El Totoral, Chile –
Built Area: 156.0 m2
Year Built: 2016
Photographs: Sofía Mezzano
V|M House is a house on stilts, overlooking the waters of Lake Llanquihue just outside the grassy slope. It was designed as a tranquil escape for the homeowners where they can relax and meditate.
The house is surrounded by lush greenery and agricultural land. Although the fields are no longer producing crops, it has managed to maintain a farming quality to it, adding charm to the area.
Blending seamlessly with its magnificent surroundings, the house was built to work with the landscape and not against it. So as not to disturb the natural topography, V|M House was made to stand on metallic posts, resulting to a very minimal footprint.
The upper level of this two-story structure is a private space dedicated to meditation and relaxation. It’s a sanctuary – peaceful, calm, and tranquil. The lower volume is where everyday life happens.
Materiality involves the use of corrugated zinc and cypress wood for the exterior. The use of cypress wood is continued inside the house, giving the home a rustic feel. The choice of materials help enhance the surrounding landscape.
Notes from the Architect:
Located at the basin of Lake Llanquihue, the project is immersed in an extensive slope of green fields and vestiges of an agricultural past. The warehouses that are still preserved, give a touch of melancholy that maintain the tradition and history of colonization in the area, and that together with the view of the lake and volcanoes, become the main premises of the project.
An essential part of the project was to find a balance between these elements and maintain the morphology of the land, resting on a metallic structure that transmits the quality of the scene and at the same time focuses on the daily comfort of its inhabitants.
One of its main requirements was to work the house on two levels, the upper level destined to a program of rooms, resting and meditation, while the first level was allocated to services and common activities. Under this concept, the volume was projected so that the orientations would enhance the view and at the same time capture the greatest amount of daylight.
Corrugated zinc is the predominant material, not only for its strength and durability, but because it seeks to camouflage the house within its environment, this material in combination with a wooden coating of Cypress give the appropriate character to the exterior facade. In the interior design the selected elements where mainly light tones in native Mañio and Cypress woods, which do not compete with the outside and manage to enhance the landscape, making this the decorative element.
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Exterior Views:
Interior Views:
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