‘paire house’ by rodolfo cañas emerges as a protective body amid harsh lands in chile

its shape recalls an abstracted version of a body with four limbs, defined by two parallel circulation routes running entirely through it.

lea zeitoun April 11, 2023 4 min

rodolfo cañas completes ‘paire house’ as a single-family unit

As the story in the Bible goes, thrown into the sea and in the midst of a great storm, Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The ‘big fish’ guarded him for three days and three nights until he was brought back to the mainland. In some way, the ‘Paire House’ by architect Rodolfo Cañas can be comparable to the whale that protected Jonas during the storm. In a rural, dry, and rugged land of Pomaire, Chile, and also close to a highway with a heavy traffic flow, this dark-toned, single-family dwelling works as a container, a protective body separating its inhabitants from the hostile surroundings — offering them a more sheltered interior.

'paire house' by rodolfo cañas emerges as a protective body amid harsh lands in chile - 1 — all images © Aryeh Kornfeld

inspired by the anatomy of a four-limbed body

If one looks at ‘Paire House’ from above, its shape recalls an abstracted body with four limbs. Indeed, Rodolfo Cañas (see more here) defined the spatial design with two parallel circulation routes that run through the entire structure in the north-south direction, mimicking the extensions of legs or arms. ‘One circulation is more private while the other is completely public. The layout of these circulations was determined by what the house wanted to look at, both inside and outside,’ shares the architect.

'paire house' by rodolfo cañas emerges as a protective body amid harsh lands in chile - 2 — ‘Paire House’ sits in a dry and rugged environment

Towards the inside, the dwelling frames and shelters two growing gardens. Both reveal an irregular geometry determined by the two main circulation flows. A first garden works as an access point to the house, forming the cut between the rugged exterior and the sheltered interior. ‘It is a covered garden and considers a more controlled natural lighting to generate the cut coming from the outside,’ continues Cañas. Meanwhile, the second garden takes over the center of ‘Paire House’; it is an open green space where natural lighting roams and illuminates more freely. The living area and most of the bedrooms face this garden which the architect also incorporated as part of the main access to the house since this circulation crosses it.

'paire house' by rodolfo cañas emerges as a protective body amid harsh lands in chile - 3 — recalling a body with four limbs

Looking out into the Chilean landscape, the building captures the image of a row of trees and hills rolling in the distance. ‘These are the context reference. What the house wanted to look at. The trees are a little misleading when you’re inside, hinting that the outside is wooded and less hostile than it really is. Meanwhile, the nearby hills speak of the real context, what the place is, a wild and dry environment,‘ concludes the architect.