Completed in 2021 in Pereira, Colombia. Images by Yeferson Bernal, Juan David Toro. Surrounded by a native guadua forest, Milguaduas strives to belong to its environment and fit seamlessly in a descending terrain. The house goes...
“ Milguaduas draws on natural resources to foster a sustainable environment in materials as well as its layout, thus reducing its environmental and energetic impact. The design selects exclusively five materials as its language: locally sourced guadua bamboo, pristine white walls, poured concrete, welded black metal, and baked clay. In their purity, the materials have a monochrome and texture-rich tone. By establishing independence between roof and cladding, as well as in the gable roof and habitable roofing being dislocated, the interiors avail themselves of natural light and ventilation. This displacement is mirrored by arranging a layered descent adhering to the terrain, where rooms are laid out downwards while enabling areas for lingering. The habitable roofing acts as a canal for rainwater harvesting, lying between the traditional clay gable roof which draws a frame enclosing the forest. This plate, as well as the sculptural folded staircase that leads to it, gives off a breath of modernity among traditional archetypes”