Bare Essentials

The pared-back Casa Primitiva fits in perfectly in its semi-rural Spanish context

- By Tf Chan

Casa Primitiva, as its name suggests, is an unpretentious structure. The one-storey, 120 sq m building has a rectilinear footprint; its brick perimeter walls bear five identical steel trusses that support the gabled roof and divide the space underneath into four bays. The material palette is pared back (off-white mortar for the exterior walls, concrete for the flooring, natural wood for the countertops), and openings are reduced to rudimentary forms.

The structure’s simplicity belies bold ambitions and a sophisticated design process. It was commissioned by a pair of brothers, Bosco and Claudio Sodi. Brooklyn-based Bosco (see W*260) is an internationally renowned painter and sculptor, and creator of Casa Wabi – a cultural destination on the coast of Puerto Escondido, Mexico, featuring architecture by the likes of Tadao Ando, Alberto Kalach, Álvaro Siza and Kengo Kuma; while Claudio is a prolific theatre producer in Madrid. They recently bought a wine estate on the outskirts of the Spanish capital, and have set their sights on recruiting leading architects to add a wine pavilion and villas to the vicinity of the existing winery building. But first, they needed a place for these architects to stay. The task of creating such accommodations fell to Hanghar, a boutique architecture practice in Madrid.