The Argentine studio Estudio Galera Arquitectura has designed the Tucan House built on a corner lot in the town of Cariló, in the district of Pinamar, southeast of Buenos Aires in Argentina. This town is a natural reserve of forest, dunes, and beach with an extension of 3 km of seafront located 360 km from Buenos Aires.

Casa Tucan is a house designed for summer use and, due to the vegetation present in the area, and the distance to the beach and downtown, it resembles the image of an urbanized forest. The work was designed in 2015 although it was not started until 2020, so the project was modified due to the changes in the lives of its inhabitants and adapting to the different family configurations.
The Tucan House by Estudio Galera Arquitectura is proposed as the superposition of two concrete boxes located in a way that minimizes the felling of trees and gives greater importance to the center where the dune rises and generates a microclimate resulting from combining the natural closure of the land with the implementation of housing.

On the first floor, separated a few centimeters from the ground, are located the social areas with the living room, dining room, and kitchen that are unified with the exterior by simply moving the carpentry panels. The ventilated half-roof protects from the sun and this is where life takes place in summer. Finally, the transversal volume contains the bedrooms that act as a viewpoint to the northeast.

The materials used are reduced to aluminum, glass, and concrete. Simple materials and applied workmanship make the inhabitants give a new meaning to simple actions such as going up, entering, going out, or being.


Tucán House by Estudio Galera Arquitectura. Photograph by Diego Medina.
 


Tucán House by Estudio Galera Arquitectura. Photograph by Diego Medina.

Project description by Estudio Galera Arquitectura

Casa Tucán is a house initially designed for use during the summer, built on a corner lot in the town of Cariló. Due to the vegetation present in the area -large lambertians and elliotis pines-, and the distance to the beach and the center, the sector resembles the image of an urbanized forest.

Originally projected in 2015 for various reasons, the work did not begin until 2020. At this time, the plan was modified according to the changes in the lives of its inhabitants: blended families, the presence of children and adolescents who could be together or separately, living Not only in the summers. The certainty of a program must be adapted to the different family configurations to which friends of both youth and adults would also join.
 

Tucán House by Estudio Galera Arquitectura. Photograph by Diego Medina.

The house is conceived as the superposition of two concrete boxes, whose perimeter seeks to minimize the felling of trees necessary for its construction. The composition of volumes closes to the corner, hierarchizing the center of the plot, wherein an accelerated manner the dune with its natural vegetation rises towards the opposite front, generating a microclimate, the result of combining the natural closure of the plot with the implantation of the house.

On the ground floor and separated several centimeters from above street level, the social areas are located in a space of 13.00 meters x 5.00 meters without divisions. The living-dining room and the kitchen are unified with the exterior by simply moving the joinery panels. The perception of unity is reinforced by the continuity of floors and slabs. This ventilated semi-covered provides protection from the sun and it is finally in that cool space without lateral enclosures, where life takes place in summer. At this level and towards the center of the block, a pavilion is proposed designed as a games room, bedroom, or professional study as usage habits change.


Tucán House by Estudio Galera Arquitectura. Photograph by Diego Medina.

A transversal volume on the top floor contains the bedrooms in a sequence of rooms that are close to the southeast and open to the northeast as a viewpoint.

The connection between floors is resolved with a concrete sleeve that stands out as a particular element in the spatial composition, merging the two main boxes, while maintaining the transparency that allows a front/back relationship.

The choice of materials is reduced to aluminum, glass, and concrete. The latter is molded with 1" x 4" pine boards in formwork that allow deployments such as the one proposed in the access and the connection with the upper floor or the landscape window in the public area on the ground floor.

Simple materials and applied labor make the inhabitants and visitors re-signify those simple situations such as going up, entering, leaving, and being.

More information

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Architects
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Project team
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Ariel Galera, Cesar Amarante, Francisco Villamil, Luisina Noya.
Soledad Van Schaik, Juan Cruz Ance, Facundo Casales.
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Collaborators
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Project supervisor.- Pablo Ahumada. MMO.
Administration management: Verónica Coleman.
Texts and translation.- Soledad Pereyra.
Structural Engineer.- Javier Mendía.
Surveyor.- Juan Pablo D´eramo.
Electricity.- Gabriel Jaimón.
Sanitation.- Cristian Carrizo.
Ducts and sheet metal.- Rubén Calvo.
Custom metal working.- Marcelo Herrero.
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Builder
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Audine Constructora.
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Area
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Project.- 2015 - 2020.
Work.- 2020 – 2023.
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Location
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Cariló, Pinamar District, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Manufacturers
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Wood millwork.- “El Holandés”.
Aluminum millwork.- Alumia.
Concrete supplier.- Pasalto.
Iron.- Acindar / Plastigas.
Coarse agregate.- Cermat.
Sanitary material.- Mastergas.
Paint.- Sagitario.
Marble.- LAVIGE.
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Photography
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Estudio Galera Arquitectura is an architectural firm based in the seaside resort city of Cariló, founded in 2007 by Ariel Galera. Together with César Amarante and Francisco Villamil, they are dedicated to the design, management, and construction of architectural projects. Their work methodology consists of gathering information and analyzing the problem from different perspectives, ensuring orderly planning and maximizing resource utilization.

Throughout their professional development, they have received a number of awards and recognitions, including the following: Selected Work, Quito International Biennial. "KVS House" (2014), Selected Works, Buenos Aires International Architecture Biennial. "Casa Batín" and "Casa Tempo" (2015), Recognition for professional activity from the English magazine WALLPAPER - "20 emerging studios at a global level" (2015), Mention CAPBA Award Built Work 2015. "Casa Pioneros" (2015), Mention CAPBA Award Built Work 2016. "Casa Álamos" (2015), Second Prize CAPBA Built Work. "Casa Kuvasz" (2017), Mention in the CAPBA Award Built Work. "Casa Rincón" (2019), Finalist for the Dedalo Minose Award, exhibition in Vicenza, Italy. "Casa Kuvasz" (2019), selected for the Buenos Aires International Biennial "Casa Divisadero, Casa Kuvasz, Casa Rincón, Casa AYYA and Basque Pavilion" (2019), "Young Argentine Generation Award" at the Buenos Aires International Architecture Biennial (2019).

Ariel Galera is an architect who graduated from the National University of Mar del Plata in 2003. Between 2009 and 2011, he completed a postgraduate degree in Architecture and Technology at the Torcuato Di Tella University of Buenos Aires. Between 2003 and 2007, he worked for other studios in the area. In 2007, he founded Estudio Galera.

César Amarante is an architect who graduated from the National University of Mar del Plata in 2017. He has collaborated with Estudio Galera since 2012, in parallel with his teaching career at the Juan Luis Vives Institute in Villa Gesell. He also works as a teaching assistant in the "Parametric Modeling" course in the Architecture program at the National University of Mar del Plata.

Francisco Villamil is an architect who graduated in 2004 from the National University of Mar del Plata. He divides his career between professional development and teaching. In the academic field, he works as head of practical work in the Recate chair at FAUD/UNMdP.

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Published on: July 11, 2023
Cite:
Metalocus, ELENA DE LA FUENTE, CRISTINA RODRÍGUEZ
"A house in an urbanized forest. Tucán House by Estudio Galera Arquitectura" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/a-house-urbanized-forest-tucan-house-estudio-galera-arquitectura> ISSN 1139-6415
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