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Casa Mirador

Matías Zegers Arquitectos

Casa Mirador
By Caterina Testa -

Cloaked in the mists that hug the surrounding vineyard-clad hills, Casa Mirador is strangely reminiscent of a traditional rural building yet at the same time appears a foreign object in its context.
Two unrendered, solidly material units stand on either side of a central glazed volume. All the environments of this single construction are spanned by an archetypal pyramidal-shaped roof. Unrendered earth-coloured concrete walls and stark lines make the building blend into the hill on which it is set. The walls reflect the surrounding changing light during the day in keeping with the surrounding countryside.
At the same time though the building’s quiet, almost aloof, introversion makes it stand apart from the surrounding vineyards. As if to emphasize this detachment, an elliptical landscaped space delimited by stones and bushes serves as a filter between the wider countryside - a place of traditional toil - and the residence, synonymous with indoor living and restful contemplation.
Introversion is a key feature of Casa Mirador, reinforced by an uncompromising separation between exterior and interior. Life is carried on behind the thick concrete walls where a succession of environments offers many differing sensory experiences.
The entrance is through a shaded patio bounded by tall walls shutting out the surrounding hills. The living area, an intimate, inward looking space allows views onto the outside through a horizontal strip window. Next door is the wine-tasting room. Here a long, solid cypress-wood table stretches parallel to a fully glazed outer wall overlooking the vineyards. A symmetrical south-facing kitchen lies opposite the dining room at the entrance, partly dug into the hill and partly extending towards the exterior.
The last environment is the Quincho, a walled patio with a lone ancient olive tree and with sweeping views over the surrounding countryside.
Once the rural home was a place where work, living, creating and...

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