Designed by , the project was commissioned by a young couple for a weekend house at the Aculeo lagoon, near Santiago. The lot is part of the division of a sloping site, on the southern side of a hill with a view of the lagoon from the top. The house, then, is like an observatory of the near and the distant scenery through two windows that bifurcate in height as well as in direction, in order to capture different orientations. One prism follows the natural direction of the slope while the other rises in the opposite direction.
It is a simple 160 square metre programme. The first body of the volume houses the public programme of the living room, the kitchen, and the dining room in a common space, while the second integrates the private quarters, the bedrooms, and bathrooms, in a compartmentalised arrangement. The view of the lake is reserved for the master bedroom.
The geometric inflection point of the house is defined by the transversal circulation that runs through the structure; at the same time, it defines the levels and the two access points on either end. The material is mainly steel in its structure as well as in its 6mm thick sheet metal cladding, externally coated with antioxidant protection paint.
The formal expression looks for a synthesis in the continuity of the vertical and the horizontal faces, freeing the edges of the traditional constructive complexity of the joining of walls and covers, as it normally happens with the difference of materials, solution of eaves, leak-stoppers or drainpipes.
The architects also mention that the house is a tribute to American artist Tony Smith and is inspired by his work.
