4-unit seasonal houses
location: cañete, peru
clients: private
design team: s. barclay – j.p. crousse
project team: v. del solar, r. aguirre
built surface: 917 m2
completion: 2009
photographer: c. palma
awards: wallpaper design awards 2012 - best private house - shortlisted project
Located on the edge of a cliff, six houses built over 6 years share a common typology. This complex constitutes an unusual design laboratory on how to create “indoor exteriors” and reconcile intimacy with vastness.
From the ocean, the houses define platforms as extruded volumes emerging from the cliff. From the desert, they seem to be excavated on the sand. An artificial beach, defined by an enclosure, contains long and narrow pools that visually connect between them: pools become ludic spaces where neighbors can relate with each other, and protect the bedrooms located underneath from the setting sun. Two cracks give room for open stairs that connect the artificial beaches to the lower level of bedrooms.