Tasteful Friends: Unique Beach House in Chile, Designed by Pritzker-Winning Architect

The construction looks iffy to me. Just look at that walkway, no support under the edges. It's one of those designs that looked better as an architectural model. Plus, are those floors laminate?

Interesting idea but I expected more of the whole project.

Alejandro Aravena, Cristian Undurruga, and HLPS are the interesting projects to my eye. Most take more the route of OP's example which is indeed striking but falls short.

In OP's link, the sinuous roof meant to echo the dunes and waves is a beautiful shape, but it only shows to advantage at some angles and its thickness is a distraction, and it seems for all the world like the perfect place to have a living roof. It would have transformed the look, obviously, but quite possibly for the better (assuming it's even a viable option for the location.)

The curve inside is better than the outside form, and the progression through the space under the undulating roof is great, not to mention the fantastic setting and views. But the kitchen in a box in the middle of things doesn't look up to the task for me, unless you have your sushi prepared off-site and whisked in to be served in the scant workspace. It comes perilously close to the rear wall (why so tight on a luxury project?). The last is a small detail with a huge impact: the frame for the wall of windows is an inelegant choppy line where it joins the ceiling. That's inexcusably bad and the architects should have devoted a lot more attention to ensure a perfect, beautiful line.

It's a beautiful vacation house, but I wouldn't want to live there.

The dank exposed concrete bathrooms bring the glamor of public transportation projects into the home.

I like it a lot. It is cold and not particularly homey but you can find plenty of that in New England or Southern Colonial. If that is what you want.

Absolutely stunning.

Wow! Exposed concrete! Curvy walls!

What is this, 1960? Oscar Niemeyer spent decades dining out on this crap.

Exactly, R6. Looking through photos of other houses in the development, it's all very retro: Niemeyer, JFK TWA terminal, Moshe Sadie, and a lot of world expo pavilions.

Looks cold and lonely and coastal Chile isn't all that scenic. For $2 million I could find a nice beach house closer to home and civilization

Ugly, hard surfaces everywhere, and looks like a very large public convenience. Or an airport built in the 60's

Stunning views. It does seem hard; I wonder about noise. I would add carpets and upholstery, which might offend the architect, but it needs softening. When showers have those glass walls, they should extend farther, 3/4 instead of 1/2. And I'd want a boathouse or at least a bulkhead to tie off on.

How far from a Costco?

^ 9872 miles, but only a 19 hour flight

There's a bit of an earthquake/tsunami issue along the Chilean coast.

The wavy ceilings make me queasy.

There's nothing about those living spaces that looks comfortable for Japanese families. The bathrooms are totally not how Japanese prefer their bathrooms to be arranged. Toilets should be far from showers, for instance. And the round bathtub in the floor does not look comfortable from a Japanese living perspective.

Gorgeous views.

Loo Tu Loh

Who would find this strikingly unique? A plebe in flyoverstan USA?

My thought is the roof is oppressively heavy, both materially and sensorially.

Chile has the worst earthquakes. Want to be under a concrete blanket if that happens ? Hard pass.

It is beautiful from the outside. The inside is like being under the collapse of the 880 freeway in Oakland after the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Like others have said, Chile is gorgeous, but I'd fear it's a tsunami waiting to happen, especially right by the coast.

Looking at a map, the area seems pretty remote.

And looking up the weather on Google, it was in the 60s and this is the middle of summer in Chile

It looks cold and depressing.

How could I ever be depressed waking-up to that stunning, panoramic view of ocean? I would be transfixed for hours.

Chile PLEASE!

[quote]And looking up the weather on Google, it was in the 60s and this is the middle of summer in Chile

When you're right on the Pacific, the weather tends to be very mild and consistent year round. There are places on the southern Oregon coast where it's in the 60s all summer and the 50s all winter, even though it's pretty far north.

This house SUCKS. The way that ceiling drops down. It feels claustrophobic.

What is that black rectangle on the bathroom wall?

This barren concrete bunker looks as cold and unwelcoming as Liz Taylor's 1960s house.

Or Dick Clark's Malibu "Flinstones" home.

So the consensus seems to be to graft the kitchen (or the views from the kitchen) onto a different house...in a different location.

What is the appeal of that section of Chile? The remoteness?

Where's their stuff?

@r30, I like Dick Clark's Flintstone house. He had to make it look like a rock or he couldn't build there. $1.7 million is a steal for that location

It was sufficiently remote to keep any safety inspection engineers from examining it.

Dezeen has been featuring houses with poured lite fibrous concrete roofing. The roofs don't hold garden weight, but they do redirect rain for cisterns.

I haven't seen any supporting solar panels.

[quote]And looking up the weather on Google, it was in the 60s and this is the middle of summer in Chile

Hardly. Summer doesn't even START for more than two weeks.

Isn't Chile one of the more successful South America countries?

The Chileans invented El Nina and Il Nino.

Which is vital for understanding weather across one third of the planet

R37, yes, Chile's economy is considered pretty stable for Latin American standards. It's also a copper-rich nation.

R37, yes, Chile's economy is considered pretty stable for Latin American standards. It's also a copper-rich nation.

The earthquakes down there are typically very large and deviating. A lot more than what everyone wants to believe about California.

Three things immediately came to mind when I clicked on OP's link: tsunamis, earthquakes, and living under a thick, undulating slab of concrete.

Other than that, the views are stunning and the minimalist design, sublime.

very cold and sterile

Pritzker prize--often goes to showy architects whose buildings will look even dumber 20 years from now. It really seems sterile and unlivable---gives minimalism a bad name.

A deviated septum was enough to deal with. Deviating earthquakes? No thank you!

Perfect for coming in to change out of a wet swimsuit, but beyond that, nah.

Now I know what vertigo feels like.