MAPA Constructs Minimalist House from Concrete in Uruguay

Sometimes, six is enough. Case in point: the Lagos house in Canelones, a vineyard-rich section of western Uruguay, which MAPA constructed of just a half-dozen prefabricated concrete slabs which rest on two concrete walls made in the same factory.

“When you enter the house, you can actually understand how the loads run through the elements until they reach the soil,” says MAPA’s co-founder and partner Andrés Gobba. “You can also understand in seconds how the house was built. Or, let’s say, mounted.”

You can also view the nearby lake from most points in the home—not to mention grab a pair of oars from the patio wall and explore it yourself. The black-and-white forms echo the spare furnishings inside and Gobba’s credo: “A minimalist and honest approach to details, less but better.”