A house in the middle of an oak forest
When I started imagining this house, my basic goal was to build a building that would be completely integrated into the site.
The landscape of Rupià is associated with an aquifer of volcanic origin, on a much older geological stratum —where successive layers of clay and sandstone form the terraced landscape of the Terra Negre mountain range— which is naturally fed by rain and drains through springs into the streams of Santa Margarida and Brancós.
The house is located on the eastern slope of the Talaia de Rupià, on the edge of the terraced landscape, facing the sea and the Ter alluvial plain. Therefore, it is under the influence of the marine climate. In winter it practically never freezes and in summer it maintains a cool environment, without ever reaching extreme temperatures, thanks to the southeast wind —the garbí— which brings fresh air from the sea.
Originally, the plot was divided into two parts: at the highest level, there was a forest dominated by very tall pines that covered some thin oaks that tried to grow below, looking for light. On the lowest terrace there was a field of crops surrounded by oaks that favored the containment of the land on the banks. Between the trees on the banks, as if through a natural window, you could sense the views of the plain and the Medes Islands.
The climatic and vegetation conditions of the site were ideal and allowed the design of a house that met the geomorphological conditions that Vitruvius considered good for the establishment of a Roman villa.
The intention was to build with the material that the site itself could provide. The composition of the land —layers of clay and sandstone— provided the main raw material: earth. Since the house would have to be inside a forest, I wanted to make a house with a primitive constructive spirit, and earth suited it. Archaic cultures, prior to Greek classicism and the culture of Roman architecture, such as the Iberians, the Amazighs of North Africa, the Etruscans... built basically with mud. Throughout the western sector of the Mediterranean, the Iberians and Amazighs built with the technique of adobe or tovots. To build with these techniques, I went to look for masons in the Moroccan Atlas who knew how to turn mud into adobe walls, and once the land was analyzed and knowing how I could improve the composition of the material to build the walls, we went ahead with it.
We built a mud house.
And then, the design idea comes from the desire to integrate all the elements. For example, using the existing grove. I had an initial project that defined the house in the shape of an L. When I saw that a nearby oak tree directed its crown towards the house, I broke the right angle of the L, giving it a jagged shape that penetrated the interior of the dining room and living room and left a path for the intention of the tree. Taking advantage of this gesture, waiting for the shade of the oak tree, I placed a pond there. The water elements, with a spring that makes it recirculate, vegetation and fish that eat the mosquito larvae, help to provide a cool climate and a harmonious and relaxing space.
If you distribute the openings so that cross-ventilation circulates from the patios through the pond and into the interior of the house, you help a lot to cool the house in the summer. In addition, I placed these wool blankets, made by weavers from the Moroccan Atlas, as curtains and thus protect from the heat and cold. All this set of strategies are what have generated the bioclimatic design of this house.
Bioclimatic means that you involve all the elements of the environment, both the construction material and the existing vegetation, to climate the house. You turn it into a living organism.
At the same time, the architecture generates a series of lights, vibrations, like these shadows and reflections from the ceiling, and noises, which make the house not only organic, but much more sensual.
En el disseny, l'important és aconseguir una composició harmònica, que hi hagi un equilibri. Dissenyes les proporcions de tots els elements de manera que generes ordre en tota la casa. Que no hi hagi res que et foti mal de cap, que tot permeti un experiència harmoniosa de l'espai. En el cas d'aquesta sala menjador, vaig fer servir l'horitzontalitat de les obertures. Diràs que és una contradicció, que les obertures són verticals. Però les dues finestres generen una horitzontal amb el sostre de fusta i canya molt brutalista per sobre, i per sota les textures són molt més suaus. Això ho fan els japonesos, oi? També les feia el Wright, aquestes horitzontalitats.
La casa és molt orgànica perquè s'estén pel terreny. De fet és tan versàtil que abans d'acabar-la vaig decidir transformar-la: el passadís que distribuïa totes les habitacions el vaig treure per posar-hi banys i fer que la casa tingués una doble funció: la casa familiar, d’una banda, i uns espais que poden funcionar de forma independent on poden conviure altres famílies. Els meus fills, amics, o com a espais, fins i tot, que podem llogar.
El bosc i l'hort, en definitiva, són un jardí funcional. El que era bosc es va quedar com a bosc, traient pins i deixant espai perquè les alzines poguessin créixer bé. A la feixa de baix hi ha el jardí, que és l'hort, el mur de tàpia que arrecera els cítrics i la piscina natural. La piscina, que funciona amb fito-depuració, ha d'estar a la vora de l'ombra, no a l'ombra del tot. Aquí, els arbres hi donen molta ombra. De fet, a l'hivern es gela perquè el sol és molt baix i gairebé no hi toca. Però això millora l'aigua, que es manté transparent perquè gelant-se no agafa opacitat per culpa de les algues.
Then, the water. I didn't want to build a well, nor did I want to waste a lot of water from the town; what I do is recover the water that is used in the house with a natural water treatment plant. I collect this water and use it to water the garden. In addition, I have also made a cistern that accumulates the runoff water. But not only from the roof, also from the garden above through some collection wells that bring the fairly clean water to the cistern. I accumulate 70 cubic meters, which allows me to water the garden during the months of June and July.
This coming winter, when I have money, I'm going to take out this oak tree that's sick and about to fall. I want to put in an olive tree that's this tall, you know? So that it keeps the same feeling I have now with the openness. A wild olive tree will look great.
The olive tree with the oak tree reminds me of the decline of the countryside, when the olive grove is abandoned and the oak tree takes over the space. But the olive grove persists, and sometimes you can find oak trees and olive trees, subsisting together. Nature gives a touch of decadence to architecture, because what nature creates mixes very quickly with what man has created. And the two worlds interpenetrate, sometimes. If you take care of it, an oak tree and an olive tree can coexist together. But understood as gardening. Yes, because I prune these oak trees, for example, every four or five years. I prune the ones on the south side from above, and the ones on the house from below. That way, the winter light comes in from under the treetop and not in the summer, because it gives me shade, it's perfect. It's a way of pruning trees to make the most of it, both in winter and in summer. Another way to improve the air conditioning of the house naturally.