La Cunka Mountain Shelter

Set on the eastern slope of a mountain in the Sierras of Córdoba, Argentina, La Cunka Mountain Shelter explores a minimal way of inhabiting the landscape. The project consists of two compact cabins overlooking Los Molinos Lake, conceived as spaces for temporary and immersive retreat. Rather than imposing themselves on the site, the shelters establish a quiet dialogue with the mountain, allowing the surrounding landscape to become the project's main protagonist.

The steep terrain determined the architectural approach from the outset. Instead of transforming the topography through extensive earthworks, both volumes rest on a robust stone base built with material gathered directly from the site. This strategy minimizes intervention while anchoring the architecture to the mountain, creating a natural transition between the built structure and its environment. The stone platform becomes both a structural solution and a continuation of the landscape itself.

Above this base, a prefabricated steel structure defines the construction system. Conceived for precision, efficiency, and minimal impact, the structural components were manufactured off-site and assembled with limited intervention, reducing construction time and preserving the natural conditions of the terrain. The project embraces an architecture of restraint, where every element serves a clear purpose and unnecessary gestures are deliberately avoided.

The exterior envelope is clad in specially treated timber, giving the cabins a dark, almost monolithic appearance that allows them to blend into the surrounding vegetation and rocky landscape. Rather than seeking visibility, the architecture recedes into its context, changing its perception throughout the day as light, weather, and seasons transform the mountain.

Inside, the atmosphere shifts completely. Continuous wooden surfaces wrap walls, ceilings, and built-in furniture, creating a warm and intimate environment that contrasts with the rugged exterior. The compact dimensions of each shelter encourage an essential way of living, where every space is carefully considered and every opening is positioned to frame specific views of the lake, the forest, and the distant hills. Natural light becomes a fundamental architectural material, reinforcing the relationship between the interior and the landscape beyond.

Minimalism is not only a formal choice but a clear architectural position. By reducing the project to its essential elements, La Cunka Mountain Shelter proposes an intense way of experiencing the mountain landscape through austerity, material clarity, and spatial restraint. It is an architecture that values silence over spectacle, permanence over excess, and the careful construction of atmosphere over formal expression. The project ultimately seeks to demonstrate that a meaningful connection with nature can emerge not through monumentality, but through precision, simplicity, and respect for the place in which it stands.