La Casa del Río, a residential project deeply rooted in the local community
Living in the Landscape with Protection and Openness
The Brief
The project proposes a large-scale single-family home conceived through a direct and honest relationship with its natural surroundings. The proposal moves away from the idea of an autonomous architectural object to create a unified response, integrated into the site and defined by the climate, the views, and the topography of the location. The goal is to develop a home capable of offering protection, privacy, and a sense of dignity, while opening up in a controlled manner toward the sun, the river, and the surrounding landscape.
The home is conceived as a system with its own rules for growth and use of the lot, designed to evolve in the future without losing formal or functional coherence. The commission calls for architecture that is ambitious in terms of program and spatial quality, yet at the same time rational, buildable, and reasonably maintainable.
Project Scope
La Casa del Río is organized around a clear geometry that structures the layout on the lot and defines a carefully thought-out sequence of pathways. From the entrance, the architecture guides the occupant through the use of transparency, controlled views, and changes in scale that gradually reveal the relationship with the landscape, avoiding an immediate, all-encompassing view. The house is shielded from the most unfavorable orientations and prying eyes, while gradually opening up toward the sun, the garden, and the river’s course.
The choice of materials reinforces this sense of permanence and rootedness. Stone walls, wooden elements, and copper roofs create a robust and timeless architecture, designed to age gracefully and blend naturally into the surroundings. These materials not only lend character but also ensure durability and ease of maintenance.
Despite the complexity of the program and the scale of the home, the project avoids unnecessarily complex or extravagant solutions. The proposal relies on clear and efficient construction systems compatible with reasonable execution. The result is a home that balances representation and livability, protection and openness, architecture and landscape—conceived as a place to experience the land mindfully and serenely.
Architecture that protects itself, opens up, and ages alongside the landscape.
Project developed by Ujo+partners in collaboration with Iñigo Amézola. The project encompasses the complete architectural design and conceptual definition of the project, conceived as an unbuilt residential prototype.
