Set in a valley located 45 minutes west of Santiago de Chile, an elementary timber shed by Josep Ferrando and Diego Baloian seeks to unhinge the division between vertical and horizontal architectural elements. The scheme is the result of a private commission to build a wooden shed on a family-owned plot in the town of Curacaví, halfway between the Chilean capital and the coastal town of Valparaíso.
Drawing heavy inspiration from vernacular canopies which historically dotted the landscape of rural Chile, the scheme seeks to create a central family meeting point amongst a vast 2 hectare plot.
Description from the Architects. The proposal consists of a structural system interpreting the canopy as a hut, or a family shelter. It avoids formalizing the shed as the sum of vertical supports to a horizontal plane, instead seeking continuity between the roof and supporting elements.
Building the structure in collaboration with the family and local community required an easily-executed structure. The scheme consists of 2x8” brushed Arauco pine strips supported by 9 cm diameter steel compression tubes. 4.5m-length supporting timber strips are reinforced by a secondary structure 1.5m and 3m roofing strips.
This interdependent geometry rewards the scheme with a sense of dynamism, as if the canopy is paused in motion.
Architects: Josep Ferrando + Diego Baloian
Location: Curacaví, Chile
Year: June-July 2016
Client: Baloian
Structural Engineering: Josep Nel.lo
Collaborators: Judit Coma + Ezequiel Pérez + Adina Verenciuc
Photography: Josep Ferrando, Diego Baloian, Christian Nawrath, Tomás Weisser
