PALITOS Cabin in the Buenos Aires Delta

The commission is located in South America, in Argentina, at the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. It is a primal wetland landscape, only accessible by river, and constantly threatened by rising waters. The architecture asserts itself on the site, engaging with its organic power.

We redefine the ancestral stilt system into a unique, tectonic matrix of industrialised Eucalyptus timber. This structure fuses the artificial with the wild, accommodating domestic uses. The tectonic base supporting a stereotomic element is abandoned in favour of a tectonic form that rises and contains stereotomic elements, both light and deeply rooted. The system is governed by a strict 1.22m (4ft) module. Prefabricated sections facilitate transport and are assembled in situ with interlocking joints.

The resulting form – two connected cubes – creates an “artificial forest,” a deliberate human presence poised against the immensity of nature.