House in the Air by Andres Uribe Mesa in Enviagado, Colombia

Project: House in the Air Architects: Andres Uribe MesaLocation: Enviagado, ColombiaArea: 4,628 sq ftPhotos: Carlos Tobon

House in the Air by Andres Uribe Mesa

Andres Uribe Mesa designed the House in the Air project on the slopes of Enviagado, Colombia. This amazing single-story home with an area of 4,628 square feet is located on a large plot with an intimate connection to nature.

Andres Uribe Mesa presented and developed the house on a 7,000 sq m plot, striving to establish an intimate connection with the surrounding nature. "When I encounter a landscape like this, where the forest consists of various species of local trees and opens up to an endless horizon, I strive to 'bring' the outside world inside," explains the architect.

This connection with the environment determined the appearance of the structure, thought out with an idea of absolute simplicity and a desire not to stand out on the plot. The three volumes forming this 430 square meter house are raised 36 cm above the ground to create a levitation effect. Although the architectural project is linear, it has a curved composition resembling randomly placed 'boxes' on grass.

Brick walls, reinforced with concrete columns and flat roofs made of thermal and acoustic insulation material, form several 'portals', from which three different volumes stand out: two forming the kitchen and main bathroom, and a third larger volume including the entertainment hall, living room, laundry room, and garage.

For the facades, the architect prepared a local mixture of gray paint that harmonizes with the house and its surroundings. However, for the above-mentioned three volumes, he covered the facades with treated natural wooden laminates resistant to atmospheric effects and UV fading.

A portal made of rusted steel sheets installed on a concrete slab provides access to the central volume of the house at the point between the living room and dining area, near which is the kitchen that can be easily separated from the rest of the space by two large sliding doors when necessary.

Two enclosed glass 'connectors' run between the volumes: one leads to the bedroom, which has access to the garden through floor-to-ceiling doors. Access to the garden is also provided in all other rooms. The second glass connector joins the living room with the reading room where all books are placed on shelves built into the walls. Between the shelves is an antique cast iron heater. Next to this room is the entertainment hall, followed by the living room and a small maid's room, laundry room, and garage.

Uribe does not hide his admiration for the architectural concepts of Mies van der Rohe and follows these principles when choosing a very precise set of finishing materials: gray facades, white interior walls, bamboo floors and floor-to-ceiling doors in many areas. Similarly, the clarity felt in the house during the day is preserved at night thanks to carefully planned lighting.

This extremely simple design requires strict control of all details and careful application of construction technologies, as in an architectural project that seems so simple, there is no room for errors or flaws.

-Andres Uribe Mesa