Excavated Construction

© Sebastián Coral

Architects: AL BORDE

Location: Tumbaco, Ecuador

Client: Family Larrea Bravo

Area: 185.92 sqm

Project Year: 2013

Photographs: Sebastián Coral , Elaine González, Melanie Kautz, AL BORDE

Project Coordinator: Elaine González

Construction: Cristina Bravo

Furniture: Juan Subía, Felipe Donoso, Diego Benavides

Design: 2012 -2013

© Elaine González

From the architect. Excavated ConstructionCulunco is the name given to the paths situated in the middle of a dense vegetation, generally paths that were created for ancient villages of Latin America, like those of the Incas. This is as well the name that the architects from Al Borde chose for an excavated house in the middle of a sloping ground, surrounded by earth and trees in the Valley of Tumbaco, in Quito. The original project was composed of two houses, one of which was finally built, constructed with local materials. 
© Elaine González

The starting point was an intense contact with the nature, although it was modified by the harmonious presence of the house. The orthogonal volume is composed of two programs divided by the stairs of the entrance but united by a same excavation, same construction system and same roof. On one side, buried, ar...