60 DIGS.NET
| 7.15.2022
P R O F I L E | N AT U R A L H O U S E
That it does, this project is less a building than it is a mood.
"Our architecture always seeks to be atmospheric," says Cota
Paredes. The olive tree at the heart of the house is a particularly
spiritual overture that connects the space to nature. Not content
with just blurring the lines between indoors and out, the space is
intently interested in starting a conversation between domains.
These walls do talk, too—only quietly, with soft insinuation rather
than boisterous overstatement. Calm is really a coin of the realm
in this house—the flow-state of spaces.
The project's spartan interior is an instigator of its fluidity. And
while the less-is-more aesthetic is often wonderfully lassiez-faire,
a minimalist house is not inherently at ease. It requires a delib-
erately choreographed floor plan sympathetic to the "small
but significant" details that support liveability. For example,
maximizing the extent of a space's social areas. "In this type
of project where the possibilities are limited, we respond to the
needs of the clients," Cota Paredes explains.
Light and the use of white are dominant elements throughout.
Light permeates the space, giving it shape, while the "purity
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Light permeates the space, giving it shape, while the "purity of white" is an inheritance
from the likes of Le Corbusier and Alvaro Siza that stimulates freshness and serenity while
serving the more practical purpose of protecting the house against the heat.
of white" is an inheritance from the likes of Le Corbusier and
Alvaro Siza that stimulates freshness and serenity while serving
the more practical purpose of protecting the house against
the heat. It looks spotless besides. Light is particularly radiant
in this project, illuminating the whole of the interior and its
space-defining finishes, such as the white marble floor that
covers the patio, leaving its thousand-year-old olive tree to
thrive. "The combination of three materials—white concrete,
a cement flat with white paint, and a stone pavement—give
the façade an austere but elegant character." Finally, it's light
that also silos the house in a kind of solitude, even amongst
its neighbors.
With sun and light on its side, and expressions of nature inside
and out, Natura House is both testament and tribute to the
beauty of simplicity. It doesn't take much; in fact, very little, as
this project proves. It does, however, demand an architect with
a strong, unambiguous point of view. "We like to think that in our
architecture you can decide to isolate yourself or open yourself
to the outside in a conscious way," says Cota Paredes. Natura
House allows for both. cotaparedes.com
