Excerpt: 3 Elements House is a residence designed by the architectural firm Agustin Lozada. The architectural concept comes from searching simply, with a total absence of ornamentation and free detail resolution. It was decided to propose a vierendeel beam, with one end embedded in the mountain and the other cantilevered, resolving from this concept the structure, materiality, and the house envelope. The house’s materiality follows the concept of using noble raw materials, naked, expressing nature, and generating a respectful relationship with the environment.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] The 3 Elements House is a single-family house of 220m2 located in Rio Ceballos, Córdoba, implanted on a plot of land. It presents an irregular geometry and a rugged topography, typical of the Sierras Chicas area. The architectural concept comes from searching simply, with a total absence of ornamentation and free detail resolution.
In response to a slope of 15 meters between the ends of the lot and a width of 13 meters. It was decided to propose a vierendeel beam, with one end embedded in the mountain and the other cantilevered, resolving from this concept the structure, materiality, and the house envelope. It generates a reinforced concrete tube inside, which houses the architectural program of a single-family home for a couple.
The floor plan is resolved from the structural proposal, framed by a container of 26 meters long by 5.20 meters wide. Inside this rectangle, two sanitary islands are located. Between them, the spaces for the main activities are generated, which demand more surface area, such as the bedroom, the study, and the living-dining room. The fluid circulation generated around these boxes/islands produces a great spatial dynamism.
The house has two entrances: the daily entrance is at the lower part of the lot, and the main entrance is at the upper part. The street level is above the roof, which acts as a large square/viewpoint of reception, from where an impressive view of the mountains and the city of Cordoba can be appreciated. This reinforced concrete roof is flooded, resolving the materiality of the plaza, providing thermal and energy balance in the interior at low cost, and contributing to the natural environment.
The house’s materiality follows the concept of using noble raw materials, naked, expressing nature, and generating a respectful relationship with the environment. In addition to concrete, local stone, wood, and glass were used.