Enter this green Paraguay retreat inspired by music

A Forest in the House, Paraguay, by Equipo de Arquitectura — (Image credit: Federico Cairoli)

Some might find it hard to see how jazz, a music genre originating in New Orleans and incorporating swing notes, complex chords and improvisation, would have much to do with architecture, the art and technique of designing and building. Yet those two have much more in common than it seems, from rhythm and texture all the way to harmony, proportions and dynamics – so much so that Goethe even once famously described architecture as ‘frozen music’.

But there is nothing frozen about Equipo de Arquitectura’s ‘A Forest in the House’, a project completed in 2025 in San Bernardino, on the shores of Paraguay’s Ypacarai Lake. Bright and breezy, the 260 sq m retreat is inspired in part by its architects Horacio Cherniavsky and Viviana Pozzoli’s passion for jazz, an influence evident in the house’s layout, which riffs on alternative patterns of solid and void, resembling the notes and pauses of a musical score.

Enter this green Paraguay retreat

‘There is a profound similarity between architecture and music, in the initial process of composition,’ argue the architects, who co-founded Equipo de Arquitectura in 2017. ‘Although music is the most abstract art form and architecture is the opposite, the way in which both disciplines are composed shares many points in common.’

The pair liken their approach to that of jazz pianist Bill Evans, who once said about the music genre: ‘You use your intellect to break down the materials, learn to understand them, and learn to work with them. But in reality, it takes years and years of practice to develop the skill necessary to be able to forget all that, relax, and just play.'

Equipo de Arquitectura’s own years of practice have involved projects such as the studio’s own HQ in Asunción, a low-cost rammed-earth building completed in 2017; a Jenga-inspired installation for Hello Wood 2020, a summer festival for architecture in Argentina; and the 2022 Casita San Ber, a courtyard-garden home embodying Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s ‘almost nothing’ approach.

‘We believe that the initial process of composing an architectural project connects and resonates with what Evans proposes,’ explain the architects. ‘Jazz uses a foundation as a structure to define the boundaries of music; within that framework, instruments take turns improvising or intuitively accommodating themselves to a pre-existing structure. Silences are as important as notes, and rhythm is what organises the distribution of sounds in time.’

At A Forest in the House, this rhythm involves a series of spaces set in a fenced-in garden, including a terrace with a small pool and hammock, and three pavilions built out of compressed earth blocks. The biggest houses the kitchen, dining and living areas, while the two smallest, linked by an indoor-outdoor patio, and each host an en-suite bedroom. All rooms feature large floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors that open onto the surrounding greenery.

Tying it all together are the nearly square concrete planes of the floor and roof, the latter also acting as an airy terrace with canopy views. ‘In this project, the boundary is given by the perimeter edge of the roof, which defines the scope of the construction,’ says the architects, who carefully worked around the existing trees to create the building. ‘Rather than treating existing trees as obstacles, the project embraces them as fundamental guides that shape the spatial programme.’

Mirrored by concrete columns, the tree trunks dotted around the house add a dynamic effect that reflects the patterns of nature. The ground floor rises subtly to allow their roots to grow, with all the other elements, man-made and natural, working in unison to create an elegant and soothing environment.

‘Natural light defines time in the experience of the work, producing changing shadows and atmospheres, similar to what John Abercrombie does in Timeless,’ say the architects. ‘The wind that blows through the space and sweeps the leaves can evoke Philly Joe Jones’ brushes alongside the Miles Davis Quintet.’

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Léa Teuscher is a Sub-Editor at Wallpaper*. A former travel writer and production editor, she joined the magazine over a decade ago, and has been sprucing up copy and attempting to write clever headlines ever since. Having spent her childhood hopping between continents and cultures, she’s a fan of all things travel, art and architecture. She has written three Wallpaper* City Guides on Geneva, Strasbourg and Basel.