Location: San Sebastián
Date: 2019
Project: mecanismo (design and management)
Photos: Imagen Subliminal
About Mecanismo
Mecansimo results from the combination of a profound interest in materials and a careful execution of ideas, all this developed with a clear obsession for investigation and innovation of new concepts.
The materialization of these ideas resulted to create the architectural studio based in Madrid and founded in 2012 by Marta Urtasun and Pedro Rica. Specialized in the development and execution of projects, systems and products related to design and architecture. Our work comprehends the complete creative process, from the conceptual idea to the detailed design.
The intervention consisted of the reform of a house located in the vicinity of the Ondarreta beach, in San Sebastián, with an approximate construction area of 200 square meters.
The original state of the house represented the antithesis of what we were looking for; completely compartmentalized and dark, with low ceilings and a labyrinthine connection between the rooms.
Our intention, however, was to introduce as much light as possible by creating fluid spaces, although differentiated, without useless stays or connection and using elements and materials that allowed us to connect the different spaces of the house.
For this, we propose an organization formed by two parts radically separated: the common space, which integrates the kitchen with the living room and the dining room, giving rise to a wide and open space with the largest gaps in the facade and, on the other hand, the private area, which houses the bedrooms and bathrooms and is isolated from the first one through a panel.
The use and combination of the materials in the design of the different elements and rooms structures the atmosphere of the house. We use only two materials -wood and stone- looking for their primitive and natural state; manipulating them in their form, but not their color or texture. The stone is present in four varieties and the wood used is mainly oak or lacquered, adding punctually walnut wood in some pieces of the furniture.
The main space of the house is composed of the kitchen, the living room and dining room in which the purpose was to connect the kitchen to the rest of the space, turning it into the protagonist stage. For this reason, a transparent fence connects it visually and generates interaction between the kitchen and the outside spaces. As a backdrop, it has been used the storage unit that surrounds the island and separates the laundry area in the back.
In rooms of a more private nature, such as the bedrooms or office, the neutral chromatism of the panels that surround them, combined with integrated pieces of oak, give rise to a bright and warm atmosphere.
We conceive the furniture as an architectural element with a functional contribution to the spatiality of the house and not as a decorative element. Therefore, this idea is also part of the project since its inception and, due to this, it has tended to replace traditional elements that provide a limited function, such as partition walls. Among this furniture, there are all those fixed elements that give rise to thick panels and separations between rooms, which provide storage to the house.
In addition, we design exempt furniture that also influences spatial functionality and is integrated into the original concept of housing through the use of the same materials and textures. Among this furniture that we devise, we have to highlight a small breakfast table and its two chairs that can be fully integrated while not in use.
The materialization’s purpose is to show the characteristics of the construction method of the materials used, the textures, the joints and the seams. Therefore, the result is the consequence
mecanismo of the nature of the elements that make up the home and its arrangement within it, to achieve a bright and functional space according to the needs of its inhabitants.
