San Cristóbal, Azuay. Cuenca, Ecuador
2019
@lamediaguaecuador
The “Casa Sigüenza” came up from the criteria of take advantage of the topography of the land in slope by the creation of platforms. The parking and the housing areas are zoned on two terraces with the least possible intervention according to the existing slopes. We planned three green areas: the ornamental flora, the family garden and the dense forest.
The first one is located at the beginning of the house and it proposes to dissipate de impact of the vehicles with the house on the back. It contains mainly low vegetation and kikuyu typical of the area.
The family garden is located near the house. It’s a more private area. It connects the residential zone with the outdoor living by a transparent door from the kitchen to the barbecue. Finally, the dense forest area is located in the highest part of the mountain as the very limit of the terrain.
The access to the house is handled by the creation of porches and hallways which provide light and shadow effects through a simple and inexpensive wood pergola that frames the outdoor barbecue.
Large windows (from floor to ceiling) are created in the social area, taking advantage of the visuals to and from the house, increasing the permeability of the space, generating greater breadth. As you approach the rest area (bedrooms) privacy is handled differently, where the full is greater than empty where the windows have a smaller surface area. The roof inclined towards the back creates the sensation of a wider interior space whereby the light and caloric solar incidence will be of a different intensity from that of the large windows.
