smiljan radic designs 'solo hotel' as a porous terrace suspended over wild nature

a new hotel for Christian Bourdais’ solo houses

Chilean architect Smiljan Radic proposes the Solo Hotel, the latest addition announced by the Solo Houses project — an architectural park is an initiative by french developer Christian Bourdais to populate the remote landscape of Spain with small resort-style dwellings. The development already includes works by Pezo von Ellrichshausen, Office KGDVS, and Héctor Zamora. Upon completion, the hotel will mark the central space of the 200-hectare site.

images via Solo Houses

the sensitive design by smiljan radic

The architectural design of Smiljan Radic’s Solo Hotel is characterized by an elongated terrace punctuated by circular openings through which cylindrical units are fit. This unique organization was developed following the architect’s observation of a wooden board used to make pegs, discarded along the site of the Solo Houses following the construction of a sculpture by Marcela Correa, an artist with whom Radic had worked before, notably at the 12th Venice Architecture Binnale (see designboom’s coverage here). 

The minimalist language of simple geometries and stark concrete materiality will be an urban intervention, navigating the wild nature and floating lightly above it.

inside the solo hotel

Early visualizations of the Solo Hotel depict visitors walking along the vast terrace, navigating the array of circular openings. These host either round dwellings, or wild gardens, while one largest circle holds a pool. Each unit is organized with a simple, circular floor plan. While the interiors will be closed-off from the view of passers-by, they will open broadly with full-height, curved glazing toward the forested surroundings.

each unit of the solo hotel opens to the forested surroundings through curved, full-height windows

the vast platform negotiates the sloping site

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physical model of a single unit, showing the interior layout

physical model of a single unit

physical model of the Solo Hotel

project info:

project title: Solo Hotel

architecture: Smiljan Radic

location: Solo Houses, Matarraña, Spain

status: proposal