La Reina

Santiago de Chile
2016

Two sisters and their families inherited a single-story timber-frame house from their father. They agreed that a second floor should be added so that both families could live on the family property. While there was significant sentimental value attached to the existing house, it lacked structural and architectural substance, and offered no reasonable possibility of adding a second floor. In order to bridge this schism between the subjective and objective value of the existing house, we separated the spatial memory of the old house from its material existence by using the house as formwork to cast the new two-story concrete house against. The imprint of the former house survives in the two new houses while the actual structure is removed as soon as the concrete has cured. This 'cast' forms the ground floor. The new upper floor houses the private areas - rotated 45 degrees against the ground floor - thus offering views and privacy for both of the houses standing in very close proximity.