This fortress-like structure sits at the foot of the Andes Mountains in San Lucia Alto, southern Chile, and architects Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen call it the “Great Camp,” which doesn't match the first impression. At first glance, it looks like a grand concrete building, actually a cluster of twelve buildings arranged around four courtyards in a grid. Featuring a range of spaces ranging from private to grand to semi-open, this self-commissioned building combines living areas, workspaces and exhibition spaces, blurring the boundaries between private and public. “It is too simple to say that the collection of these concrete blocks is a house,” the two explained; but “it is not too modest to say that it is a museum.”

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Called Luna House, the project embodies the iconic style of Pezo von Ellrichshausen, a duo at Concepcion's award-winning architectural practice, a combination of bold geometry, concise lines and bare concrete bestiality with minimalist language. Harmoniously nestled at the foot of the forested hills of the region, the building is a country resort as it is a cultural center where the production and display of art and architecture go hand in hand with the exchange of nature.

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Inspired by the concept of the corridor, the square footprints of the building frame the natural landscape, dividing it into four courtyards by superimposing asymmetrical crosses, each with its own unique features, including a circular garden, the largest of which is a reflecting pool——Luna House's name comes from the latter being rather bull The size of the field is called “medialuna” in the Chilean rural tradition.

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The twelve concrete buildings that make up the outer and inner cross sections of the structure vary in shape—some rectangular, some L-shaped, and some T-shaped—if you happen to visit, you won't notice it, because they are separated by only “visible earthquake relief,” that is, very small gaps. They also vary in height, with the western side being two-storey and the eastern one being single-storey, in order to maintain a consistent roof level on a sloping surface. Pouring the site with wooden formwork, textured elevations make it more difficult to distinguish between buildings and provide a complementary backdrop for the courtyard and the native plantings in the surrounding area.

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Decorated with square and round windows and skylights varying in size, number, and location, each room has its own unique quality of space, from ventilated, light-filled spaces, to vibrant double-height rooms to darker, more introverted areas. Interestingly, the living area and work/exhibition space include a wide variety of rooms, which shows that the boundaries between private life and professional life are blurred when it comes to creative couples who live and work together.

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