SWG
Smokewood Garzón
Rocha, Uruguay
2019-2020
Smokewood Garzón is a rural retreat located deep in the prairies of south-eastern Uruguay.
The project transforms and expands the existing ranch to adapt it to contemporary and sustainable country life that keeps the origins that previously gave it meaning alive.
Hannah, Jamie and their children Weston and Emerson discovered in this traditional country landscape the perfect place to build their second home, a truly remote retreat, 9000 kilometers from their main residence in Southport, CT, USA.
Close to the emblematic town of Garzón, they imagined there a residence capable of condensing the local country imagery with reminiscences of the rural life of Montana, where Hannah lived her childhood, and in which Jamie could cook his own meals around the fire, much like his admired chef Francis Mallmann.
For this reason, the architectural project is developed through two main actions in relation to the preexistence.
First, the recycling of the existing wood and stone ranch, which was already located in the best part of the site, to now house the social areas of the house in a single space.
Then, the archetypal section of the ranch is extruded defining two new wings at the ends to give rise to the new main rooms. This aggregation operation is evident in the metallic exterior finish, generating a strong material contrast with the rusticity and wear of the old.
Smokewood Garzón aims to live comfortably off the grid. Miles deep in the open field, the house has no access to infrastructure networks, so its water and power supply systems, such as waste, sanitation or heating systems, must be autonomous and self-sufficient. Thus, it interacts a respectful manner with the past and with the future, seeking to redefine new ways of living in rural settings.
MAPA
Partners: Luciano Andrades, Matías Carballal, Andrés Gobba, Mauricio López, Silvio Machado.
Project Team: Pablo Courreges, Martina Pedreira, Diego Morera, Emiliano Lago, Fabián Sarubbi, Sebastián Lambert, Emilia Dehl, Alejandro Cuadro, Victoria Muniz, Flavio Faggion, Diamela Meyer, Sandra Rodríguez, Agustín Dieste, João Bernardi, Helena Utzig, Lucas Marques, Débora Boniatti, Juliana Colombo, Amanda Cappelatti, Pedro Reichelt, Lilian Wang.
Photography: Aldo Lanzi (Architecture), Tali Kimelman (Landscape)
Interior Area: 120m²
Construction: Ibirá
Interior Design: MAPA
Off-grid equipment: SMARTGREEN
Instagram: @smokewoodgarzon
