URIARTE HOUSE


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PROJECT

HERNÁNDEZ SILVA AR. ASOC.
AR. JORGE LUIS HERNÁNDEZ SILVA

CONSTRUCTION

AR. MIGUEL MÉNDEZ
BUCOMSA

TEAM

AR. CARLOS MÁRQUEZ CODINA
AR. JAVIER OLIVAR
AR. GERARDO GUTIÉRREZ PEREGRINA
AR. FRANCISCO GUTIÉRREZ
AR. BELÉN ALDAPA OROZCO
AR. GUADALUPE TORRES
AR. OCTAVIO MEDINA CAMPUZANO
AR. DIANA QUIROZ CHÁVEZ
AR. GUILLERMO BASSO TRUJILLO

LOCATION

ZAPOPAN, JALISCO, MÉXICO

PROJECT YEAR

1999-2005


CONSTRUCTION YEAR

2004-2007

AREA

415 m2

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

ACERO Y CONCRETO S.A DE C.V
ENGR. DOMINGO URIARTE

PHOTOGRAPHY

CARLOS DÍAZ CORONA

From the conception to the construction of the project, the whole work took 8 years, in the process variations of the needs, different paperwork interpretations and the evolution of the design criteria itself came across; the challenge was how to manage that this circumstance became a virtue. During every process in a design workshop, the experimentation indicates its moment in time, not of trends, but of need perception, its analysis and the project decisions. In this case the idea rises from architecture of massive walls that shelter, of walk tours that invite to rest, that hide and seduce, that encourage to contemplate, where the use of color and texture give the kindness to the space. 

The formal concept was to create a big discreet box to its exterior, nearly mute and that jealously kept its intimacy, this large body with smooth finish talks with three elements: the hollows, a large wooden screen and a concrete wall at the front. The rear part of the house opens with large windows on ground floor towards a space tucked by the boundary walls and a sunken garden, which is used to give light to the spaces located beneath the property’s slope.   
 
The basement and ground floor are designed with level variations and the second floor is a single uniform platform. The variations of the levels generate 15-foot high spaces in the terrace and living room, where the dining room sticks out on them the same way as the balcony. A large music room is placed underneath them. This room catches the lateral light from the patio and gets its independence thanks to the moving shutters. 

The front facade is sober in the front but kind, it hides a fountain from its visitor that receives him and amazes, with a double height space where the front door appears and welcomes. When you enter you find pause; a frank wall receives but forces you to turn left, the game of walls with different heights and textures do not touch the surface and give the impression of being an infinite space, here the space alludes to antique houses’ foyers: closed and virtuous spaces. Without being too evident, vertical circulations communicate with each other, one for service use and the private to the left discretely behind a seashell wall, which goes from the garage and services to the kitchen and main entrance, and continues up to the bedroom area. The other is on stroll, in its walk you gradually find spaces between the play of, behind it a bright red wall emerges surrounding the fireplace that shelters the living room and terrace, the garage and music room are found bellow, made of raw concrete walls allowing it to isolate the noise from the rest of the house.

The upper level is thought for family life, the bedrooms are placed around the family room. The master bedroom reaches the only view over the valley, thanks to the lateral brook that gradually introduces itself diagonally to the view and evades the buildings giving a multicolored treetop horizon. 

The only significant change of necessities during the process was due to the increasing of a new family member, a terrace was removed from the master bedroom and it was redesigned to adapt to the new bedroom, the rest was almost a metamorphosis process in the project where little by little its lines where simplified. The color was completely white in the interior walls, the elements were simpler and lighter in the windows, structure and skin design. Thick and heavy elements were replaced by subtle lines on the inside; the red wall creates profound reflections dramatizing the concept. The use of raw concrete and transparent spaces got extended.