Architects find inspiration from any number of sources, but, by any yardstick, the physical form of the alphabet is an unusual touchstone. Having already experimented with ‘T’ and ‘K’ on residential projects, the Santiago-based architect Cazú Zegers settled on ‘Y’ for this family home in Valdivia, on the edge of a development flanked by myrtle woods and wetlands teeming with dense vegetation and wildlife.
From the beginning, the landscape imposed itself on the site, challenging Zegers to build lightly. This required creating ‘simple and meaningful spaces that use the beauty of the surrounding to complete the silent architecture’.
The silence is achieved in part by a nuanced approach to the materials used so that the building seems to rise organically out of the earth. The exterior walls and lengthy runway deck are constructed of pine that have been treated with black algifol, a kind of concentrated algae, which gives the surface a subtle darker tint against the lighter vegetation; whilst the interiors are clad with eucalyptus. The result is, as Zegers describes it, ‘a light pavilion suspended over the landscape by steel pillars. We were able to build without making any big gestures.’
What’s more, the building’s Y-shape creates distinct volumes that solved several practical issues. Specifically, the geometrization of the rectangular forms, Zegers says, allowed both volume and emptiness. Indeed, not only does it demarcate separate wings for the owners and their children and create a garage for their collection of cars and motorbikes, but also the intersection of the three arms forms an internal piazza, which serves as passageway, porte cochere, cross-ventilation point, and a viewing platform for the tableau of the Cayumapu river and wetlands beyond.
Built on a tight budget, Ye House was initially intended to be a second home, but the clients were so taken by Zegers’ design, they sold their principal residence and moved out here permanently.
INFORMATION
-
Seawolf X: an ocean-going interior by hotel specialist Meyer Davis brings Scandi style to a superyachtSeawolf X is Rossinavi’s newly launched hybrid-electric catamaran, with interiors by New York design studio Meyer Davis
-
An impressive private jewellery collection goes on public display in Dubai, organised by Van Cleef & Arpels’ L’École, School of Jewelry ArtsLate French collector and antique art dealer Yves Gastou amassed an impressive ring collection, now the subject of an exhibition, ‘Men’s Rings, Yves Gastou Collection’
-
Bringing the audience in: why artists are building their homes on stageFrom Sabrina Carpenter to Rex Orange County, artists are reimagining their stage sets as extensions of their own homes. Lisa Wright meets set designers Stufish to find out why
-
This new lakeside house in Chile is a tour de force of contemporary timber constructionCazú Zegers’ lakeside house Casa Pyr is inspired by the geometry of fire and flames, and nestles into its rocky site
-
Svima looked to Japanese architecture, 'nature and ecology' for Passageway House in SerbiaThe Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024 includes Svima, a young Canadian practice joining our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
Sun-drenched Los Angeles houses: modernism to minimalismFrom modernist residences to riveting renovations and new-build contemporary homes, we tour some of the finest Los Angeles houses under the Californian sun
-
Tour a Chilean pavilion perched on the coast: a sanctuary for sleep and star-gazingAlgarrobo-based architecture studio Whale! has designed a Chilean pavilion for rest and relaxation, overlooking a nature reserve on the Pacific coast
-
House in the Trees offers a bird's eye view of the Chilean forestHouse in the Trees by Max Núñez and Stefano Rolla is an angular Chilean cabin in woods, touching the ground lightly
-
Chile’s Panguipulli Theatre brings purpose-built architecture to the learning experiencePanguipulli Theatre, a community-centred cultural space in Chile's Región de los Ríos, combines purpose-built architecture and learning
-
This Chilean beach house comprises a series of pavilions set beneath a wooden roofWYND Architects has completed a Chilean beach house – a multigenerational family retreat, raised up above a site overlooking the Pacific Ocean
