geography makes the house an element that detaches from the earth and floats.

The interior design of the house is composed of objects that reinforce the concept that was sought in the architecture through consonance or contrast. The shades of the lamps, their flexible and light materiality and the flat and continuous surfaces intensify the floating sensation of the house as an object. Meanwhile, the coffee table, which was designed particularly for this space, expresses the connection between the natural and the artificial while contrasting the lightness with the weight (which becomes obvious) of its material.

Similarly, inside the house, the patios and windows become an integral part of the way the house is lived and perceived. Natural light is one more element of its interior and it sets the mood for the way the house interacts with its immediate surroundings, framing or giving them prominence.

The lot of the house is an absolute determinant of its architecture and atmosphere. Firstly, the topography of the site determines the high altitude from which the view is observed, reinforcing the idea of buoyancy sought from the concept. Similarly, the exaggerated vegetation of its geographical location derives in the interest of capturing it, so the openings in the walls, the large windows and the water mirrors become a constant intention to frame and duplicate the landscape, so that the architectural object is immersed in the green of the Colombian vegetation.

The mountains of Medellín are one more member of the landscape, and their imposing nature allows the house, however sculptural it may be, to form an amalgam with its surroundings, becoming discreet to function as a means by which the pre-existing beauty of the place is exalted.

Casa Aire has become part of the client's architectural collection. Its use depends on the place where he is and although it was planned as a secondary house, it has the equipment to become a permanent residence if desired.