Nirvana Home by AGi Architects
19/02/2018.
[Mesillah] Kuwait
metalocus, JOAQUIN MINAYA
metalocus, JOAQUIN MINAYA
This "home" is designed around the concept of Nirvana. In it, architects redefine the concept of housing, based on mental and emotional characteristics.
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior corridor. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior stairs. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Living room. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior stairs. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior stairs. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior stairs. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Interior courtyard. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Exterior. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects. Photograph @ Fernando Guerra
Axonometric schemes. Nirvana Home by AGi Architects.
The Nirvana Home, designed by AGi Architects, focuses on the interior, without relation to the environment. Organized by a large diagonal, the different spaces of this home look at each other, interacting through courtyards with gardens at different heights. Following the concepts of the traditional architecture of the place, the spaces of access and ground floor are destined to the public and social program whereas the superior spaces are more private and with privileged view of the environment.
Description of project by AGi Architects
There are no words to define the concept of Nirvana, a mental state with effects in the physical and spiritual planes. This makes it difficult to explain and only those who practice meditation can understand how far they are from reaching it.
These thoughts led us to name this project Nirvana. Words like “house”, “villa”, or “palace” fail to represent the scale of the building, its materialisation, or its spatial order. We prefer the term “home”. The features of a home are not physical, but rather emotional and affective, and Nirvana Home has been designed and built to satisfy the needs of the inhabitants in these terms.
This home is also a reflection of the culture within which it is developed. In this sense, its point of contact with the location at ground level is a public floor dedicated to socialisation, for the gathering of family and friends. With this purpose in mind, the spaces were designed to look at one another, detached from the surroundings and interconnected through a series of courtyards.
The series of geometric voids in grey polished marble contrasts with the exterior's white rough ceramic finish. The duality of textures is similar to that found in a marble quarry, where the polished geometric voids contrast with the natural mountain terrain.
Inside Nirvana Home, little by little, step by step, the horizon and the sea begin to dominate and the building is marked by a formidable diagonal that displaces matter so as to reach maximum transparency, allowing rooms on different façades to look towards the sea. This strategy generates a string of empty spaces that become three-dimensional courtyards holding gardens at different heights and acting as shared spaces for parents and children. The last floor of Nirvana Home is where the private spaces are found, for the exclusive use of the parents who, from this privileged position, are able to preside over the indoor activities of the home without losing sight of the sea and the horizon.
More information
Main Architects
Nasser B. Abulhasan.- Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea
Type
Residential
Area
6,000 sqm
Date
2012- 2017
Design Project Leader
Daniel Muñoz
Onsite Project Leaders
Sara Barranco.- Samer Mohammad
Project Team
Margaux Van Houtte.- Abdul Hafiz Bahi El Din Mohamed.- Javier Alonso.- Nima Haghighatpour.- Ana López.- Marisa Ollero
Colaboramos
Engineers. Arturo Macusi.- Joseph Thomas.--- Lighting. Lara Elbaz.- Rafael Gallego.--- Interior Design. AGi architects.--- Interior Consultant. María Fink.--- Suppliers. Gunni & Trentino.- Panoramah!.- Faveton
Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea, Nasser B. Abulhasan AGi ARCHITECTS
The international design firm AGi architects was founded in 2006 by two young architects educated at Harvard University, Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea and Nasser B. Abulhasan.
With a noticeable international character and a multidisciplinary focus, AGi architects offers a professional service emphasizing quality,creativity and exclusive design. AGi has a vision to create environments that create a lasting value for clients through distinctive and imaginative solutions. At present, the studio has offices in Kuwait and Madrid, with a team comprised of more than 50 professionals.
The studio's architecture is based on four founding pillars: innovation, an inherent life component, ecological and social interventions andresearch. AGi architects provide comprehensive services in architecture, urban planning and design, interior design, research, consultancy and complementary services.
Among the latest acknowledgements for AGi architects are a nomination for the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture-Mies van der Rohe Award 2015, "Highly Commended" at WAF 2015, four WAF Awards (2014, 2013, 2011 and 2010 editions), ten Middle East Architect Awards(2015, 2014, 2013 & 2012), two mentions at MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Awards 2012, and various awards granted in the last editions of Cityscape Awards and International Property Awards, amongst other prizes.
Joaquín Pérez- Goicoechea and Nasser B. Abulhasan.
