Looking for new ways to traditional barn-house is one of the most common exercises in contemporary architecture practice and even one of the most applied in the southern Chile.

It took massive attention in the last internal migration due to Covid-19, which opened the door to working from home, so many people from big cities, like Santiago, migrated south for a better life. One of the most selected cities, for better or worse, was Puerto Varas, located in Llanquihue province.

The approach: a volume of approximately 120 inside square meters, which is a reinterpreted barn-house where the central ridge is not parallel to the longitudinal walls of the house, so it moves from one of the northern corners to the opposite southern corner. The service area and the garage are in a separate light and clear volume, so it has no continuity with the home.

Due to its symmetry on the floor, it forms the classic barn-house in the center of the place, where the ridge is even for both sides, but this situation can only be seen inside the house or in the planimetry.

Project by Estudio Diagonal Architects

Photos by Nico Saieh