This space with futuristic “virtual reality” style LED strip lighting was designed by Argentinian firm Estudio Ebras and furniture brand Hause Möbel to be used as both a home and an office.
The temporary Green Home Office project was created for the Casa FOA 2024 architecture and design exhibition in Córdoba, Argentina, inside an under-construction building complex named Pocito.
Estudio Ebras was presented with a windowless space to transform into a flexible environment designed to facilitate both living and working, using furniture from Argentinian brand Hause Möbel.
Entry to the 110-square-metre space was through a low, warmly lit antechamber that offered options to turn left into a compact workspace, or right into the larger central area.
The dark, “immersive” office was panelled with wood veneer squares between strips of LED light that formed a grid across the walls and floor.
“The immersive space features a luminous grid that simulates the grid of virtual reality,” said Estudio Ebras. “On one side is a desk, and on the other, a chaise lounge for resting and transporting us to a natural environment in virtual reality.”
Reached via a short cork-floored corridor, the living space featured peach, orange and rust hues that created a contrasting desert-like aesthetic.
“Upon entering the central area, a change in scale is perceived due to its dimensions and height,” Estudio Ebras said.
In place of windows, the designers worked with a light artist to install illuminated, elongated pill-shaped panels behind translucent floor-to-ceiling curtains.
The light panels displayed sunset colours, while soil and dried plants ran around the perimeter to evoke “a mountainous, wild, and arid landscape typical of the area”.
Curved-edge surfaces flowed into one another, such as a kitchen counter that swooped down from one wall and extended along another.
In the centre of the room was a large table that could be used for either dining or meetings, accompanied by four orange chairs on castors.
Overhead, a rough-textured fixture housed concentric rings of LEDs that gradually ascended inside the structure.
At the end of the room, a bench was suspended from the ceiling, shaped to frame the trio of “window” lights behind.
A separate space for quiet contemplation or taking video calls was tucked behind the entry corridor wall and closed off by sliding glass panels.
This small room was lined with cork and furnished with a purple two-seater sofa. “The acoustic box allows for privacy to make a call, work with a laptop, or, within a home-like setting, provides recreational space,” said Estudio Ebras.
As the project’s name suggests, it was designed with sustainability in mind, and a carbon footprint analysis was conducted throughout the design, exhibition and dismantling processes.
To offset the installation’s footprint, native trees were planted in nearby Cerro Champaquí with the help of local nonprofit organization Fundación Sembradores de Agua.
Recently completed projects in Córdoba include a house with weathering steel screens, a home lifted above a sloped site and an office building wrapped in perforated metal.
The photography is by Gonzalo Viramonte.
Casa FOA 2024 took place 3 May to 2 June 2024 in Córdoba. For more events, exhibitions and talks in architecture and design visit Dezeen Events Guide.
Source: Rooms - dezeen.com
