SCHOUTEN HOUSE _ Marbella (Spain)
The house is a light, rectangular and glazed prism based on the plot. It is located to the south, in a dominant position. The cleaned and opened geometry reflects the intention to flee from the usual and predominant idea in the environment of building massive enclosures, in such a way that the dwelling is thought as a box that opens onto the landscape, allowing it to enter all corners of the house, as a geometric element that defines a space for the primary quality of volume, without adhering to visual restrictions beyond those of the land. Therefore it is an artifact that relates the scale of the landscape with the inhabitant, interpreting the landscape as a material of composition of the domestic space.
The project responds to the need to create a detached house in the plot, trying to respect the topographic conditions as much as possible. In this way, as an intervention strategy, ordering of the altimetric levels of the plot is proposed in order to create a seat in it where it supports the dwelling in the upper levels that minimizes earth movements as much as possible.
The house is a light, rectangular and glazed prism based on the plot. It is located to the south, in a dominant position. The cleaned and opened geometry reflects the intention to flee from the usual and predominant idea in the environment of building massive enclosures, in such a way that the dwelling is thought as a box that opens onto the landscape, allowing it to enter all corners of the house, as a geometric element that defines a space for the primary quality of volume, without adhering to visual restrictions beyond those of the land. Therefore it is an artifact that relates the scale of the landscape with the inhabitant, interpreting the landscape as a material of composition of the domestic space.
The house acquires personality through a perimeter piece that, like a hat, unifies the interior spaces of the functional program whenever it creates exterior living areas, such as a longitudinal porch that surrounds the living room and the kitchen and a winter terrace. This element also determines a forceful and resounding aspect that emphasizes the imposition of a project that forced the house to be resolved on a main floor, despite the adversities that the existing topography supposes in the plot. The proposed solution has a marked character of linearity that makes it characteristic and differentiated from the typical constructions of the environment, guaranteeing at the same time a maximum landscape integration.
On the other hand, a selection of materials has been proposed in which the economy of means and the greatest efficiency prevail to guarantee its correct maintenance and its easy replacement. This leads us to choose materials that give housing a remarked neutral character that is influenced by the presence of the vegetation of the gardens, while serving as a meeting point for a critical position and rejection of conventions constructive and formal.
