Estudio Borrachia creates a modular home that breathes nature
![Casa de Madera is an experimental wooden home located near Buenos Aires](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/deGT5bvpt56R3w3fVhpLHX-415-80.jpg)
Estudio Borrachia has constructed a wooden weekend home for a young family in the countryside just outside of Buenos Aires. Built on a grassy plot among trees and foliage, Casa de Madera breathes nature – indoor space is extended into outdoor terraces and wild plants will grow from its roof.
Selecting the material because of its easy indigenous availability and ease of transportation and construction, the architects used the building as a test – to create a well-designed, pre-fabricated and low-cost home that could be realised quickly. The result is a generous two-bedroom build with plenty of living space, completed in under five months without altering the surrounding eco-system.
Take an interactive tour of Casa de Madera
The design was defined by the properties of the main material – wood – which was used for the structure, cladding, division and deck. Consequently, a single-storey modular plan of connecting rooms and covered terraces was born, combining spatial efficiency with outdoor living.
Nature is part of the design itself. Cross ventilation and shady areas surrounding the house make for passive temperature regulation and with time wild fauna will grow from a bed of soil submerged within the corregations of the roof.
Casa de Madera is part of an architectural series by the Buenos Aires-based practice, titled ‘Housing Habitat’, which explores the relationship between homes and their environments. As well as commissions, the studio, led by Oscar and Alejandro Borrachia, is involved with academic research around the study of society, often collaborating with local organisations to advance their work.
Outdoor terraces are built into the design, offering the potential for further rooms to be built as the family grows
The interiors offer unparalleled access to the surrounding landscape
The design was defined by the properties of the main material – wood – which was used for the structure, cladding, division and deck
A living roof will eventually cover the home with wild flora
The architects used the building as a test – to create a well-designed, pre-fabricated, low cost home that could be realised quickly
Interiors are simple and windows offer views out onto the surrounding greenery
Casa de Madera is part of an architectural series by the Buenos Aires-based practice, titled ‘Housing Habitat’, which explores the relationship between homes and their environments
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Estudio Borrachia website
Photography: Fernando Schapochnik
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
Playfully transparent roof defines German Glass House escape
The Glass House by Sigurd Larsen, set amid nature outside Berlin, is an unconventional country home with a distinctive transparent roof
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
The Learning Tree nursery nurtures through sustainable architecture
The Learning Tree, a Romford nursery by Delve Architects, uses natural materials and sustainable architecture principles to nurture young minds
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Rawlins Design breathes new life into midcentury Fire Island House
Rawlins Design respectfully remodels a midcentury gem on New York’s Fire Island, a 1969 house originally designed by architect Harry Bates
By Alfredo Mineo Last updated
-
Escape to the country with this contemporary Polish farmhouse
BXB studio head Bogusław Barnaś and his team transform a Polish farmhouse into a 21st century rural home
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Suburban house by SPPARC surprises and delights in London
A suburban house in leafy south London takes domestic craft to another level, courtesy of London architecture studio SPPARC
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Helsinki’s Pikku-Finlandia temporary event space is a student project come to life
Pikku-Finlandia, a sustainable, temporary wood event space, has opened to the public in Helsinki – and it’s born of the ambitious thesis of two students, Jaakko Torvinen and Elli Wendelin, featured in Wallpaper’s 2022 Graduate Directory
By Nasra Abdullahi Last updated
-
Minimalist sauna design is idyllic Stockholm Archipelago lookout point
A minimalist Swedish sauna by Matteo Foresti offers perspiration with perspective
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
South African holiday home opens up to the coastal elements
Salt Architects creates 5 Fin Whale Way, a contemporary South African holiday home that brings together part and present
By Jonathan Bell Last updated