The house of black bricks

The house of black bricks | Cuenca, Ecuador | 2022
[Taller Alexis Schulman]

The site, which is located in a residential area that offers great quality of life characteristics, had an existing house, whose size and functionality did not meet the family’s aspirations. Likewise, one of the most important points that constituted an essential conditioning factor of the project was the lack of green area, since the existing house, like most of the neighboring houses, took practically 90% of the land for built mineral elements.

The project begins by dismantling the existing house and recovering a large part of the materials to be reused in a weekend house outside the city. In this way, a portion of the first floor slab is retained to serve the new project. The new dwelling is implemented with a footprint of 180m2, freeing up 65% of the site and converting most of it into a garden that defines the dynamics of the ground floor. The two existing trees, a cepillo and a pink arupo, were also preserved.

The house is presented as a play of masses that open up in certain spaces to allow spatial and visual relationships. Thus, the social areas and the study are organized in direct relation to the garden on the first floor, promoting continuity between the interior and exterior space. This level is materialized in a polished white concrete ‘base’ on which sits a black brick volume containing the bedrooms, bathrooms and laundry. The dark coloring of the bricks results from the reinterpretation and application of the traditional tile glazing technique. The artisanal process of inking and cooking these bricks creates an inhomogeneous surface that randomly alternates between glossy and matte areas.

Finally, the project tries to integrate spatially to the urban environment, eliminating its fence and creating a continuity with the city. Text description by the architects.