Casa D4, located on a hill at 2,300 m above sea level, stands as a "hinge" between the powerful landscape of the low Ecuadorian Andes behind it and the valley below, which embraces the city of Loja at an altitude of 2,100 m: from this privileged panoramic position, the building intercepts unconditional views and perspectives, standing like a totemic form radiating with natural light on all sides.
The building, designed by the duo Edwin Hurtado + Holger Cuadrado, is characterised by a volume of exposed reinforced concrete articulated in structural "boxes" corresponding to the various floors, recalling brutalism in its essential forms and the raw authenticity of concrete, the only material in the composition chosen for both the load-bearing elements - pillars, ribbed slabs, masonry - and the finishes.
The presence of only four support points, with spans of 7.15 m and cantilevered beams of 4.70 m, gives the interior space considerable planimetric freedom and functional variability, according to the future needs of users who may require different functions other than residential: this is how the flexible sanitary units are conceived, permitting adaptation of the distribution layout, as well as the possibility of compartmentalising the individual floors for independent use by replicating the external staircase.
The overhangs of the volumes and terraces stretching out towards the landscape denote the expressive force of gravity in the composition, so that the concrete and glass masses seem to float in contrast with their heavy, powerful configuration.
Almost as if to indicate that architecture is a matter of simple rules: a structure that is also a straightforward figurative expression and that encloses an interior space free of preconditions.
- Project:
- Casa D4
- Architectural project:
- Edwin Hurtado + Holger Cuadrado
- Location:
- Loja, Ecuador
- Completion:
- 2020
- Client:
- Famiglia Hurtado Jaramillo
- Structural engineer:
- gica_ingenieros, Carlos Aguilar, Ximena Saavedra
- Collaborators:
- Jefferson Condoy, Joffre Calva, José Luis Castillo, Daniel Cabrera, Jonathan Jiménez