Felipe Assadi "Schmitz House in Santiago de Chile
Commissioning for Schmitz House is a home for a childless marriage in a village near the city of Santiago. The requested operation does not require alterations to a domestic home, thus opening a second revision of conditions for the design of housing.
Calera de Tango is a commune located one hour from the capital. Is in an intermediate situation between the Andes and Cordillera de la Costa, from which both limits can be seen very clearly over the years.
Then the plot of 4.5 ha is fully planted with fruit trees of medium size on a plot of 4 x 4 meters, perfectly oriented to the cardinal points. Each is presented with a tree trunk about a meter and a canopy that covers the following 2.5 meters. The land, in east west direction shows a slight slope of no more than 2% of which are irrigation canals, and this is an area highly prone to flooding. The proportion of trees in your trunk and foliage may speak of this configuration of elements under natural conditions.
With these observations starts a measurement process in terms of layers. The levels of the elements on the one hand, guidelines, and addressing the other views.
First establishing a longitudinal, so not to upset mostly planting. This is a great alternative form based on the 4-meter planting provides. It then provides a volume which tends to a direction east - west, so the house to face north in a long while removing only a row of fruit trees.
Secondly, three different levels of use. The first, determined by the height of the trunks of fruit trees, which creates a base of about one meter high. The second level is the thickness of the foliage, on which are projected common enclosures. The third and last level is on the plantation. At this level there is a view transverse to the two ranges (one located in the east and west) so the address of this volume is projected perpendicularly to the previous ones.
At the first level is projected to double wall 36 meters long with an interior section of 2.3 meters and one meter in height. This element, in addition to being the base foundation of the house, acts on mass, so its use depends on the stability of the upper. The first installment this double wall is a pool, which contains the engine room and a small winery outside. Then, towards the west, is the underground in the kitchen. On top of this double wall supports the house, like a train that rests on a pair of rails.
The second level, which is the thickness of the foliage, is projected as a glazed box that protrudes preferably between 1.25 and 2.5 meters to the sides of the socket. Being in the midst of this forest of trees allowed to think of enclosures completely transparent, so that gives the visual boundaries of the interior were directly generated from the contours of the fruit trees and their variations depending on the seasons. In this program, the body will be glazed, the dining room, kitchen, guest bedroom and a small desk. The stay of the occupants is during the day, most of these enclosures to be. Orientation sunlight of these spaces is therefore a fundamental choice, while the fit with the plot of trees seems to be almost an order establishing the boundaries.
The interior design of this volume is certain stable elements, so as to ensure proper use of a space that does not allow a perimeter of the elements in common use. Furniture integrated facade, a concrete box in a way that separates the dining area and be of a floating kitchen, which appears as a detail within the space. From the kitchen leads to the underground, where is located all the equipment for household use, laundry, ironing room and wine cellar.
The cover of this volume deals as upper level terrace.
The link with the body of the former is by the pool, which can be accessed from inside the house.
The third level deals with the main bedroom. In this case we chose a volume of concrete, preferably opaque, whose openings to the outside is determined by one party for the views of both mountain ranges and on the other hand, the entrance dose of sunlight, so circumventing the explicit exposure to neighbors as possible to the sun during the day. The orientation of this body is perpendicular to the former, especially between 1.25 and that of 3 meters to the sides. This will produce the cantilever which act as a stabilizing element to the socket through a wall flag that emerge from the base of the house and part of the staircase.
While there is a fairly close with the variables of context, the operations exposed by this house are obviously sketchy. That is perhaps the pure elements that seem to be completely separable from each other.
Schmitz's house was finally seen as a huge concrete box that is supported by a lightweight body of glass, both on balance doing a couple of concrete rails in the middle of a field of fruit, something that might interrupt the logic of materials, but that in turn enhances the idea of lightness on the ground.
The final composition of this house, of course compared to the context object is completed with a concrete ramp located on the south side of the house. Since this is the arrival on the north side, you should go home until the perimeter access. The onset of the ramp, the power situation of being on the ground, rushing to the house in a specific place only on the inside. The house has no access signal, as being an island in the middle of the field, is presented as a hierarchy that does not flag any n particular situation.