La horizontalidad en la conformación de esta casa busca acentuar su relación con el paisaje de la cordillera de Los Andes. Se organiza en dos volúmenes horizontales paralelos, desfasados y semitransparentes, que se clavan a la pendiente. Al interior, la vivienda se caracteriza por poder integrar sus espacios a través de mamparas corredizas. En el primer cuerpo se encuentran los espacios comunes, la cocina y dormitorios, mientras que en el segundo volumen se sitúan un estar familiar y los dormitorios de huéspedes. / The horizontality in the form of this house seeks to accentuate its relationship with the Andean landscape. The house is organized in two parallel, semi-transparent, horizontal volumes that are pinned to the slope. On the interior, the house is characterized by integrating its spaces with sliding screens. In the first body the common spaces, kitchen and bedrooms are found, while the second volume contains a family room and guestrooms.

Chan Chan, the prehistoric capital of the Chimu culture (ca. A.D. 900 to 1450), is located in the Moche Valley close to the Pacific Ocean on the North Coast of Peru. Its sandy desert environment is dominated by the dry onshore turbulent and gusty winds from the south. The nucleus of this large urban community built of adobe is visually and spatially dominated by 10 monumental rectilinear high walled citadels that were thought to be the domain of the rulers. The form and function of these immense citadels has been an enigma for scholars since their discovery by the Spanish ca. 1535. Previous efforts to explain the citadels and the walls have emphasized the social, political, and economic needs of the culture. The use of the citadels to control the effects of the wind, sand, and dust in the valley had not been previously considered. Through the use of theoretical constructions and wind tunnel experiments, it is established that the form of the classic variant of the citadel was developed from a longtime interaction between the man—built environment and the natural environment. The Chimu had designed a courtyard system that reduced stress and discomfort from wind, sand, and dust by means of architectural features that included: the rectilinear citadel plan with the long axis parallel to the prevailing winds; the contiguous courtyards with the long axis in common; the high exterior walls; the high interior transverse walls; and the triangular cross section of the walls. It is demonstrated that these features kept out the blowing sand, reduced the wind speeds at pedestrian level, and kept dust, entrained in the airstream by the anthropogenic activity outside the walls, from entering the enclosures. It is also demonstrated that there is a correlation between the degree of protection afforded in a sector of the citadel and the social, political, and economic activities that took place in that sector. / PH. D.

The architectural intentions may best be described in the phrases: "symbolic meaning of the environment" - "the spirit of place" - and the need to assure the "historical continuity". The main points of the program are the following: 1.- to create a service unit corresponding to the needs of the overall development of the micro-region as regards to tourism, 2.- to favor contact between the tourists and the local population, 3.- to express this aim by means of an open type of structure, 4.- to offer a wide range of activities corresponding to the needs and desires of the occupants, 5.- not to destroy the natural and existing environment. / Master of Architecture