House JR is conceived as an essential dwelling, where architecture is shaped through matter, light and time. Rather than producing an autonomous object, the project configures a series of atmospheres that support everyday inhabitation with calm and depth.
Arranged horizontally and in direct contact with the ground, the house establishes a close relationship with the site. This condition allows for a contained architecture, where the connection with the surroundings unfolds gradually through materiality, controlled views and the modulation of light, rather than through explicit gestures.
The spatial organisation is structured as a sequence of solids and voids, where built spaces alternate with courtyards, terraces and intermediate areas. These act as active environments that regulate the relationship between interior and exterior, defining varying conditions of use, scale and intimacy.
Daily life is concentrated on the ground floor, in continuity with the outdoor spaces. The rooms connect fluidly, without rigid hierarchies, allowing multiple modes of use and appropriation. The architecture favours continuity and spatial depth, maintaining a constant relationship with the immediate landscape.
Concrete, explored as a field of investigation, defines the project’s primary materiality. Developed in a warm tone, close to that of earth and sunlight, it allows for spaces where mass does not enclose, but protects, filters and creates intimacy. Thick walls and filtering planes regulate views and establish a controlled relationship between inside and outside.
Light enters indirectly, passing through filters, offsets and thicknesses that produce a continuous interplay between light and shadow. These variations accompany the passage of the day and make time perceptible, generating atmospheres that are more experiential than formal.
Material expression is reduced to its essentials. Concrete, timber and metal are combined with restraint, creating contained environments where matter, proportion and light take precedence. The architecture avoids excess and embraces ageing as part of the project, allowing materials to gradually merge with the constructed landscape.
The landscape is incorporated with precision. A naturalistic planting strategy operates as a living system that modulates views, filters light, generates shade and creates a microclimate. Vegetation accompanies the architecture without dominating it, introducing seasonal variation and reinforcing the relationship with the environment.
Through courtyards, terraces and controlled views, nature gradually enters the house and becomes part of the spatial experience. The landscape does not act as a backdrop, but as an element that gradually transforms the perception of space.
The sun plays a central role in shaping the atmospheres. Orientation, overhangs, built mass and vegetation work together to receive, filter and control light. The house adapts to daily and seasonal variations, integrating climate into everyday life.
House JR proposes an architecture open to use, climate and the passage of time. Minimal in expression yet rich in nuance, it offers a domestic experience shaped by the relationship between materiality, light and landscape.
Team:
Studio: Gonzalo Bardach Architecture
Project Author: Gonzalo Bardach
Project Team: Gonzalo Bardach, Rocío Carrillo, Leila Rocamora Duca
Construction Supervision: Gonzalo Bardach
Site Team: Francisco Castelli Aspiroz
Landscape Design: Fabiana Sambresqui, María Inés Beveraggi
Interior Design: Gonzalo Bardach, Leila Rocamora DucaStructural Design: Ignacio Bardach
Photography: César Béjar
