Articles by Clara Ott

The project consists of a second house in the coast, at a very exposed terrain, visually and acoustically, since it borders a highway. At the other hand it offers a panoramic view of the ocean.

The Rodney house is located in the town of Villa Elisa, part of the city of La Plata, 15 km from its centre and 45 km from the City of Buenos Aires. The house is located in a peripheral lot where the urban fabric isn’t well established and municipal services and infrastructures are yet to arrive.

Located in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, Casa Cova is arranged on a 100 meters long by 35 meters wide lot between the Pacific Ocean and the Oaxacan mountain range, only 70 meters from the coast. The project program was designed as a two-family vacation home, which involved the creation of two different compounds of private rooms that are connected through common recreational areas.

“The artisanal technique implemented in the construction of the floating houses (rafts) of Babahoyo is recognized by the National Institute of Cultural Heritage as a nonmaterial heritage asset of Ecuador, not only for its pre-Hispanic origin but for being, together with the ecosystem services of the river Babahoyo, a component of identity and of cultural-historical value for the city. Although these settlements are the last of their kind in the country, they are associated with a high index of unsatisfied basic needs and environmental problems.”

Working from home comes with a flexible schedule, not to mention savings on travel costs, and you can be closer to family. But distractions can make working from home inefficient. It becomes critical to separate the spaces used for living from the ones used for working. Building an addition is, in most cases, the perfect solution.

The commission contemplated the immediate construction of a single-family house on a plot adjacent to the main urban centre of Zaratamo, a village near Bilbao, but given that the site had to accommodate two houses in the future, a previous study phase was launched for the planning of the plot that included a preliminary project for both houses, so that an adequate coexistence of the buildings and the correct urban fit of the proposal was guaranteed. The planning responds to the need for optimal use of the scarce shared land, favoring a harmonious volumetric dialogue between both houses that is reminiscent of the small rural centres or baserri, which make up the hamlets in the area.

Design Build for Community is a program co-sponsored by the International Program in Design and Architecture (INDA) at Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok) and Mitsubishi Elevators Thailand. The annual program focuses on providing new communal spaces to underprivileged communities, mainly in rural Thailand. Special attention is given to the design process with community participation.