marveggio expresses this office in argentina as a composition of nested volumes

edgardo marveggio presents an engineering office in a typical residential neighborhood in argentina. the heart of the project is an exterior ‘plaza terrace’ around which the interior programs collect. these programs include the offices of an engineering studio in the front of the building with a department which receives visitors arriving through the main entrance through plaza-terrace. the project,photographed by gonzalo viramonte, is reminiscent of the wide, flat, horizontality of the twentieth century residential works of the mid-western united states’ prairie movement. windows are expressed as horizontal bands shaded by dramatic overhangs.

all images by gonzalo viramonte

edgardo marveggio makes use of ‘noble and traditional’ materials. the project expresses exposed concrete and thick plaster, with a vibrant use of color and attention to natural interior lighting. marveggio privileges the search for innovation from exploration in his use of these expressive materials and qualities. the relationship between one material with another as expressed through contrasts in texture and color, and with attention to moments of joinery. techniques of notching with the use of subtle gaps softly highlight the materiality while adding depth and shadows to the otherwise minimal volumes.

while the project is comprised as a composition of large, nested geometries, material detailing is implemented at multiple scales. a single row of expressive brickwork highlights the human scale at the street level, introducing subtle, rhythmic pattern-work and emphasizing the building’s horizontality. meanwhile, the massive roof overhangs which serve to shade the ribbon windows of the second floor are broken up with skylights and rows of coffering. these coffers physically lighten the massive overhangs while simultaneously offering dimension to the expansive surface. the vibrant use of color adds further depth to the underside of the overhangs, visible from the sidewalk, and relates these surfaces to the rest of the more subtle, vibrant highlights throughout the rest of the building volumes.