alric galindez architects' lake side vizu house in northern patagonia

alric galindez architects’ lake side vizu house in northern patagonia
all images © albano garcía

carl jung introduced the world to his idea of a collective conscious nearly 100 years ago in a 1916 essay called, ‘the structure of the unconscious’. the philosophy argues that each of us possesses innately, a large collection of universal symbols and concepts. while any individual may have no experience of something in particular, they may still perceive its meaning. take for example, a child’s first rendering of a house. without any prompting, most will draw a simple two line structure with a pitched roof. whether or not you believe in the philosophy is moot, whats important is its direct translation by alric galindez architects into the ‘vizu home’. 

outside patio 

the home is poised on a sloped site overlooking nahuel huapi lake and the andes mountains in northern patagonia, argentina. a single, matte black metal sheet volume stands out from the hillside, modeled minimally from a child’s first drawings, four walls and a pitched roof — nothing more, nothing less. inside, are all common areas including the kitchen, living and dining rooms. a huge window overlooks the water, making it a wonderful place to enjoy natural beauty without interruption. 

private rooms are placed in the mountainside and look out at the lake 

all other facilities, are located in the second portion of the design. located directly in the mountain side are private, intimate spaces. the two worlds — public and private — are connected via a two section staircase. when going up and down, one faces the mountain range in one direction, and the lake in the other; subtly representing the physical and emotional difference between the areas. given the location of the ‘vizu home’, the weather is very cold for a majority of the year. the bedroom placement in the hillside makes the most of thermal insolation provided by the soil. black sheet metal was chosen to absorb sun heat, and radiates through the day. behind the metal is 5cm of glass wool, and a solid brick wall. ‘

profile of simple structure 

kitchen, living, dining 

from below 

staircase to/from second portion of the home 

at night 

designboom has received this project through its ‘DIY submissions’ feature, which welcomes readers to submit their own work for publication. see more designboom readers submissions here.

edited by: nick brink | designboom