The project is a new home on an entirely empty plot, with no previous construction, located on a narrow passageway in the residential neighbourhood of Villa Real, in the city of Buenos Aires. These passage-like streets are a recurring feature of the area and define much of its urban character.
Two questions emerged from the site visit and the project brief. First: what happens if the experience of the ground floor extends fully to the limits of the plot? And second: if that becomes the spatial condition at ground level, what kinds of relationships can be established on the levels above?
With this starting point, the ground floor concentrates all service functions within a compact, opaque volume —toilet, storage, kitchen surfaces. And that is essentially all that occupies this level. This core sets up a series of dualities: it defines a front and a back, yet allows the space to remain continuous and fluid; it produces more contained areas near the party walls but also opens up a large, permeable, ambiguous space spanning the full width and length of the plot.
By contrast, the upper floor is conceived as a closed, suspended volume that hovers without touching the party walls, generating a particular spatial tension. The narrow gaps between this volume and the neighbouring walls become circulation routes and sources of daylight.
Inside this “box” are three bedrooms and two bathrooms —more compact, more intimate spaces that frame views towards the street and its tree canopy. caja se disponen tres dormitorios y dos baños. Estos espacios, más acotados y contenidos, ponen al habitante en relación con el espacio público y sus árboles.
The rooftop, the final level, establishes a third relationship: one with the sky and the broader urban horizon. In this low-rise context, the party walls fall away from view. What remains is simply a floor and the open sky —a terrace that becomes an outdoor living room. The structure reinforces these ideas. The challenge was to materialise a suspended volume that detaches itself from the party walls and seems to float between them, establishing a clear sense of below and above. The strategy involved concealing the columns within the party walls and placing the main beams at roof level, spanning the full 8.60-metre width of the plot. This allows the ground-floor living–dining area to remain completely free of intermediate supports, producing a distinctive spatial tension. abajo y un arriba. La estrategia consistió en ocultar las columnas en los muros medianeros y llevar las vigas al nivel de la terraza, con luces que abarcan todo el ancho del terreno —8,60 metros—. De este modo, el estar-comedor en planta baja queda libre de apoyos intermedios, generando una tensión espacial particular.
