DOCUMENTATION PROCESSES

1. 

CASA OCHOQUEBRADOS 

ELEMENTAL 

‘ARCHITECTURE AS OBJECT’

KEY CONCEPT  

Casa Ochoquebrados is a formally simple, yet striking holiday house located on the Chilean Coast approximately 250 hours north of main the city Santiago. Here it is a rough and rugged landscape, characterised by deep ravines and dramatically cut stone inlets and cliffs. Within this difficult and even brutal environment, emerged architect Alejandro Aravena’s (Elemental) impressive inspirations (Keegan 2019 ).  The design is an unambiguously simple form with three volumes (Keegan 2019 ). Named Casa Ochoquebrados (Eight Ravines), the key concept is derived from the site’s topography, sitting closely at 22 metres above sea level, making it a subtly ‘monumental’ piece in the landscape. Boundaries are blurred consistently as materials and textures blend are and starkly contrasted with the topography. Form challenges typology and topography. Here no longer is the landscape a component of the house, but the house is an object in the landscape.

Casa Ochoquebrados celebrates both the simplicity and complexity of the natural world, balancing roughness, brutality with refinement and proportion, mass and transparency, shelter and exposure while it is set apart in a harsh, compellingly stunning landscape (Keegan 2019 ).  

Elemental celebrate primitivity; embodying natural forces and elements inherent in the site, boldly represented in these audacious volumes expressed specifically through the horizontal volume homing the fire place as it dispenses a subtle stream of smoke into the sky (Stott 2014 ).  Fire is the central piece of this design, exemplifying the revolutionary achievements of man and the continuous challenges the natural phenomena present (Stott 2014 ).

The forms are mostly poured concrete, with the roof surface finished in the same timber used for formwork and shuttering, the intention for these pieces “to age as stone, acquiring some of the brutality of the place, yet remaining gentle for the people to nature and life in general”, as said by the architects. 

SELECTED DESIGN ELEMENT

The key design element integral to this this precedent is the building as a pavilion. It is the building in-situ in this arduous landscape which is the pivotal investigation. The stark juxtaposition between the three concrete volumes and the rough, rugged and textural landscape is most evocative of architectural quality. This then sets up the enquiry into the nature of the topography, with its strong rock ravines, cascading towards to the ocean.

Alvarez has eloquently achieved a visual illusion, as three volumes appear seamlessly intersected, and balancing against gravitational naturality. These volumes are combined at junctions where simple planes celebrate light, shadow and texture. As the forms are articulated in their composition, they capture light on their surfaces, dispelling it to the ground below.

The forms and their seemingly subtle connection to the topography (and each other) are be carefully examined. The surface and texture of the formed concrete must be replicated specifically as to re-interpret or represent the tonal and textural qualities as reflected by light and the ground below. The topography is pivotal in identifying the architecture as object and situating the pavilion as a subtle, yet evocative piece in place.

HOW IS THE KEY CONCEPT REFLECTED IN THE DESIGN STUDIO?

This precedent celebrates the qualities of landscape, environment and natural phenomena, hence by modelling it, will reiterate the importance of architecture as a response and respect to site. Modelling this precedent in context will be beneficial in setting up a practice where investigation of site is front and foremost of any design decision. By developing an approach to the production of a site model that is more evocative in form, more efficient in use of material and more investigative in the role the design plays as an object in space will prove most beneficial to future design practice. It reiterates the how ciritical it is to ground architecture in site, to make the connection to the earth a respectful practice. In future architectural practice, modelling this precedent can inform site studies of regional contexts, where soil types, climate patterns, contour information and access to materials can inform the vernacular. 

GEOMETRICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SHAPE

The design element (pavilion in context) has various geometrical features ranging from the rugged and rough undulation of topography, textural qualities of the earth, the frivolous texture and reach of the ocean and the robust, rectilinear and cubic composition of the architectural form in situ.

The topography is generated by the natural formation of geological features, wind and salt erosion, calculated and generated into contour mapping which sets up the mathematical language at intervals for communicative understanding (contour map). This topo-surface carries a variation in tonal, textural and formal quality, inspiring its intrigue.

The Casa (house), is situated carefully, its placement and composition, a specific consideration of linearity, as its planning coordinates its composition and form. The base volume is a simple rectangular form, running 10 by 15 metres and is structurally integral in forming a plinth for the emerging volumes. This volume is cantilevered subtly as the topography dramatically lowers. In plan, angles are calculated between the X and Y axes, forming a 45- degree rotation for the central extruded volume continuing to the following floors. On this first floor, the third volume is then situated on the X axis, perpendicular the base volume, stretching 9.5 by 3.2 metres, containing a spiral staircase which terminates almost in line with the central volume. This volume extends four floors and carries a challenging cantilever towards the ocean and over the base volume. The central volume follows on an angle forming the light chimney and the ‘spine’ of the composed form and appearing balancing between.

These carefully considered calculations were developed on a grid set, divided in dimensions multiple of 8,4 and 3 forming the equation to enable the composition and structural abilities of the forms. This precedent is most representative of a concerned consideration of geometry in landscape, of element and form.

PROPOSED SCALE, MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE

My intentions are to communicate a vast expanse of the site with the architectural form as a piece in situ. It is then ideal to model at 1:200 as this scale allows for a wholistic context. As expressed in design intentions, I am interested in learning a technique to model the site, which is an efficient use of material, presents sculpturally and evocatively and maintains an investigative purpose. The nature of this site is proximity to the ocean and a vast expanse of rugged earth and rock. I intend to form the contour information into topography that is created by a mesh to enhance the textural quality of the undulations. I intend to identify the boundary between the ocean and land by elevating the mesh off the base surface on lightweight and narrow stilts, probably a narrow metal tube. The textural qualities of earth surface would be interestingly represented by a subtle covering of burnishes, formed by heat exposure to the mesh or by a plaster-like covering to separate the surfaces. The architectural form requires textural qualities of formed concrete which can be fabricated by casting in plaster or re-articulated in a contrasting material as three volumes of a deep -toned timber.

Scale 1:200

Material: Aluminium, timber, plaster, modelling foam.

Technique:

-        Design a hatch/template for the mesh.

-        Laser cut aluminium sheet on metal laser cutter

-        Form contour information on 3D model

-        Use contour information on 2D surface to understand the level changes and utilise the metal stilts as the basis for the contours, which will then hold the mesh in place.

-        Fabricate the base out of timber and sand roughly to create a curved surface

-        Oil and varnish the base to represent ocean surface.

-        Using bandsaw, disc sander and other workshop tools to construct the building 

TIME COMMITMENT AND BUDGET

HOURS: 2-3 full days (two classes and external time outside of class) 14-20 hours.

BUDGET:  Try and use found/ scrap metal. But factor in laser cutting costs and timber purchase.

$30 for hour laser cutting.

$30 for sheet of metal if necessary.

Utilise scrap timber for base and building block

Total approximately: $60. 

REFERENCES

Keegan, Edward. 2019 . "Casa OchoQuebradas." Architect 30 .

Stott, Rory. 2014 . Arch Daily . July 2014 7 . Accessed June 25, 2019. https://www.archdaily.com/524606/elemental-s-ochoquebradas-the-spirit-of-the-primitive