Cotacachi House, Imbabura Residential Development, Ecuador Property, Architecture, Home
Cotacachi House, Ecuador
Imbabura Architecture: New Ecuadorian Residence – design by arquitectura x
page updated 12 Nov 2016 with new photos ; 4 Apr 2013
Cotacachi Residence
Location: Imbabura, Ecuador
Design: arquitectura x
Continuity Through Variation

photograph : Sebastian Crespo
A couple from the Caribbean seek retreat amid the northern Andes in a small town, two hours north of Quito, an orchard site in a valley 2470 meters above sea level, between the Imbabura and Cotacachi mountains, to the east and west respectively. The couple needs a design proposal in 4 days before going home, or they will sell the site: we have to design a house without knowing the site and after meeting the couple for two hours.
photograph : Sebastian Crespo
Based on our experience for our own house, we apply the same strategy: a universal scheme that can work for any site condition, a house whose spatial limits will be the two mountains we know dominate the valley, the abstract glass house as a starting point.

photograph : Sebastian Crespo
But we are also convinced that the universal and abstract need to become specific in order to work, specific to topography, weather, use, etc. but there is one aspect that makes architecture specific that interest us above all, construction and materiality: building with local materials and techniques will root abstraction in its place, and also determine form ...