Excerpt: Casa Quinchuyaku by Emilio López Herrera Arquitecto is an architecture project conceived as part of the landscape and its geography. A double opening envelope, with two funnels converging on one side, acts as a landscape mediator by opening towards the forest from east-west directions. This east-west orientation allows cross ventilation and creates a significant connection with the place.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] Quinchuyaku is located on one of the eastern slopes of Ilaló (extinct volcano), 15 km from Quito, and at an altitude of 2600 masl. With a dry temperate climate, this habitat is part of a project to gradually replace the existing eucalyptus forest with native flora and fauna.
Architecture is conceived as part of the landscape and its geography. A double opening envelope works as a mediator in the landscape from two funnels that converge on one of its sides. The two open sides of the envelope, which are oriented in an east-west direction, open towards the forest. The double opening allows cross ventilation and generates an important link with the place.
The construction was made 50% with recycled materials: part of its furniture (stairs and counters), the beams and columns of its structure, and all the windows and doors are from an old intervening house in the center of Quito.
From the beginning of the work, a series of mingas, or participatory processes of construction and testing of the original design, were carried out, making decisions on the fly that gradually transformed the initial project. Local construction workers and close friends participated here, fostering an environment of learning and sharing based on affection.
All the water that is consumed is ‘harvested’ on the existing roofs and stored in nearby tanks. This condition determined the decision that the cover/envelope does not coincide with the façade plumbs (as was initially intended in the project). This strategy has facilitated the location of the water collection punch bowls. In addition, these ‘swellings’ of the two lateral facades make it possible to locate the energy storage batteries on the interior, provided by the solar panels. Those solar panels are located in this same envelope, and provide 100% of the electrical energy used.
The slopes of the Ilaló have suffered a strong process of erosion, which has been growing in recent years. For this reason, an important part of the work there is soil regeneration. The gray water from the bathrooms and kitchen is used to irrigate growing trees, as well as a system of terraces alternated with infiltration ditches for rainwater, in order to improve the soil conditions of the place.
The house has a dry toilet, which is a system where human waste goes to a compost bin that decomposes the matter to make fertilizer for the plants and trees that are being planted. There is also another compost bin for organic kitchen waste.
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