Architectural photographer Cristobal Palma has sent us another set of photos from South America, this time of a project in Chile that is a mixture of cave, house and tent.
Wall House, architects by FAR frohn&rojas, has four “delaminated” structural layers: a cave-like concrete core; an outer ring of shelving; a “soft skin” of polycarbonate panels and finally a fabric membrane.
More photos plus plans and drawings to come.
>> see more of Cristobal Palma’s architectural photos in our previous posts: Plasma Studio “parasite in South Tyrol;
Indigo Hotel by architect Sebastián Irarrazaval; Deck House by Assadi and Pulido
Below is a brief description from the architects:
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WALL HOUSE, Santiago de Chile (2004-2007) Suburban residence
As opposed to the general notion that our living environments can be properly described and designed “in plan”, this project is a design investigation into how the qualitative aspects of the wall, as a complex membrane, structure our social interactions and climatic relationships and enable specific ecologies to develop.
The project breaks down the “traditional” walls of a house into a series of four delaminated layers (concrete cave, stacked shelving, milky shell, soft skin) in between which the different spaces of the house slip. From the inside out the layers build upon one another, both materially and geometrically, blurring the boundary between the interior and the exterior and creating, through the specificity of the different materials used (many of which are not common in architectural applications), a series of qualitatively distinct environments.
The building’s most standout feature, an energy screen typically used in greenhouse construction, constitutes the outermost layer, creating not only a diffused lighting and comfortably climatized zone inside but also, through its folding and sometimes reflective/sometimes-translucent surface, contributes to the diamond-cut appearance of the structure.
FAR frohn&rojas project team: Marc Frohn, Mario Rojas Toledo, Amy Thoner, Pablo Guzman, Isabel Zapata
Update 05/07/2007: more photos of this project in our latest post
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Posted by Marcus Fairs
July 5th, 2007 at 8:54 am
It’s incredible how a tent from the outside is a complete house from the inside. Beautiful!
July 16th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Wow! That is lovely. Can I have your “Wall House”? Please?
July 18th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Doh! Why noone ever though of this before!
Pretty clever!
Translucent roof!
What about wind?
July 28th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
I would love to see phots when it has been lived in for a while, it looks so pure at the moment, will it last?
October 16th, 2007 at 6:49 am
Guys, the wall house looks great!!!
how is the inside tempertaure regulated?
does it get hot in summer? I know Santiago has extreme temperatures and gets very cold in winter and hot and dry in summer.
how is the earthquake problem addressed structurally?
would also like to see some plans if they are available.
January 18th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Would the wall house be able to withstand wet climates, for ex. lots of rain? With its greenhouse construction, from where do you get heat, or air (when it’s hot)? Is it easy to put up? what kind of foundation? My family have a constrution business, mainly framers and remodelers…what does this cost to put up? I’ve recently inquired about energy efficient homes and am looking forward to presenting info to my family on building such homes. Is there any information, brochures/pricelists, etc that you could send me? Anna Rios, 1400 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94109; cell 415-240-8644. Thank you.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Wow! It’s wonderful one can see outside anywhere sit in greenhouse.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
i need more detail of that project and the others projects of the architect
June 8th, 2008 at 4:25 am
WOW nice