A Contemporary Home with Simple Beauty

April Kennedy April Kennedy
CASA LA SANTINA , barqs bisio arquitectos barqs bisio arquitectos Modern home
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Casa La Santina is a private, contemporary home located in Cordoba, Argentina. It is a concrete, plaster and glazed glass construction that offers vast expanses of light, air and space. It is 4510-square-foot and possesses four bedrooms, a rooftop gazebo, mezzanine, unique passageways, large entertaining areas and a large pool.

The home was designed by Architects Barqs Bisio and in many ways their design embodies Le Corbusier's famous 5 Points of architecture. For those readers who aren't familiar with these concepts, we'll explore a couple of the key points here. Although there are several features in this home that bring Le Corbusier's approach to mind, the single most powerful feature is the free flowing sense of space. Each living area is connected in one single, continuous flow. There are few interior walls and the vast expanses of glass have been cleverly positioned to enhance the organic flow of life within this family home.

To learn more, come with us on a photo tour of this contemporary Argentinian home.

Free and open ground floor design

In the free design of the facade, we can see how a series of concrete load-bearing columns have been used to support the main mass. This is a classic feature in Le Corbusier's approach. It allows for the architect to liberate the design from the limitations of enclosed load bearing walls, and allows for an unimpeded flow of light and air on the ground level. Here, the open ground floor area has been designed for use as an open-air garage and garden area.

Double height living room

Moving into the living room, we enter a bright, open plan area. A horizontal ribbon of windows on the upper level invites an almost perfectly even light to flood the interior. The white blinds remind is that the occupants have the choice to frame the surrounding views from side of the home they choose. This again is another feature of the Corbusier approach.

Mezzanine level

Moving upstairs to the mezzanine, we have a good sense of how the natural traffic zones are considered in terms of flow. The bannister is minimalist, there are no internal walls or opaque window coverings to visually block the moment to the outer transition areas.

Unique passageway

From the outside, we can see the unique passageway or glass corridor leading off from the upper mezzanine level. It is almost completely enclosed in glass and the simple expanses of concrete and glass. It almost appears to be floating within the main structure, but it is unified by the simple continuous presence of light, glass, air and concrete.

Outdoor terrace

On the rooftop we see again the same, minimalist construction at work. A flat roof and load bearing concrete columns have been used to allow for uninterrupted views of the surrounding greenery. A simple, in-built outdoor grill and entertaining area has been created.

Evening pool

For our final photo, we will look at the pool and outdoor entertaining area at night. The simple, flat-roofed construction has allowed for almost complete integration of this area with the rest of the home. The pool can be viewed from the rooftop, the upper balcony area and the two ground floor areas.

If you are interested in contemporary homes, you'll love this Ideabook A Dream Villa on the French Riviera.

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