"Es Pujol de s'Era" is a very representative fragment of Formentera island's landscape, with fields of wheat and barley, a small forest of juniper and rosemary, and dry stone walls over a practically flat topography. The house was placed among the existing vegetation and a part of the stone wall as a way to shelter it from the weather. Those are the two features that condition its dimensions, orientation, and height, creating a house with an austere geometry, in line with the architectural tradition of Formentera. It's a contextual architecture, thanks to its relationship with the surroundings, without relying on mimicry.
The north-south orientation created a duality that the program needed and the ground plan radically synthesizes it, segregating the public area from the private one. The northern area is the most exposed one, and can be clearly seen from Cami Vell de la Mola, its access route. The northern area has a small architecture studio, while the southern one has a small dwelling-refuge for a couple.
Besides being designed to be exposed to sunlight as much as possible, the dwelling's orientation allowed for taking the small forest as an indigenous garden, which doesn't require any changes or maintenance, providing intimacy and privacy.
There is a nexus of services between the studio and the dwelling, separating work from the private life, but it also gives the house infrastructures at the same time: library, archives, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, closets, service areas, and two sliding walls that allow splitting the two main areas, segregating the more intimate one from the guest room. This allows for flexibility and multi-functionality.
The envelope containing the program (40x40 ft) stretches towards the two main orientations, generating transition spaces between the interior and exterior, essential in those latitudes.
The envelope is made of reinforced concrete and thermo-clay blocks,in a rectangular section that extrudes horizontally. The rest of the interior and exterior closings were built with glass and Iroko wood. A cleft made at ground level lets the building's floor be off the ground - a transition between the artificial and the natural. The lateral openings were made as vertical cuts that fragment the facade's elevations. The facade's furniture and accessories were designed ad-hoc in order to give the place more sobriety and harmony, with the same materials of the interior areas.
Gallery
Glass walls in the kitchen
Floor plans
Bedroom
Inside, studio
