Ecuador

The community, made up mostly of Kichwa Amazonian people, faces challenges such as low family incomes, limited job opportunities, and a lack of tourism infrastructure. To address this, a three-year project led by the Parish Council of Puerto Napo has been proposed, which includes the construction of cabins, a restaurant, a camping area, a handicraft center, marked trails, and a viewpoint with an observation tower for astrotourism. Johana Mendoza The project aims to capture part of the unmet tourism demand in the area (over 23,000 tourists), with the potential to attract at least 1,169 visitors annually. In addition, it seeks to increase household income, strengthen local capacities, preserve the environment, and promote the community&... More

The communal house and sports fields project on Mocolí Island proposes an efficient and sober design, which is aesthetic and functional at the same time in order to address the requirements of the program. The main pavilion of the complex is placed in an orthogonal manner, generating strategic visual and functional relationships between the key parts of the program. @ JAG Studio The pavilion consists of a single-height rectangular floor plan that subtly appears behind the powerful surrounding vegetation. The building has a central patio, filled with native vegetation that creates a fresh and pleasant environment, next to which the entrance, reception and waiting area are located in a covered outdoor space. The white metal struc... More

The dream of preserving what was first, and what it now, as an act of respect and good augury towards and with Mother Nature by Pablo, its owner, is the background that initiates the assingnment. A few kilometers from the central village in the “El Calvario” community, Pastaza province - Ecuador, the family decides to embark on a project capable of offering a recreational experience intended as a place for rest, relaxation, and direct connection with an Amazonian natural environment. Andrés Villota Francesco Russo Punto Dos Studio   Within the family lot, covering approximately 2.5 hectares, Pablo envisions the lodging project site over a ravine located to the southeast of the area where wildlife con... More

At the highest point of the city, a bird lands after a long flight; among hills and rocks, it seeks to observe the great metropolis in awe… A pavilion that invites contemplation and discovery from within, framing unique views and spaces that can only be appreciated from great heights. A place to pause and delight in the urban landscape, a unique formal element where light, structure, and geometry merge: "A temporary space for prolonged memory." © Eletres Studio Ideal Territory Located in the city of Guayaquil, the pavilion functions as an experimental observatory of the city. Its location at the highest point of the campus of the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil, more than 70 meters above sea level, positions... More

OLVIA is located on a plot of special relevance for the neighborhood of Bellavista in Quito, Ecuador since it’s on the main access street and has a prominent slope that helps to enhance the position of the building in its surroundings. JAG Studio The morphological complexity of the terrain and its pronounced topography made the boundary between the building and the public space one of the determining elements in designing the project. To provide a correct solution and avoid the creation of walls as enclosures, the volume that was proposed opens up to the public space as it descends along the perimeter of the property. JAG Studio In this strategy, the pedestrian access was located in the highest point of the lot, and the ac... More

The project represents the effort to recover and preserve the cultural heritage of the city of Loja, an architectural jewel that takes us back to the late nineteenth century. The house, catalogued with a traditional Republican style by the INPC of Ecuador (National Institute of Cultural Heritage), not only stands out for its antiquity, but also for the deep symbolic value it holds as an essential part of the local identity, integration to the environment and use of materials such as wood, adobe and tapia. Freddy Bonilla Fotoarquitectura Freddy Bonilla Fotoarquitectura The restoration sought to address the urgent need to replace the deteriorated section of the roof and part of the missing tiles on the verge of collapse, giving way... More

“The tea room reflects on a minimal architecture that  can integrate, understand and be part of its environment; maintaining a balance between the new and the existing in order to generate spaces for sharing”   The project is located in an agricultural area of Baba canton - Los Rios province - Ecuador, surrounded by local flora and fauna, it rests above a water channel. Don Pepe, an elderly adult, maintains the habit of having a cup of tea and coffee with his family every afternoon and has been doing so for years. The objective was to maintain this tradition within a space that generates a family connection which together with nature is able to adapt to various daily uses.   The room, with dimensions of 8m x 4... More

Designed for a cliff outside of Papallacta, Ecuador. NADA Studio has conceived ‘WTBA HOUSE’ to combine the solidity of concrete with the warmness of wood and the lightness of glass. The project proposes a low single-story residence topped with a terrace and a pool. Design for a young guy who enjoys to be alone, the house separate strategically the private from the social area. At one side we have the living room (social area) and the stairs that take you to the roof, where you will find the social pool and a terrace to enjoy with friends. At the other side of the house, divided by the garage, you will find the kitchen and behind it the master and only bedroom, where you have your own pool to enjoy exercising right above the cl... More

"Mangiare Bene" is an Italian food restaurant located on the ground floor of a heritage house in the city of Cuenca - Ecuador. In an area of ​​60 m2, an interrelation between the diner and the preparation of food for the enjoyment of the culinary art was plated, such as the intensity in the work area and the brightness of the fire reflected in the stainless steel.   Irregular elements in corten steel that work by traction hang from the metal beams, which are supported by their folds creating a metallic mantle that works as a connector for the entire geography of space, obtaining different heights that play with the human scale.   The floor delimits areas with changes in ceramic texture, these will vary due to the different spa... More

Mezze Residence #2 is part of a set of four private houses located in Quito, Ecuador, on the Tumbaco Valley, on the northwestern foothills of the Ilaló inactive Volcano.   The preexistence of many avocado and lemon trees on the site, and the direct views of the volcano where the precursors of many design decisions which had to be weaved with the owners requirements to have a house that required to have seemingly opposite qualities of privacy and transparency.  Thru the main access, a great avocado tree welcomes the frontal façade which embodies the spirit of privacy with a concrete volume that, has almost no openings, and folds diagonally to the main wood entrance door. Upon entering, the natural environment is re... More

With a position of respect towards the nature (artificial or natural) of the site and with the aim of integrating the new use of study house, it is resolved to preserve the pre-existing ones: a mediagua that functioned as an office, the green area with a mandarin tree and two pedestrian accesses the first a gravel absorbent floor (informal) and the second a cement platform (formal) which worked as a main income to the office, executing an intervention that maintains the integrity of the artificial system.The informality that informs the way of life.From the constant review of the informal that takes advantage of the limits, a light structure is used that allows us to dodge and occupy the place around the tree that acts as a force of expansi... More

The “Hospital de Puyo” emerged as a major architectural challenge in response to a national emergency which called for the design, construction and outfitting of a latest-generation hospital facility in record time (less than one year), but without giving up on building a leading hospital. Here we are dealing with a modular project featuring a high degree of prefabrication, dry construction and a marked commitment to local industry and society.The project plan is based on an intellectual concept of conception, design and construction defining a series of organisational rules governing processes to ensure the quality of the facility’s use, performance, construction and maintenance. An experience that makes Puyo’s modular hospital a leading r... More