Located on the high plateau of the Masia del Montanyà (720 m above sea level), which belongs to the Montseny massif characterised by a high-altitude Mediterranean climate, the BIG SUR House is surrounded by a landscape covered in holm oak groves, dotted with stone pines – nature follows alignments, in a south-easterly direction, marked out by the faults in the sedimentary rocks that make up the terrain. The idea of the project is based on enhancing the marks of the landscape towards the architecture, revaluing the expression of the place, creating a relationship between the interior and exterior spaces and matching each habitable space with a garden, with a singular vision of the landscape project consisting of the differentiated interpretation of each one of the avenues of trees. A parallel wall, along the façade of Carrer Collformic, allows the interior intimacy of the garden, leaving a natural space on the street side that protects from noise and the view of cars and allows one to enjoy the views over the Collsuspina cliffs.
Based on the strict geometry of the house with a longitudinal distribution facing south, the variable rhythm of the landscape is reflected in the volumetry of the architecture with an alternation of 3 heavy, vertical and closed modules with 3 empty, horizontal and open modules used in the text described by Socrates evoking the shape of his imaginary house. The volumetric conception of the architecture based on the contrast - heavy/light - of the modules has been emphasised by an artistic intervention with dynamics. The plastic expression of the movement expressed in the closing panels - with very luminous colours - of the light volumes, is materialised by the installation of a sculpture placed on the eaves of the roofs on the south side and formed by letters that compose the text of a poem by the author Ramon Serrano.
De la sombra del verso amordazado
-el Brull midi, el Montseny enraçiné
blue vert violet -
el césped del sueño cubreix el fado
on le soleil baña la mort del pi.
The displacement of its own shadow on the surface of the panels, at different heights and inclinations according to the time of day and the time of year, provides visual perceptions and sensations that vary and reflect the landscape, which undergoes the same cyclical evolutionary process. The central glazed space provides transparency between the northern entrance and the garden on the south side. On the north façade, the panels have been painted a deep black, as they do not receive direct sunlight at any time of the day.
This interest in the constants of place and time is also reflected in the construction following a conceptual logic of the project. The entire project is modulated on the basis of expanded clay blocks 20cm x 30cm x 50cm (ARLIBLOCK) with a single-layer finish for waterproofing and lime stucco. The thermal inertia of these walls contained in the central glazed space (protected by a large 1.40m eave) is used to keep the house at a pleasant temperature in winter. The heavy elements are characterised by the solid and closed central core of the house, which is composed of a single space with a fireplace, kitchen, open gallery and conservatory on the ground floor and a studio flat on the first floor with an open gallery in reference to the areas of the country houses. This basic minimum module allows all the necessary winter activities to be carried out without having to use the rest of the house, which consists of two more flats and a swimming pool when the rest of the family arrives at weekends or in summer. In summer, the staircase serves as an upward ventilation duct for the whole house up to the flat roof garden.
The light spaces consist of a structure of solid pine beams and prefabricated structural elements with insulation on the facades and ventilated roofs with wood and concrete panels and flat roof tiles, respectively. The south façade is glazed and high and the north façade is much lower and blind to protect it from the north winds. The use of existing natural resources such as water collection, the placement of the swimming pool in the south in contact with the building and protected from the wind, as well as a concern for vegetation and native trees in order to achieve a natural garden.