Atop a Rocky Edge

Located on a cove near the coastal community of Los Vilos in Chile, Bahia Azul House sits atop a rocky edge overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Designed by Santiago-based studio Felipe Assandi Architects the house’s rectilinear in form and is slanted to accommodate the slope of the terrain. This inclination, combined with the irregular openings of the sea-facing facade, gives the impression, when viewed from across the bay or the adjacent pebble beach, of a robust deformed modernist structure.

The two-storey building is accessed through an irregularly paved pathway from the hillside on the back and features an elongated plan that unfolds as a stepped sequence of spaces across several semi-levels, in what is a relatively conventional layout which the slanted facade mischievously hides from the outside.

The interior design is characterised by a minimalist, modernist elegance that reflects the bare, coastal landscape outside. Marble floors, exposed board-formed concrete walls and white plastered ceilings are complemented by a palette of natural, earthy hues that pick up the rawness of the rocky exteriors, as well as a selection of modernist furniture that altogether bestow a timeless elegance that is still fitting with the location.

Story by Richard Misso