Nishizawa House in Chile masterfully melts into the coastal landscape, allowing the power of the Pacific to be felt through its architecture. With its wavelike form and a well thought-out floor plan, the building itself becomes part of its surroundings, with seamless transitions between inside and outside.
| Type of Building | Private Home |
| Product areas | Windows Doors |
| Schüco Systems | ADS 50.NI AWS 50.NI |
| Features | New build Design and Aesthetics Exceptional architecture |
| Location | Los Vilos, Chile |
| Completion | 2019 |
| Architects | Ryūe Nishizawa |
| Specialist company | Raum-Design S.A. |
| Picture credits | Cristobal Palma |
The views are the main attraction for many when it comes to homes by the sea – being able to sit safely inside and watch the waves roll onto the coast. This house, designed by Japanese architect Ryūe Nishizawa in Los Vilos, Chile, is no different – but with a little something extra: the house is designed to look like part of the Pacific ocean itself. The building's enormous, wave-shaped roof appears to carry the force of the ocean onto land. With an impactful combination of concrete and glass, the building appears simultaneously powerful and gentle.
The house is divided into three areas: the sauna on the land-facing side, a bedroom and living room in the centre, and a kitchen and dining area which stretches onto the terrace looking out over the sea. The roof has a slanted incline here, offering plenty of shade for the outdoor area. The dips of the wave-shaped roof reach the floor at certain points, separating the living areas without the need for partition walls. Instead, only the floor and roof remain, with clear glass panes in between. The narrowest of steel columns act as frames and supports. This creates large spans which open up the building in different directions towards its surroundings. The owners have the feeling of being right next to the dizzying precipice of the rocky headland. The unusual architecture creates an entirely original living atmosphere.
For the home's façade, Ryūe Nishizawa chose the non-insulated Schüco AWS 50.NI aluminium window system and the non-insulated Schüco ADS 50.NI aluminium door system. With narrow face widths and low basic depths of just 50 mm, both systems are perfect for indoor applications in particular. Due to the stable climate of 15 °C to 22 °C in Los Vilos, the systems are also a very good solution for outside. Their stable construction enables floor-to-ceiling units to be reliably constructed, allowing for diverse application options and unusual designs which truly 'make waves' in the world of architecture.
