La Moraleja Villa

This family residence for an art collector is located on a relatively flat, 2-acre property in Madrid, characterized by hundreds of evenly spaced small oak trees. The area is tremendously arid and hot in summer, an environmental condition that led to a design that uses both the building orientation on the site and cantilevered masses to protect the interiors from the sun, while simultaneously opening the house to light, air and the surrounding landscape. The house is organized as a series of open and closed volumes that frame outdoor sculptures, indoor paintings and the landscape. The spaces created by these stacking and interlocking volumes vary in scale and orientation on the site, creating a series of small pavilions that are calibrated to create a dynamic dialogue between the art, architecture and landscape. The entry is under a projecting second floor volume and leads to a glass enclosed double height space designed to frame specific works of art. A gallery leads one to the main living/dining space, an indoor-outdoor double height space that opens completely to the pool courtyard and terrace to the South and to views to the outdoor sculptures to the North.