Pontoporia´s House by Ezequiel Rivarola Architect, Argentina

January 08, 2010 Category: House, Residential

The Pontoporia´s House was designed by architect Ezequiel Rivarola, Era Arquitectos, in collaboration with Clorindo Testa is the house design that located in Mar del Sur, Argentina, in unusual surroundings, next to a cliff in a very peculiar spot in the Argentinean coast. Pontoporia is the scientific name of the Plata dolphin, species that can be seen from the house. The house design was awarded in the 2009 Biennial Exposition of the Architects Association of the Province of Buenos Aires (CAPBA).

The project of the Pontoporia´s House starts from the relationship between two cubical solids proposed by Testa, a clear geometrical shape, like an artificial rock on the ground, and the irregular landscape on which it is built. The cube resembles the geological formations of the area. The house design opens progressively to the sea from the ground floor to the upper floors, thus the connection with the exterior in some spaces is more restrained (as in ground floor) and then the house opens up in the upper floors. Interior inhabitant is privileged as a shelter in a severe climate, seeking to protect the inhabitants from the steady wind.

The focus of the design was on the interior as shelter due to the severe coastal climate. The interior design spatial is generated from simple geometric shapes that with complex operations produce different opening degrees to the wind, the sights, the sun and the activities. The bedrooms and a common area are placed in the ground floor, while social areas such as dining room, living room and kitchen are placed on the upper floor. There is also a terraced garden-roof with different levels that generate varied spatial situations both from the inside and in the outside and also allow the entry of sunlight needed in cold seasons. This relationship between the upper level and the terraced roof allows the creation of a special connection with the sea and to generate a higher social level that reinforces the implantation strategy of the house.

In terms of construction, we used regional materials and complied with local building techniques. Discarded wood work has been reused as furniture and coverings. Windows and openings were designed according to parameters of the severe weather and double glazing was used. The heating of the interior is placed in the ground floor and is distributed upstairs by convection using the stairs as vent.

Pontoporia House by Ezequiel Rivarola Architect in Argentina