Holiday Home

By Francesco Pagliari - 17 December 2020

The discreet refinement of this short-stay holiday home on the Pacific coast 270 km north of Santiago takes its design cue from the exceptional location directly in front of the ceaseless ocean swell. The architecture and its spatial distribution reflect the natural landscape, reaching out towards the overlapping horizons of ocean and sky. Lying low on the ground, the building echoes the flat landscape and sparse stubby vegetation typical of a dry, even desert, region. Opening out to the ocean as the ground slopes gradually down to the sea, the architectural project becomes an integral part of its wider universe, an expression of elementary, primordial - and highly expressive - simplicity.

Standing on a concrete base providing a level platform over the slightly uneven sandy terrain, the house has a clean orthogonal configuration. On one side, enclosed patios contrast with a façade on the opposite side of the house that opens out towards the immense sweep of the Pacific Ocean. These two contrasting features seem to echo the equally contrasting features of a natural environment where contemplation of the infinite triggered by the vast ocean views is juxtaposed by a keen perception of the immediate shrubland under foot.

The building hugs the ground but at the same time stretches out towards the horizon, doing its utmost not to block the ocean view from further inland, melding into its context as if to appear a low outcrop on the land or a discreet artefact made of deliberately unobtrusive materials. The desire for discretion led the designers to lower the height of the interiors to 2.30 m, which in turn accentuates the sense of outward reach, further emphasized by the unbroken open façade making up the west elevation.

A long narrow (5.5 m) rectangular space, the actual house contains three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large open-space kitchen, dining and living room. The different sides of the building contrast sharply....