Casa BP ignored rural Argentina
Córdoba faces a wide rural horizon, Argentinathis contemporary living in Dubbed Casa BP, it was completed by architect Santiago Bertotti. The house’s elevated location allows the residence to follow the gradual rise of the land, its minimal presence responding closely to the gently sloping site.
The house is arranged as an elongated volume surrounded by gardens to offer long, uninterrupted views across the expansive landscape. Two formal operations define the design approach. The main house appears as a monolithic element with earthen walls, creating an ambiguous, introverted presence. In addition, a light pavilion is expressed with large windows and horizontal sun shading components that let in the light and enhance the contemporary character of the project.
Images © Gonzalo Viramonte
A linear house by Santiago Bertotti
The architect Santiago Bertotti constructs the social core as a single continuous field with living, dining and kitchen functions. This integrated space opens directly into a longitudinal gallery that runs parallel to the main volume. The width and orientation of the gallery enables interior life to flow outward, with daily activities spilling out into the landscape.
The private wing occupies the right side of the plan, where the bedrooms sit behind a linear corridor buffered by the thermal mass of the exterior walls. Openings along this facade are required to filter daylight and maintain a constant interior climate and sense of retreat.
The colorful walls change regularly throughout the day. At sunrise they take on warm pink hues, deepen to richer hues in the evening, and under cloudy skies appear as silent, hazy plains.
Casa BP sits on an elevated site in Cordoba, Argentina
Pavilion and garden
A secondary pavilion is slightly separated from the main structure. Its metal frame and extended glass surfaces give it a light profile, while sun-shading elements create shifting patterns of light during the day. This detached presence complements the heavy core volume and enriches the project with a more transparent spatial layer.
The garden consists of endemic species that are loosely arranged throughout the region. Grass, herbaceous plants and native shrubs create a natural landscape that blends the house into its wider context. The landscaping extends the serrano ecosystem across the site, easing the transition between architecture and land.
A linear pool placed directly next to the gallery introduces a reflective surface that echoes the geometric discipline of the residence. Its slim profile reinforces the horizontal reading of the project and establishes a calm visual dialogue with the plants.
The earthen walls create an ambiguous frontage towards the street and an open elevation towards the landscape
Colored concrete monolith
Materiality plays a central role in explaining Casa BP. Walls rendered in colored cement with handcrafted minerals give the central volume color unity and a remarkable tactile presence. Along the gallery, structural elements of solid wood appear as irregular columns under a continuous slatted roof, grounding the circulation zone with warmth and rhythm.
In the complementary pavilion, black metal and glass define the envelope while adjustable louvers regulate sunlight throughout the day. Each material is paired with its specific climatic character, supporting an architecture that closely matches Cordoba’s environmental conditions.
The residence emerges as a deliberate incision across the landscape: opaque and present towards the street, open and extending to the views, its blind facade is visually light with its galleries on a large scale. This composition grows out of a precise balance between solid planes and transparent surfaces.
A linear pool mirrors the geometry of the habitat and reflects the surrounding vegetation
A parallel gallery extends the social spaces outwards and reinforces the linear character of the project.
