Architects: Nicolás del Rio + Max Núñez Location: Quintero, Valparaíso Region, Chile Architect In Charge: Nicolás del Rio, Max Núñez Project Year: 2009 Project Area: 150 sqm Photographs: Erieta Attali, Felipe Camus, Sergio Pirrone
Corrosion caused by moisture and the salinity of sea air can destroy a structure in a short period of time. This place, a few meters from the Pacific Ocean, is not a bucolic landscape. Rather, the proximity to the breaking waves creates an extreme temporal condition for the architecture. The project delays natural deterioration thanks to a predominantly opaque outer envelope made of two inert materials: glass and weathering steel. Thus, the beachfront “idyllic” pavilion is replaced with a more airtight construction.
A tight budget and precise specifications meant the design had to have two levels and an interior expression defined by the use of wood. The articulation of this structure is different for the two levels, creating different relations with the horizon. Upstairs, in the common areas, the perimeter is demarcated by the repetition and variation of wood; downstairs the bedrooms are characterized by a horizontal window, detached from the wooden structure. These simple variations create different corners and views, creating distance and proximity with the outside, taking to an extreme the project condition as a haven by the sea.
