Unbuilt
With
the intent of emerging the peaceful surroundings of the existing vast land around
the building, Casa de las Siglas is a playful dialogue between the outside and
it’s interior.
Amorphica
Design Research Office // Qg+A
J.
Aaron Gutierrez. Design
Phase
The
requirements were to create a very austere environment that would be the canvas
to show and frame the building’s inhabitants. To design a lounge bar that
has no denominated crowd in mind was a tremendously helpful requirement from
the owner. This is not a conventional lounge bar; this building was designed
for a particularly eccentric client who is involved in the development and invention
of new media and technology. His main goal was to be able to entertain crowds
ranging from Hollywood celebrities to scientists and other professionals.
The
building is made out of tilt-up concrete for the most part. In a series of bracket-like
concrete walls, entry through an intimate encapsulated interior-exterior passage
gives the body a sense of mystic mystery.
Once
you enter the building, a short and amicable space greets and warms you. Immediately
you cross through an open-air alley that distorts your senses of interiority,
followed again by another smaller space that prepares you for a grand 7 meter-high
open space.
Throughout
the building one encounters ramps and catwalks as well as lounge chairs and
cozy couches. There are intimate rooms upstairs that are as open and vibrant
as the main bar-space.
One
feature about the bar is its vertical translucent step bottle storage. This
7-meter structure is designed to carry the load of the bartender and also save
horizontal space, as this was a major concern to the circulation of the space.
To the southern wall, as the sun rays of the summer days are incredibly potent,
the decision to create an oak fortress that only let light peek through in a
very delicate way made good sense. The wash of light in the afternoon creates
amazing patterns on the wood floor. The wooden fortress to the south and the
strong concrete passages to the north embrace a grand bar space with a transparent
wall of glass making the bar a bright and open cage-like center stage.
With
flexibility for many uses, this symmetric and ordered building is capable of
being manipulated for a variety of entertainment and various other applications.
From art openings to dj sets, Casa de las Siglas dictates a high standard in
non-linear building types.
