This is a family residence commissioned by a young couple and their two young daughters, located in a residential neighborhood of Santiago. The 200 m² program is organized across two floors, with the shared spaces on the ground floor and the bedrooms on the upper floor.
In an effort to ensure privacy, the volume presents a hermetic facade towards the neighboring buildings and the street, with the exception of a continuous upper window that prevents views into the interior from the outside. This window selectively frames views of the mountains to the east, thanks to the specific height of 1.30 meters that cuts off immediate sightlines.
The main facade is set back from the street by a hard-paved courtyard made of stone cobblestones, which functions as a parking area. This is further separated from the street by a wooden screen made of stained pine, with a single access opening placed along the symmetry axis.
Through a strategic operation of dislocation in plan, the more public spaces on the ground floor (living room, dining room, and kitchen) are oriented in different directions toward the garden. In this way, each space is independent from the others, creating an ambiguous area that serves both as the entryway and a central distribution space, linking the two levels of the house.
Project: Casa Chovar
Architects: Albert Tidy, Ian Tidy
Location: Calle Paul Harris, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
Area: 200 m²
Structural Engineering: Claudio Hinojosa
Construction: Constructora Quitrahue, Michel Filippi
Materiality: Steel and Glass
Year of Completion: 2010
Photography: Marcelo Cáceres