The project originates from a commission for a weekend home for a young couple, located on the shores of the Aculeo Lagoon, near Santiago. The site is situated on a sloping lot, on the southern face of a hill that overlooks the lagoon from above.
The house thus functions as a landscape observer, both of the immediate surroundings and the distant view, through two singular windows that diverge both in height and direction to capture different orientations. One volume follows the natural slope of the terrain, while the other rises in the opposite direction.
The program, measuring 160 m², is straightforward. The first volume houses the public areas—living room, kitchen, and dining area—within a single open-plan space, while the second volume accommodates the private areas, including bedrooms and bathrooms, in more compartmentalized configurations. The view of the lake is reserved exclusively for the master bedroom.
The geometric turning point of the house is defined by a transverse circulation path that traverses the program, simultaneously delineating the different levels and the two access points at its ends.
The materiality of the project is primarily steel, used both in the structural framework and the six-millimeter thick laminated cladding, finished with a visible rust-resistant protective paint.
The formal expression of the house seeks a synthesis in the continuity of the vertical and horizontal planes, freeing the edges from the traditional construction complexities encountered at the junctions of walls and roofs, as is typically seen with material differences, eaves solutions, drip edges, or rainwater gutters.
The design of the house draws inspiration from the work of Tony Smith and serves as a tribute to his oeuvre.
Project: Casa Martínez
Architects: Albert Tidy, Ian Tidy
Collaborators: Matías Pincheira, Osvaldo Salazar
Location: Condominio Piedra Molino, Lot 3, Site 68, Aculeo Lagoon, Metropolitan Region, Chile
Area: 160 m²
Structural Engineering: Eduardo Valenzuela Sabbagh
Construction: Quitrahue, Michel Filippi
Materiality: Steel and Glass
Year of Completion: 2007
Photography: Sergio Pirrone