Sometimes designing a firehouse isn't just about fire trucks, bells, and red doors. In designing the 18th Firemen's Brigade in Santiago, Chile, architect Gonzalo Mardones Viviani found that he had to give careful consideration to the firehouse's role in the surrounding neighborhood of Viracura and to its function as a real "house," a home to the fire fighters who live there together with their families. Published 2007.0606
Nestled in the foliage of Lake Colico near Santiago, in Chile's Region IX, Lakeside House looks at first like a diminutive medieval castle with a stone facade. But this appearance is only the prelude to an expansive glass structure that inserts its inhabitants into the heart of nature. Published 2006.0329
"El Mirador" ("The Viewpoint") occupies a site on Cerro Apoquindo, on the eastern fringe of the Chilean capital, Santiago, near the Andean foothills. The house is dubbed "the bunker" by local taxi drivers, but the impassionate exterior concrete wall facing the street hides a light and spacious interior. Published 2005.0720
Architecture Design and Building in Santiago, Chile