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Rustic ranch in Argentina: House of Jasmines
House of Jasmines is owned by a French family and has been converted into an intimate luxury boutique hotel set in sprawling orchards and stunning gardens of roses and jasmine bordering the Arenales River in Salta, Argentina. The ranch covers a total of 900 acres which guests are free to explore, and the hotel itself has beautifully decorated guest rooms and suites. Each of the rooms are different and in keeping with the colonial feel of the house, with beautiful beds with hand-embroidered sheets, antique furniture and plenty of rustic charm. Fresh roses, and jasmines in season, will fill your room with a glorious scent. The restaurant, La Table de House of Jasmines, serves excellent local dishes and the well-equipped spa offers the perfect place to relax and unwind. Go mountain biking, horse riding or simply walk the miles of trails along the beautiful landscape. There is also a wonderful outdoor swimming pool and rose garden surrounded by open fields.
This sensational retreat has 8 guest rooms and 6 suites, ranging in price, $200 – $370, from here.
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Concrete and glass shelter in Mar Azul forest
This incredible concrete holiday home was designed by BAK Architects in the coastal forest of Mar Azul, 400 km south of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The foundation was built with respect for the environment, with the structure consisting of two perpendicular prisms, on a strong slope with dense foliage. The goal was to minimize intervention in the landscape. The slope was exploited to create an ultra-luminous semi-basement, thus reducing the volume and embraced in one of the facades is a preserved pine, old and very robust.
The towering maritime pines provide privacy to the house and relieve high winds on the coast, but they also cast a strong shadow that reduces the amount of natural light. To overcome this handicap, numerous windows were screened at different heights and with different sizes, from fixed glazing to floor to ceiling glass walls. Views of nature are provided in any direction from the interior, while the exterior reflects the landscape making the housing camouflaged.
Access to the main floor is by way of a raised platform of lamas of wood that runs along the long facade. Through a sliding enclosure comes to an open space which hosts different environments: two living areas, kitchen with dining room and a staircase at the intersection of two prisms. The master bedroom and bathroom are isolated from the rest of the house which receives light through generous windows which are open and almost flush with the ground. The simplicity of the construction is repeated in the interiors with furnishings in concrete and formwork in wood, as well as walls and ceilings. Carpets and leather of cow or zebra, mirrors and bold splashes of red details draws attention, which makes up the brief and effective ornamental repertoire. What are your thoughts, what do you think of this spectacular home?
Visit the website of BAK Architects here.
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Concrete dwelling with modern-elegant design
L House is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was completed in January of this year by well-known Chilean architect Mathias Klotz and associate architect Edgar Minond. The single family residence exudes a classic, modernist elegance that will stay timeless for years to come. From the architects: “Although this could be categorized as yet another grouping of concrete boxes representing the tiresome trend that just does not seem to want to die, this residence avoids all of the pitfalls most of such houses fall into. In contrast to the stacked-concrete-boxes syndrome, not one section of this residence sticks out over anything, nor jut in an odd angle. No vanity ideas, no statement characteristics, no ego trip.
The house looks unpretentious and serene. All of its parts belong together and, loveliest of all, the structure appears to have sat on the site for some time. Simply put, it belongs. It all works. European modernist sensitivities are apparent both inside and out. The use of wood, glass, steel, concrete and travertine limestone creates a coherent composition of materials and allows light and shadow to complete the decorative touches. Without being too severe or controlled, this residence is composed of order. Some angles offer a Japanese or Scandinavian vista, as the indoor and outdoor spaces interact harmoniously. This kind of simplicity is difficult to achieve and therefore it is so rare.†Via
Visit the website of architect Mathias Klotz here.
Photos: Roland Halbe
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Sleek concrete dwelling in the woods
Today we present to you this spectacular concrete house in Mar Azul, a seaside town approximately four hours south of Buenos Aires, Argentina characterized by a large dune beach and leafy coniferous forest. Designed by Bak Architects, the clients chose a field in the forest with a challenging topography, away from the sea and from the most lived zone, to construct a cottage without losing the important presence of the landscape. The 968 square foot (90 square meters) home does not have a main entrance; its flexible construction allows one to enter by anyone of the rooms. Natural light floods the spaces, blackout curtains have been incorporated for privacy and when light is not needed. Furnishings were specially designed for the home, made from recovering Canadian pines wood from packing motor boxes.
The custom built concrete furniture defines the spaces, which can be separated by a curtain wall façade through two “paños fijos†that can be removed or be replaced by doors. With this resource the rooms can be enlarged, visually extending in any one location of the house. The plan of the house (6.90m x 14m) is a reinforced concrete slab that rests in the partition walls of the main façade. The inner partition walls are of composed of hollow bricks and painted with white latex. The heating system, since natural gas in the area does not exist, was solved with a wood burning stove that acclimatizes the main living area, the first bedroom and the corridor. The main bedroom and the baths are heated with electrical plates. Via
Visit the website of Bak Architects here.
Photos: Gustavo Sosa Pinilla and Daniela Mac Adden
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Incredible glass and concrete home in the forest
Casa Cher is an incredible concrete and glass home in the forest of Mar Azul, Argentina, designed by BAK Architects. The residence is a holiday home for a couple and their two teenage children and is comprised of 1,130 square feet (105 square meters). The owners required that the home have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and be closely integrated to the landscape and take full advantage of the neighboring forest views. The main floor of the home is accessed by way of a concrete staircase. Traversed once from the entry door through a small hallway are two flights of stairs that leads to a medium level upwards, the master bedroom with its bathroom.
Leading down the hall downwards to another medium level is a double height space which accesses the general bathroom and bedroom cabins of the teenagers rooms. The bedroom cabins leads out onto a courtyard which serves as an expansion but is also used as a resource to make an enclosure of one of the sides of the dwelling and thus integrated into the landscape. The main access floor is a unique space where through differences in height and concrete walls are defined spaces for the living, dining and kitchen areas. The heating system, since there is no natural gas in the area, was solved with a system that combines salamander stoves to bottled gas and electric stoves.
Visit the website of BAK Architects here.
Photos: Gustavo Sosa Pinilla
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Contemporary concrete home in Argentina
Codina House is a contemporary residence that has been designed by the architecture firm A4estudio in the beautiful city of Mendoza, Argentina. This luxury home is comprised of 4,844 square feet (450 square meters), situated on a 1,500 square meters flat parcel of land in a residential area within the city. It is in a typical continental climatic zone, with large weather amplitudes between stations where the natural breeze blows from the south.
The project was an opportunity to rethink the suburban houses facilities in up and coming urban spaces in contemporary Latin American. Trying to understand the space as a stimulator, suggesting sensitive geometries that optimize weather conditions and operate from a green conscience. The house is built around an interior central courtyard, opening the main spaces to a large garden. These spaces are organized in a north direction, gaining direct heat by solar radiation, the smaller and private spaces are oriented to the east, leaving the services areas to the west.
Due to the natural movement of air masses, the volume of air in the central courtyard rises, bringing great environmental benefits to the garden. The big concrete wall that emerges from the central courtyard, its fundamental object was to protect the house from solar radiation from the west. To protect the west façade, a micro perforated aluminum material was chosen to ventilate it. The same material was used to design the main façade of the house.
The result is a project full of contrasts, where the dramatic scope of access, from where you can only see the ground and sky, faces to an open and deep interior space, where multiple instances can be understood visually, where everything seems to be simultaneous in space and time. Furniture and interiors are to a very high standard, the flat polished guatambú wood, the black board doors and other materials, contrast with the main structure. Via
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Magnificent concrete home in the Argentinian forest
This fabulous concrete home design was created by BAK Architects for their client which is located in Mar Azul, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The 935 square foot (86.88 square meters) Franz house was constructed on a 337.50 square meters heavily wooded site. The architects have done magnificent job to this minimalistic home combining three elements of concrete, wood and transparent glass material to create such an incredible residence. The use of ample windows allows for plenty of natural daylight to filter into the home. The kitchen area includes built-in concrete countertops and center kitchen island with a built-in kitchen table and breakfast bar.
Visit Bak Architects website here.
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Modern black house on the lake
The black house was born by the request of a young couple, brought to architecture firm Andres Remy Arquitectos.¨This single 3,552 square foot (330 square meters) house is located in a closed neighborhood, 30km. away from Buenos Aires. Argentina. The lot, 20 meters wide and 50 meters length with 3 meter of lateral retreats, has amazing views to the lake.
The analysis of the lot showed the architects the advantages and disadvantages they should take into account along the entire design process. The best views to the lake were at the back of the lot, while the best orientation was at the front. The surrounding houses and the wide lot marked the visuals they should use.
The simple program, for a socially active couple without children, made relevant the resolution of the social areas. The architects decided to divide the social areas in two. In one side are located the common areas, such as the kitchen and the dining room. On the other side is located the living room, closer to the lake.” Via
The shallow pool that divides the house in two allows the indirect light to bathe the interiors, as the northern sun reflects its light on the water surface. This way, light is present in every corner of the house, but never in a direct way.
Both programs are connected by a glass bridge, with the water running under your feet.
The living room, 10 meters wide and 5 meters in length, opens to the exterior using glass walls allowing a clear view to the lake.
The resolution of the first floor follows the same criteria of differencing areas. At the front are located the bedrooms for the future children, with views to the lake. As a bridge, joining the two volumes in the lower floor is the main bedroom with a giant overhang that conquers the best views to the lake, seeming to float over the water.
The Black House has an almost provocative sobriety, where the pure white in the inside provokes an emotive contrast with the absolute black in the outside; a strong characteristic that names the house.
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Argentina mountain home with spectacular views
Alric Galindez Architects designed the Casa S in Bariloche, Argentina. The house is a result of several stone boxes piled up on the side of a sloping area. Each one of these cases points and frames an outstanding view, where we can find Catedral, Otto, and Ventana mountains, as main characters of the landscape seen from inside.
The space is organized so that it can be divided in different zones, depending on the number of persons that are actually using the place. During most of the year, the house can be used by areas, smaller homes inside the big house for single couple trips or for groups of friends in leisure plans, or even both of them happening at the same time. These variety of layouts transform the inside life of the house, growing, changing, adapting, evolving.
Local stones were used to keep a coherent language with the harsh and wonderful surrounding, trying to create the idea that the house was always there, just as another rock or an unnoticed natural feature. Snow seasons reinforce the idea. A white vast dominating view, only a few mountain peaks appear in dark contrast and the house always there.
The social area is placed on the access level, dominating the best views captured by white calm boxes from inside, opposing to the overwhelming exterior. The master bedroom and the guest rooms share this level too, each facing a different mountain, in this surprising kaleidoscope of sights. On the ground floor level, the rooms for the kids, shaped by the land slope, creating different situations and volumes, and a two level loft, due to a sudden depression on the terrain becomes the boy’s master space.
As an extension of the deck, a sinuous wooden stair guides us to the last box, resting a few steps below. A sightseeing Jacuzzi offers the best sunset views of lake Gutierrez, and below the wooden deck, a warm gym and a sauna complete this relax an inspiring lookout, in an ideal mood, slightly above the Patagonian valley.
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A tropical home becomes a living sculpture
Artist Carlos Páez Vilaró was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1923. He purchased a property along the eastern sea of Uruguay’s scenic Punta Ballena, in 1958, building a small, wooden lodge that over time became “Casapueblo” (“House-Village”). The sprawling compound, a whitewashed cement structure reminiscent of Mykonos, Greece, was built in stages by the artist to resemble the mud nests created by the region’s native hornero birds, and became his home, work studio and museum. Though he resided in Casapueblo, his “living sculpture,” by 1968, Vilaró continued to add on to the structure at his desire, at times adding a room for a particular guest. He later opened a section of Casapueblo to tourism as a hotel. The above photograph is his creation called “Casapueblo” in Uruguay. The photographs below are of his homes on a property in Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina called “Bengala,” named after the Bengal Tiger. The original house on the property is used by the artist as a work, at the opposite end of the immense garden hidden in the tropical forest stands Bengal, the astonishing house with galleries and cupolas designed in a similar style to that of Casapueblo. Via
The original building construction is between 140 to 150 years old with a natural Tigre aesthetic.  Vilaró uses this building as his work studio.
In the circular living room is the heart of Bengala. The natural light coming from the roof reflects on the bronze maritime theme artwork above the fireplace.
This is the domed ceiling in the living room.
The circular lines and textured walls envelop every room in the house giving you a clear sense of shelter and warmth.
Every corner is a new discovery. Behind the bar there is a recycled antique train part.
A view from the front door with a staircase featuring a fascinating oval opening and a library consisting of statues and totems from his years in Africa.
This large hallway leads to the guest area.
This corridor connects the main sector with the guesthouses, which operates as a separate house with living room, kitchen and even its own bar.
The dining room table, designed by Vilaró, was made from a huge cable reel. The holes were added to place candles. The beam above the table was salvaged from an old railroad track.
This guest bedroom continues with the lines and curves of the remainder of the house, but is unique in that it breaks from the traditional white.
Although this bedroom is found in an seperate building, it is only steps away from the main house and connected through a path of sugarcane plantations.
A table with individual bluish ceramic tiles is encapulated around a fig and palm tree that acts as a natural parasol. Chairs made out of wicker invites one to a tranquil environment.
The upstairs bedrooms all lead to the same large terrace that transports itself into a world of perforated domes.
The cement domes have been perforated with crystals of colors, inspired by coral reefs and marine animals.
With a scheme that mimics its Uruguayan pair, Bengala was constructed with classic lines and similar standards of design.