The Weathering House That Slowly Becomes One With The Land
Most architects the importance the surroundings play when designing a new home for someone as well as the impact every building has on the land around it. The Elias Rizo team made it their mission to create a house that could blend with its surroundings and slowly become a natural part of the site. Their project was called GG House.
The architects at Elias Rizo are constantly focused on projects designed to improve each client’s everyday life, paying special attention to the unavoidable impact each structure has on its surroundings. They applied the same principles when building the GG House in Jalisco, Mexico. The project was completed in 2015. This is a weekend house built for a client who wanted a cozy space in a forest clearing on a mountain.
The client wanted to be able to fully enjoy and admire the surroundings. This meant that the interior spaces had to be connected to the views and to be linked to the outdoor areas in a seamless and natural manner. The house sits on a steep site and this gives it a panoramic views of the valley but also of the mountains and the volcano in the distance.
The rugged topography meant that the house had to become a part of the land itself. As a result, the architects built in on a series of terraces carved into the hill and gave it a garage that sinks into the site, being framed by stone. The entrance is situated at the top and it splits the interior floor plan into two equal blocks.
The facade of the house is lined with lacquered steel plates wchich age with time just like the rest of the materials used in the project. Over time, the steel oxidizes and gains a patina which will eventually allow it to look a lot like the earth and the land surrounding it this beautiful weekend house.
The eastern block houses the social part of the house, linking the living room, dining space and kitchen into an open plan with picture windows. There’s a very cozy ambiance here thanks to the fireplace, the wood accents and the rustic-industrial furniture. The western block contains thr master bedroom, two guest bedrooms and their en-suites, a separate guest bathroom and a laundry area.