CONTEMPORIST

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 03:17 PM PDT

Parque Humano have designed the AA House in Mexico City, Mexico.

This house is an exploration on the trace of a variety of formal and architectural lineages in the ongoing transformation of the modern dwelling that ranges from Neutra´s Kaufmann House to the Case Study Housing Program.

This house was designed as a man-made pavilion for observing and living in close proximity to nature. Organized around an open landscape, the result is an L-shaped plan one room wide, an intersection of the two axes radiating from the central living / dining space in which all rooms flank the swimming pool and face the view of the park.

Pushing the limits of interior space through the use of floor to ceiling glass openings, we sought to bring house and landscape into a higher unity. More than a composition on lines and planes, this residential design provides a framework for appreciating nature.

Through the use of an steal structure we created a greater feeling of lightness and openness. Through the use of overhangs we provided shade and reduced glare. Brick was a fundamental material in the house, brick provided insulation for extreme temperatures primarily from the intense summer heat. We created a special composition whereby walls organize space but do not bear weight.

The rectilinear composition is supported by the straightforward landscape designed by Pamela Burton. The pool, not only recreational asset, also intensifies the view from the interior through its constantly changing reflections of the sky and clouds.

Visit the Parque Humano website – here.

Photography by Paul Rivera and ArchPhoto.

Casa Del Cabo by Andrés Remy Arquitectos

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 04:55 AM PDT

Andrés Remy Arquitectos have designed the Casa Del Cabo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Project is located on a closed community on the north of Buenos Aires, on a lot with north orientation and surrounded by a lake on two if its side, giving us amazing views.

The clients, an elder couple that no longer lives with its children, needed a cosy, compact and overall functional home.

The house opens towards the back, matching the northern sun and the best views. On the east side, the house meets the lake through a semi covered space that functions as a garage and outdoor living area. This space allows the integration between the front garden with the back garden.

To the south, the house appears quite compact to preserve the owner's intimacy. The kitchen is on the side that takes the most of lake view beyond the street.

On the inside, there is a central double high green space – structuring axe of the house – that makes air circulation moving more freely, brings some indirect zenithal light to the different areas of the house and generates crossing views between them all. With the stairs, this space connects and separates visually serving and served functions. It creates this way a new landscape that organizes into a hierarchy the hall, the stairs and the suite.

The pool is strategically located on the edge of the lot, where it gets a lot of sun during all day and, on the same time, offers the best views thanks to the stairs which form like a bench that overlooks on nature. Moreover, it blends with the landscape's organic design and breaks up with strait shapes of the house.

The public ground floor rises with the terrain – which has naturally differents levels – so that it creates an interrupted view to the lake from the inside.

Visit the Andrés Remy Arquitectos website – here.

Photography by Alejandro Peral