MYP House by Estudio BaBo in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Project: MYP House
Architects: Estudio BaBo
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Area: 3,552 sq ft
Photography: Daniela Mac Adden

MYP House by Estudio BaBo

The MYP House is a beautiful modern home located on a corner lot in the traditional Club area of Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was designed by Estudio BaBo with more than 3500 square feet of minimalist open living spaces opening to a private courtyard with an amazing pool.

The project is a single-slope suburban house located on a corner lot in the traditional Club area of Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina. With an area of 1100 sq m, the lot is part of a new club expansion which results in almost no urban context, devoid of neighboring houses and vegetation. The only significant influence around the lot is the adjacent 3rd golf course. The site is completely flat, and there are no physical constraints between the field and its north-eastern boundary, creating a magnificent view that aligns with optimal solar orientation.

Club internal rules, including strict building restrictions and limits on construction in relation to neighboring buildings, create a very dense urban development with large spaces between houses. This allows connection to natural surroundings, characteristic of other suburban areas. On the other hand; these same features, combined with the client's desire to use maximum allowable area, often result in a very compact rectangular volume that can be dull and lacking expressiveness. This is the main reason why most houses in this area concentrate on external spaces (common in this climate type), using light structures attached to the main volume, which questions their own formal logic.

These strong factors existing in most houses in this area became the main ideas for our project. We chose to expose the volume outward rather than conceal it, using all its possibilities. First we expose it and then apply various articulation mechanisms to create diverse spatial relationships between different program elements. We cut the volume horizontally, separating daily functions from private ones. Then we slice, rotate and translate the lower walls so they touch the outside world at ground level without losing required privacy.

One of these articulations creates an internal courtyard for entry to the western corner. The perimeter walls provide privacy, protect the interior from hot western sun and extend inward creating a programmatic and symbolic pedestrian zone. Other articulations protect main and external zones from the surrounding street, as well as provide space for an outdoor kitchen and service terrace on the basement.

The program of this house is the same as other similar houses. It's the treatment of boundaries between each space that adds complexity to the final plan. From the beginning it was decided to make a separation between daytime and nighttime activities. The first floor plan is dedicated to daytime actions. Its open layout connects with external surroundings while making efforts to preserve residents' privacy and maintain a residential scale. There is smooth connectivity between its spatial blocks, kitchen and guest bathroom (the only closed rooms). The open staircase separating the living room and dining area has railings made of thin metal bars that appear to open as the observer moves around the lower part. Furniture specifically placed on floor level changes also allows for one-way visual connection between two spaces. These strategies were implemented to create playful divisions between spaces.

The outdoor terrace integrates as a special unit within itself, with the same length, width and double height as the living room. This important element becomes the most used space in the house. Large sliding glass doors separating this area from the living room allow combining both spaces and encourage usage throughout most of the year. The external projection of lower brick walls along with their rectangular openings provide privacy and create indefinite boundaries. This hints at a smooth transition between interior and exterior.

Aside from the visual connection between the linear corridor and living room (in double height), the second floor plan consists of a simple sequence of bedrooms and bathrooms. All rooms open to the outside world through large glass openings, each room facing different directions. Individualization of bedrooms is expected by providing them with different landscapes and lighting qualities. This also increases the mass of all upper facades, giving the house its monolithic character.

Natural lighting played an important role in this project. The first floor plan was designed to avoid direct sunlight. Indirect lighting ensures rooms have a special, uniform and constant quality throughout the day. Together with double-height ceilings and cross-ventilation, mechanical cooling systems may be excluded.

Regarding materiality of the project, it was decided to repeat the use of red brick from Chacabuco visible in club buildings and surrounding structures, creating dialogue between the project and its environment. Brick modules appear in the project both in overall proportions of the upper volume and as an immediate articulator of relationships between mass and void. At ground level, clean granite was selected for both interior and exterior floors, while plaster is used on internal walls throughout the house. Wood appears at two ceiling levels in the gallery area. All windows are finished in anodized black color, which is also used for the external wall around the kitchen.

The project seeks to represent a synthesis of contextual conditions. On one hand, the already limited constraints imposed by a single-slope house with its requirements such as connections, privacy and security in an impermeable zone. On the other hand, accepting existing constructive pressures as a strategy that includes and legitimizes design.

–Estudio BaBo