This brick holiday home by Argentinian architecture firm Estudio Galera, in a seaside town south of Buenos Aires, references the "formal and material austerity" of the surrounding properties.
The 115-square-metre Casa Rincón is the first of six rental houses intended for a plot measuring 619.5 square metres in Ostende ? a coastal town in Buenos Aires' Pinamar County that dates back to the early 20th century.

According to Estudio Galera, Ostende town once experienced a "time of great splendour" as a hot tourist spot. It has since lost out in popularity to three others nearby: The Pinamar, Valeria del Mar, and Cariló ? where the firm is based.

"Ostende thus turned into the city with the largest permanent living population ? mostly, working class ? of the county," said Estudio Galera in a project statement. "Its geographical, historical and social features are portrayed in an architecture that reflects contemporaneity with signs of formal and material austerity."

For the rental development, which is hoped to spark a revival in the area, Estudio Galera was challenged to develop a concept that could suit the different topographies of the six lots, as well as "a generic user".
In response, the team designed a simple layout comprising two linked volumes of vastly different sizes. They chose materials and details, such as brickwork and the sloped roof, to draw a likeness to the properties in the vicinity.

"The house forge...