Ninja Homes: Casa Poli
Founded in Buenos Aires in 2001 by Mauricio Pezo and Sofia Von Ellrichshausen, Pezo von Ellrichshausen Arquitectos prides itself on its exploration of the relationship between art [Pezo is also a visual artist] and architecture – investigated through experimental projects, many of which are funded by private clients.
The Casa Poli was built along the water on the Coliumo Peninsula [550 km south of Santiago, Chile] by Pezo Von Ellrichshausen and another couple who were fellow artists looking to construct an experimental weekend retreat / studio / gallery on the water.
Von Ellrichshausen explains that the form and aesthetic of the building were not meant [originally, anyways] as a statement of minimalism, but instead purely functional responses to the site and program of the house:
“The site is surrounded by water on three sides, so we needed something compact. It will be closed for much of the time, so we needed shutters over the windows and a building that wouldn’t need maintenance. The concrete will just age naturally, like rock. Lots of small design decisions led to the shape – it wasn’t pre-established”
~Von Ellrichshausen, quote from icon]
The construction of the interior [image below] was achieved by recycling the wood used for the exterior concrete formwork, leaving an imprint of he wooden planks on the concrete walls. This same wood was then used again for the doors and shutters, to serve as protection during storms.
[for those of you that don't know, construction waste/leftovers make up a HUGE amount of the Earth's waste, especially the wood used in concrete work in some locations. While it is becoming more popular to recycle construction materials, its still pretty great that Pezo Von Ellrichshausen chose to reuse all of theirs...]



The interior organization of the building is based on the roles of its various functions as house, artists studio, and gallery. The ‘house’ program, along with the service elements such as the stairs, storage, and bathrooms, has been pushed out from the core of the cube to the perimeter, as shown in the axon below. This allows for the work & exhibition spaces to occupy larger spaces, with more continuous wall space for hanging work, within the house’s core. It also let the designers open spaces vertically, such as the three storey gallery space shown below.

.:info + images via-> arqa.com [check out some more photos and the plans & sections there]
.:Check out our previous ‘Ninja Homes‘ features->
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Posted: July 15th, 2009
at 8:00am by orangemenace
Tagged with architecture, design, home
Categories: Ninja Homes,architecture
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