Andina Patagónica 1

Tucked into an old cypress forest on the outskirts of San Carlos de Bariloche, Andina Patagónica #1 is a 32 m² cabin designed and built by Estudio Forma in Villa Lago Gutiérrez, Rio Negro. The practice took the project all the way from sketch to completion, working as architects and as carpenters on site so intent and execution stayed in the same hands.

The form draws on the traditional alpine cabin, where wall and ceiling resolve into a single inclined plane. Adjusting the slope produced a south-facing eave that frames the entrance and, on the inside, lifts the ceiling enough to carry the kitchen and bathroom counters, a lofted sleeping area and a large window opening toward the Cerro Catedral ski resort.

Construction combined local building techniques with balloon-frame methods. The cabin was partially prefabricated in a Buenos Aires workshop and transported to Bariloche, then completed on a 3,000 m² plot to a USD 15,000 budget. The whole plan is modulated on the 1.22 x 2.44 m dimensions of OSB board, which kept the build fast and nearly waste-free; the same OSB lines the inclined inner surfaces and plays against two plaster side walls. Opposite windows give cross-ventilation as a passive cooling device; a generous north-west window reads as a dematerialised wall, exposing the structural skeleton. Outside, black corrugated sheet on the inclined surfaces uses dark colour as a passive winter heat gain, while 1 x 5 inch vertical timber boards clad the sides.

Completed in 2015 over one level. Architecture and construction by Estudio Forma, with Daniel Mussi Tiscornia and Ignacio Mussi Tiscornia.