12 space modules, four in the front and three at the back, two of which are roofless courtyards with water features and vegetation create a tranquil ambience and a connection to the sky and the surrounding landscape.

‘…The Proposal
The study always faces each new project as an opportunity of research in the theory and practice of architecture. In this occasion, as the resolution of the house security was so important, it seemed interesting to see to where this strong condition could be taken as a generator of the project. How far the formalization was dependent on the solution of the problem, and how far this dependence could strain without affecting the good aesthetic result, always operating within the standard costs for a house.
Reverse an alleged negative condition specific of this assignment and turn it into a solutions search engine that won’t waste the potential that this problem entails, was a decision that led to the designers to propose a house which extends up to the party walls to have only two vulnerable fronts. In this way, the two facades of nearly 14 m long became essential elements of this project. Of this first decision and the need to solve the project on ground floor comes almost naturally the proposal of creating interior courtyards to get natural light and allow cross ventilation in all areas of use.
Then it was proposed a resolved home in a plant divided into 12 space modules (four of front and three of deep) of 3.30 m side. Two of them are empty and are proposed as small interior courtyards with the vegetation as protagonist in one of them, and the water in the other. These roofless spaces are added to the adjoining sites, providing a feeling of more amplitude and a changing atmosphere by the effects of the light coming through them and the contemplation of life that develops there. They also offer a cut of the sky and surrounding landscape from the most diverse corners of the plant.
The front facade was projected as a plane composed of stacked pieces of wood, that gives privacy to the rooms that are placed at the before mentioned front, in addition to solving the sealing of the house. Toward the back, the chosen system to give security to the house should be of quick operation and affordable cost. The proposal was then, a roller metal curtain that when it is opened, it is completely hidden inside inverted beams of the roof and that is activated by pressing a key.

Functional Organization
The house is set back from the internal condominium street by a garden and flooring suitable for parking a car, made with wooden planks buried in the earth.
As the house arrives from one boundary of the property to the other, it was necessary to propose, besides to the main entrance, another of service that would enable a direct entrance to the back of the lot so as to solve the maintenance activities of it.
The access to the two doors is by a partially covered area. The front door opens to a single space, with the water courtyard and the green courtyard as main characters. There, can be developed the meeting activities in a flexible way, only determined by its equipment. On one side of this space, and protected from the views behind a hanging partition, are the bedrooms and bathrooms; on the other side are the service entry, the kitchen (which is barely hinted across the courtyard green) and the laundry.
In the background, the different activities of the house are extended in a partially covered area that goes from one boundary of the property to the other, making very indefinite the limits between inside and outside. The house is linked to the pool through a solarium; the rest of the lot is free to begin to be occupied by the planned greenery…’

ARCHITECT: BAKarquitectos, Buenos Aires, Argentina. DESIGN: Maria Victoria Besonias, Guillermo de Almeida, Luciano Kruk. CLIENT: Maria Victoria Besonias, Guillermo de Almeida. LOCATION: Villa Udaondo, Ituzaingó, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. DESCRIPTION: residential. STATUS: completed. AREA: 167 sqm. DATE: 2010. No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Morfae and the copyright owner.