cazú zegers arquitectua's pixel-inspired housing unit in chile

explore the ‘tiny house’ by Cazú Zegers Arquitectura

Tiny House by Cazú Zegers Arquitectura is part of a broader territorial proposal to build a small neighborhood — Pueblo la Dehesa — in the commune of Lo Barnechea in Santiago, Chile. The small town will feature three types of prefabricated wooden homes, small to medium scale: Type A (24.5 sqm) includes a bedroom and a bathroom, Type B (49 sqm) houses two bedrooms and a single bathroom, and Type C (63 sqm) holds two bedrooms and two bathrooms. All three typologies will accommodate a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room.

‘This is our first tiny house, a modular prototype capable of adapting to many (and beautiful) natural environments. Prefabricated in wood, this project was conceived to give a deep experience of warmth and has architectural solutions that prioritize spaciousness: invisible doors, large windows, an origami-inspired staircase, and terraces that project the internal space. In short, a house ready to settle where your dreams take you,‘ writes the practice on its Instagram page.

all images © Marcos Zegers

creating an organic cluster of units

The neighborhood project is essentially conceptualized as an organic assemblage comprising several sets of 12 housing units. Together, these units will total 600 modules to accommodate different services like cafés, bakeries, and gourmet stores, among other things.

‘Its purpose was to form a cluster system, like a pedestrian-densified town immersed in an open park with the Andes as a backdrop. For this reason, we saw it as fundamental to understand these units as a pixel within a larger system. To respond to this requirement, it became necessary to understand the whole as a whole, giving rise to organic urbanization. It sought to move away from traditional urbanization designs that did not allow the deployment of life and meeting places,’ continue the architects.

More specifically, Cazú Zegers was inspired by botanical shyness, a natural phenomenon in which fully grown crowns of trees avoid ‘bumping’ into each other through sensorial detection; the gap left in-between trees creates small, intimate alleys that any wanderer can enjoy. This phenomenon pushed the studio to envision the houses as clusters centered around pedestrian passageways, a nod to the foliage density against a linear clearing.

The Tiny House prototype is mainly built out of clear pine wood, with iron accents spread throughout. Complementing these materials is a steel staircase crafted like a piece of paper in the spirit of Japanese origami, giving it a sculptural quality. Doors, meanwhile, were set up frameless to expand the sense of spaciousness. Together, these interventions reveal a clean and modular volume, joined by a lively and light-filled interior design and protruding terrace space.

pixel-like modular housing unit

cladding the exterior in clear pine wood