This project is an architectural intervention done on a single-family house. At the request of the client, the existing house and the local architectural memory and identity should be preserved in order to avoid unnecessary construction waste.
Therefore, we went on a search for coincident alignments that would allow us to unify the isolate buildings and transform them into a unit. We took over the central patio void, which we covered in large glass sheets supported by steel columns and beams forming a freestanding structure, independent from the existing fragile walls, and as an architectural hiatus, we invaded and dressed this void with the purpose of joining the buildings. As a result, we unified the two volumes in a way that allowed the tropical sunlight to take over the surrounding outdoor area and its mutating situation.
Traces of the existing house and its human lives and the relations that were part of that house gave the new installation a singular rhythm, creating a pattern of atrium, chamber and patio with different ceiling heights. The initial frustration once we approached the original house was substituted by an enthusiasm embedded on discovering new possibilities and unique results derived from adversities emerged from multicultural facets and influences. Stairs and walkways alternate between pleated steel boards and stacked bricks are an opportunity to create plasticity through architecture.
