Casa Para Siempre by Longhi Architects
Location: La Planicie, Lima, Peru
Photo courtesy: Juan Solano
Description:
When a young couple came to my office to commission the design and construction of a house where they would live forever, I knew I had in my hands a great opportunity to continue in my search of ancestral contemporary architecture. In that moment, I was ready to dedicate exclusive time to interpret their dreams in order to create a ‘container of life.’
My vision for a special house was confirmed when I went to the site for the first time and realized that it was already occupied by an old house where the couple was living with their two children. Then, the task was to demolish the material but keeping the spirit, in order to replace the old construction for a ‘House for Ever’
The metaphor for the design was to imagine that a big ancestral rock was found in the site and needed to be carved in order to accommodate the living spaces.
This ‘black carved stone’ would be occupied by a 4 car garage, service patio, maid’s quarters and pool baths in the basement; kitchen, dining and living spaces in the first floor. The carving of the spaces would generate interesting ‘built in’ furniture with strong texture to be assorted with other natural and artificial materials in order for the allegory stone to remain as natural as possible to eventually be perceived as part of the owner’s desired garden.
To complete the composition, the blackstone base supports four cantilever volumes containing the intimate rooms, as the ‘white floating stones’ once ambitioned by the client.
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