ensamble studio: the truffle

'la trufa'
image © ensamble studio


why are we using soil as a shoring component and not a haystack?
spanish studio ensamble studio, run by architect antón garcía-abril, with collaborators ricardo sanz
and javier cuesta, have created 'la trufa' (the truffle), a small holiday house in costa de morte,
in the north of spain.

'la trufa / the truffle' has been featured widely.
however, yesterday, ensamble studio has sent us the final version of the video documentation
showing the construction process of the project, along with interior views. enjoy!

still from video
courtesy of ensamble studio



still from video
courtesy of ensamble studio



still from video
courtesy of ensamble studio



bedroom view
still from video
courtesy of ensamble studio



a spatial volume varied by the method of stacking
still from video
courtesy of ensamble studio



fireplace
still from video
courtesy of ensamble studio

exterior view
image © ensamble studio


here is how the architects describe their work:
the truffle is a piece of nature built with earth, full of air.
a space within a stone that sits on the ground and blends in with the territory.
it camouflages, by emulating the processes of mineral formation in its structure,
and integrates with the natural environment, complying with its laws.

we made a hole in the ground, piling up on its perimeter, the topsoil removed,
and we obtained a retaining dike without mechanical consistency. then, we materialized
the air building a volume with hay bales and flooded the space between the earth and the
built air to solidify it. the poured mass concrete wrapped the air and protected itself
with the ground. time passed and we removed the earth, discovering an amorphous mass.




image © ensamble studio


ensamble studio made a few cuts using quarry machinery to explore its core
and discover the mass built within the hay, now compressed by the hydrostatic pressure
exerted by concrete on the flimsy vegetable structure. in order to 'empty out' the hay-filled interior,
paulina the calf arrived, enjoying the 50m3 of the 'finest food', in which she was nourished
for a year until she left her habitat, already as an adult and weighing 300 kilos.
she ate through the inerior volume in which space, for the first time was reveaed,
restoring the architectural condition of the truffle, after having been a shelter for the animal
and a vegetable mass for an extended period of time.



windows were installed
image © ensamble studio




doors installed
image © ensamble studio




interior view
image © ensamble studio



a look at the hay which once entirely filled the concrete space
image © ensamble studio



bedroom with living space
image © ensamble studio



the 'excavated' interior
image © ensamble studio



image © ensamble studio




spatial rendering of the interior space
image © ensamble studio




the construction set-up of 'la trufa'
image © ensamble studio







section plans



section plans




view of the surrounding landscape
image © ensamble studio


documentation of the production process:


building up the haystacks to form the interior space
image © ensamble studio



the stacked hay
image © ensamble studio



concrete fills the space between the hay and the earth
image © ensamble studio


peeling away the dirt
image © ensamble studio



image © ensamble studio



standing atop the mound
image © ensamble studio



image © ensamble studio



image © ensamble studio



image © ensamble studio



paulina the calf, eating her way through the hay-filled interior
image © ensamble studio