When Nature Defines Architecture: 12 Houses in the Cordoba Mountain Ranges
One of the great challenges that architects have to face every day when designing begins with the conditions of the site where the architectural project is to be implemented. This involves the analysis and study of a series of factors ranging from sunlight, topography, surrounding vegetation, context, and others, all variables that are capable of guiding and/or defining the direction of the architecture to be developed.
By generating varied perspectives and visuals, making the most of the site’s geographical conditions with the least possible footprint on the land, or even respecting the natural context so as not to alter its characteristics, the homes selected on the Cordoba mountains relate to the landscape in which they are immersed, fostering the interior-exterior link and recognizing the conditioning factors that gave rise to this architecture. Whether through programmatic, constructional, or distribution strategies, the professionals propose various configurations that adapt to the needs of each particular user.
The following is a selection of 12 houses located in the central region of Argentina, in the province of Cordoba, which enter into dialogue with their surroundings through the conception of an architecture that is determined by the conditions imposed by nature.
Terrazas House / Octava Estudio Cba
“The site is a response to the topography of the place where it is located. The terrain slopes from west to east with interesting views of the city and an imposing presence of native vegetation. The studied location of the openings and skylights together with the use of filters and mobile skins makes natural light the protagonist at different times of the day and seasons of the year”. […] “the whole proposes a domestic habitat in dialogue with the topographical feature”.
Bioclimatic House in Villa Parque Siquiman / APS/ Pablo Senmartin arquitectos
“In the first place, the implementation of the house was sought by means of a simple reinforced concrete structure that comes into contact as little as possible with the native soil and existing vegetation, allowing water to run off naturally underneath and obtaining a level 0 access to the house at street level, thus obtaining the best views of the lake […]”.
Obra Luyaba / Barrionuevo Villanueva Arquitectos
“We are presented with a commission for a single-family house in the Traslasierra area in the province of Cordoba, Argentina. A very particular place with pleasant views, steep topography, and a fair degree of urban isolation, where getting there requires taking a few precautions and the notion of neighbors is not present. The value of the site is nature, which plays the leading role from the moment one leaves the asphalted road. The work makes its presence felt among the winding road, the mountain topography, and the vegetation. And as these factors progressively allow it, it begins to be discovered”.
House in Candonga / Fomento Estudio
“Se organiza en torno a un zócalo de piedra que se va adaptando a la topografía del terreno y estructura la vivienda en tres principales áreas: servicios, privada y social.”
House MF / alarciaferrer arquitectos
“Implanted on a small hillside in the middle of the small mountain range of the Calamuchita valley. Its linear and off-set development on two levels guarantees optimum orientation, the best use of the views, and the internal organization of its spaces. The upper floor, which contains the social spaces and the main bedroom, projects towards the horizon by means of a cantilevered structure, while the lower level, which contains the guest spaces, proposes a more calibrated and introverted relationship with its surroundings”.
House VG / BLT Arquitectos
“How to build a house on the side of a mountain? This was the main challenge posed by the VG house project, where its use, implantation, and construction were conditioned by its location on the hillside”. […] “The hillside on which the house is built is completely covered with native woodland. This was a landscape value to be preserved, so the relationship between the construction, the terrain, and the vegetation should be as unnatural as possible, avoiding excessive fillings and supporting the structure directly on the natural soil surrounded by vegetation. The uses of the dwelling and the indoor-outdoor relationship are also affected by the slope.”
House 1/3 / Momento
“It is implanted in a rectangular lot of 10 meters long by 30 meters wide with very strong natural and topographical characteristics, and it is these that give the first ideas of design and insertion. The irregular topography of the lot generates 2 zones: The low part towards the front and a high zone towards the back. The difference in level between these is abrupt and approximately 5 meters in height”. […] “The approach is very simple and respectful of the topographic and natural environment, it seeks to be as non-invasive as possible and is accommodated in the sector of the lot where there is no strong vegetation, nor large trees”.
A House Hidden in the Landscape / Bender Freiberg Arquitectos
“On the outskirts of the city of Cordoba, on a lot with a northwest-facing downward slope, the house opens onto the Sierras Chicas. The fundamental premise of the project: to achieve a horizontal plane while intervening as little as possible in the natural topography of the hillside. From the street you can only see the landscape, the house remains hidden”.
La Cuesta House / Arias Ranea
“The idea centered on building a long retaining wall that would allow us to level a sector of the site and where two rectangular blocks overlap out of phase with each other; this situation allowed us to generate transitional spaces and expansions to the exterior. A small, solitary Tala tree on the front of the site dictated the definitive location of the house and was the organizer of the final route”.
House on the Hill / Abdenur Arquitectos
“The land where the house is implanted presents a natural elevation generating a podium where the house is placed in a sculptural way and gives it exceptional views from the inside. The main premise was to prioritize the landscape and the visuals, so the house materializes framing a natural postcard where the surrounding landscape completely motivated its conception”.
House in La Calera / Abdenur Arquitectos
“The house in La Cuesta is a piece of architecture set on a sloping plot of land located in the town of La Calera, in the province of Cordoba. Materialized in a traditional system, the house offers spaces of privacy and tranquillity as well as meeting and gathering spaces. The aim of the project was to find the balance between this duality”.
mq2 House / bp arquitectura
“The house is located on a privileged plot of land with great views of the Sierras Chicas of the Punilla Valley. Located in a gated community in the northwest of Cordoba in the town of Mendiolaza, it has rugged topography, with large slopes which allowed us to play with two volumes that rest on each other and at the same time rest on the natural terrain and at times are suspended in the air generating large overhangs that reinforce the idea of monolithic volumes”.