Hortal House

HORTAL HOUSE (2001-2003) In a hilly area some three kilometers from the Mediterranean coast we built this villa anchored in the terrain, projecting itself towards the sea. The construction was conceived as a great concrete bracket, almost like a geographical feature that operates according to its own rules, in order to create a privileged position in its surroundings. Given that buildings are far more expressive during construction than when they are completed, this building presents itself as deliberately unfinished, with the presence of the original texture of the concrete external walls, and the metal structure and the floor slabs forming the interior volume. Nevertheless, the openings in the wall have been given a more delicate finish, with stained glass windows, like gems incrusted in a massive rock, creating personalized landscapes in the interior. The house responds to its environment with four different scales: to the west, fronting the access road, it is a single-storey volume defining a domestic scale (characteristic of a small house) with a pitched roof covered with rocks. To the north the volume rises up from the access ramp to the garage in a flat, compact form to create a place for mobility. To the south, the pool (which can be partially closed in) slides under the stepped bracket with a sun terrace around it. To the east, facing the sea, the villa is metallic and transparent, an almost urban building of three floors, with views of the sea. We cannot say if this villa is a beautiful building or not. We would prefer to evaluate it using the same criteria with which we appraise a mountain or a rock: strong, hard, amorphous….