Pezo von Ellrichshausen's ‘Naïve Intention’

monograph underlines transversal notions of inventory, format, scale, regulation and value within the pictorial representation

A new monograph of the work of Chilean architectural duo Pezo von Ellrichshausen ‘underlines transversal notions of inventory, format, scale, regulation and value within the pictorial representation’.

(Image credit: Pezo von Ellrichshausen)

By Harriet Thorpe

last updated 11 October 2022

in Features

Chilean architectural duo Mauricio Pezo and Sofía von Ellrichshausen have curated a collection of their projects into a captivating monograph that presents built projects in parallel to conceptual designs.

Since founding Pezo von Ellrichshausen in 2002 in Southern Chile the pair have gained an international reputation for their serene, material-led designs, that are lyrically bound to often rural settings and challenge inhabitants to a beautifully abstract existence.

In the introduction, fellow Dutch architect Wiel Arets introduces Pezo von Ellrichshausen’s ability to mix art with architecture through a poetic blur of typologies and geographies, allowing the reader to traverse the projects from his personal perspective.

A living and dining room view inside Cien House in Concepci&oacute;n — *A living and dining room view inside Cien House in Concepción, Chile, built between 2009-2011.*

Originally developed as part of an academic studio at IIT College of Architecture in Chicago led by Pezo and von Ellrichshausen and delivered as a lecture in 2014, the main essay by the architects reveals their theoretical approach that often inverts architectural and artistic values to see how far they can be interchanged.

The monograph also presents a visual feast – designed by Edwin van Gelder, founder of Mainstudio, each vibrant image occupies a full single page, with a wide variation between drawings, sketches, models and photographs.

The title of the book ‘Naïve Intention’ is taken from the resulting project of the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize award, that was granted to the architects for Poli House on the Coliumo Peninsula. Poli House, a weathered concrete cube perched on the coast of Chile, is illustrated in the visuals of the book in different ways: a close up photograph of its rough facade sits in opposition to an image of a plaster and glass 1:20 scale model floating on a black background.

The monograph thus embodies the architects' manifesto of cross production between art, architecture and academia.

Vara Pavilion and Guna House — Pictured here, the Vara Pavilion, designed for the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, 2016 and the Guna House, Llacolen (San Pedro), Chile, built between 2010-2014.

models and sketches — Two essays introduce a series of images that span models, drawings, sketches and photograph, each with a brief caption labelling project, materials and location.

Pezo von Ellrichshausen’s 120 Doors Pavilion, Concepción, Chile, 2002-2003. Installation at Parque Ecuador, November 2003

INFORMATION

’Naïve Intention’ is published by Actar Publishers and IITAC Press book. For more information see the Actar Publishers website and the Pezo von Ellrichshausen website

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.