Casa en El Peñón

Peñuelas, Puerto Rico

a project by Luis Ayala Rubio Arquitecto and Arquitectura 3av

From the beginning of the design process, the goal of this project was to build a house completely oriented to views of the Caribbean Sea. A difficult site became the obvious constraint, but served as motivation for fundamental design decisions. Geometric order and structural logic helped to achieve a structure that is simultaneously rational and emotional. A simple organization works as a sequence of quite different spaces through variations in ceiling height and the relationship between one space to the next. The forced diagonal views between the open living spaces and a more private media room, go through a centralized entrance courtyard, and find their way towards the sea, promoting a sense of place and orientation. These spatial characteristics are repeated throughout the house, and somehow, the house is understood as a collection of habitable spaces which are close together and far from each other at the same time. Slowly, as the house is inhabited, it becomes absorbed by those who live it. The spaces are meant to be enjoyed, understood in a physical sense, implicitly and without effort.