Lower House 1st territory

Through this and other publications we will explain the entire process involved in the design and construction of a house in Patagonia. In this first volume, the territory is approached both from a personal point of view and at the moment of meeting the architecture project. If you want to know the finished project, we invite you to stop by here.

Patagonia (ignoring both Chilean and Argentine territorial boundaries) is known for its unique context in so many areas throughout the world and not for that reason always known by Chileans themselves. It is a quite isolated place like many throughout the country.

By knowing the idea of ​​our constituents, a new territory and culture is opened to explore. The project consisted at that time of a second / first home that would accommodate a certain number of people in the isolated property on the south shore of Lake General Carrera. About 45 minutes from Puerto Guadal (450hab) by gravel road and about 5/6 hours from Coyhaique depending on whether one goes by land or with the Tehuelche (barge) that crosses the lake from Puerto Ibáñez to Chile Chico.

The journey from Balmaceda (airport) to the place is a long and varied stretch. Depending on the season in which you travel, its colors and climate will change drastically. Colors such as red will stand out at different times of the year with the Notros on the side of the roads or the Lengas on the hills of the crossing through the Cerro Castillo National Park. Along with the Lengas that will go from green to yellow and red, she is accompanied by Ñirres and Coihues. This range of colors goes back to zero when winter arrives. White comes down from the mountain to the same path and we see everything in black and white again. Along with these changes, various microclimates stand out, of which none is saved from the multiple and sudden changes of state during the day.

 

Going deeper into the construction site, we can talk about a microclimate in which fruit trees existed not many years ago. As we mentioned, the site is located on the southern shore of Lake General Carrera, where the cold air from the Northern Ice Fields meets the warm currents of the Argentine Pampas.

 

Adding up:

1º The thermal inertia of a body of water as large as that of Chelenko (autochthonous name that means “stormy waters”).

 

2º The opening between the mountains that the lake itself generates towards the Argentine Pampas.

 

3º The existence of a southern plateau that encloses this plane adjoining the lake.

 

we ended up forming a geographical situation protected from the harsh winter. When visiting the place frequently throughout the year, there is also a great difference in daylight hours with respect to Valparaiso. Which translates to very few hours of light in the winter.

 

Now, regarding the most difficult condition of the place, which would be the great intermittent gusts of wind throughout the year, we were left with nothing but to observe the present life. Extensive bushes that degrade the wind and protect the soil from powerful UV radiation.

 

On the first visit to the place, camping, we name the different approach distances to the lake (to the wind). Thus being able to name 5 levels of wind intensity from the beach (5), to the sector where the bushy masses ended up forgetting both the wind and the rumbling sound of the lake (1).

 

Through various observations on the site, the conclusion in conjunction with the constituents was to protect the future work from the wind to some extent. That is to say, it was never intended to choose a place this isolated so as not to feel the bad weather typical of the territory. Therefore, the location of the house included:

 

1st Location between level 4 and 3 of exposure to the wind with respect to the coast, thus maintaining an immediate relationship with the weather when leaving the house.

 

2nd preserve the relationship of the enclosures with the Lake, both in sight and sound.

 

3rd Prioritize the least possible intervention in the existing flora and the landscape at the time of placement.

 

Parallel to the study of the characteristics of the place, we inhabit it in the slightest possible way (camping). Thus we find the spatial qualities of its slight slope towards the lake and the increase in foliage towards the interior of the property. Accessing the place by walking from the inside is by sighting. The horizon of the eyes rises and falls with the small hills parallel to the coast that gradually decrease until the stones on the shore of the lake. This sighting allows us as we move forward, to frame certain distances in trees and bushes. That is to say, this cross between sighting and the framing of the distance, is our proposal to inhabit the place.