Architects: Besonias Almeida arquitectos - https://www.besoniasalmeida.com/ Photo: Hernán de Almeida - / anch.io Location: El Salvaje, Villa Gesell, Buenos Aires, Argentina Project Year: 2022 Category: Private Houses Building Area: 167 m2
Located in El Salvaje, along Argentina’s Atlantic coast, this small summer house is shaped entirely by its extreme environment. Set atop a sand dune and exposed to strong coastal winds, the project retreats around a protected inner courtyard while opening fully toward the landscape and sunsets. Wooden screens filter wind, sun, and light, creating comfort, privacy, and ever-changing shadows. Passive ventilation, deep galleries, and careful orientation allow the house to adapt naturally to heat and wind, blending architecture, dunes, and silence into a restrained coastal retreat.
At kilometer 427 of Provincial Route 11, south of Villa Gasel, and near the native forest of Mar Azul,
El Salvaje emerges within a vast and uncompromised coastal landscape.
This is a territory defined by restraint, low density, strict environmental regulations,
and a profound respect for topography, vegetation, and wildlife.
Here, the infinite horizontality of the Pampas is interrupted by sandy ridges shaped by grasslands.
Running perpendicular to the sea before dissolving into expansive beaches.
Winds sweep across the land year-round, often exceeding 100 kilometers per hour,
unsoftened by artificial plantations.
Sun, sand, and silence dominate, a place of raw beauty and extraordinary sunsets.
It was this landscape, almost untouched and deeply expressive,
that became the true origin of the project.
The first architectural decision was one of position.
The house is placed at the highest point of the site,
allowing uninterrupted engagement with the surrounding horizon.
Arrival unfolds as a slow ascent, from the street,
through a pergola and stairway carved into the dune, leading to two platforms.
One connecting to the pool, the other establishing the datum,
from which the house extends into a generous gallery.
Once elevated, protection became essential.
The architecture retreats inward, organizing itself around a central courtyard
that shields the home from dominant southeast and north winds,
as well as the intense summer sun.
Adjustable wooden screens wrap three sides of the volume,
while the fourth opens fully toward the most favorable orientation and views.
This courtyard becomes the heart of the house.
It mediates between social spaces and the two private bedroom suites,
functioning as both refuge and connector.
Light filters through shifting planes,
casting ever-changing shadows that animate the interior throughout the day.
Through careful orientation, deep galleries and cross-ventilation,
the house remains naturally cooled,
allowing every space to relate fluidly to one another and to the outdoors.
From the gallery and the upper terrace,
the swimming pool appears embedded within the dunes,
framed by the vast sky and the ritual of sunset.
At night, the house turns inward.
Wooden filters preserve intimacy, while light escapes softly through their gaps,
illuminating the surrounding sand with a quiet, unexpected glow.
In El Salvaje, architecture does not conquer the landscape.
It listens, shelters, and ultimately becomes part of it.
