Visiting two of Pablo Neruda’s houses, La Sabastiana in Valparaiso and La Chascona in Santiago, I was able to get a better understanding of Neruda’s design style and how site was influential to the architectural design of the buildings. Both of these houses make use of a concept of stacking, in La Sabastiana with the stacking of floors and in La Chascona with the stacking of buildings up the hillside. The small plot that La Sabastiana sits on makes for a very claustrophobic floor plan and a need for the house to rise vertically to fit in the necessary programs. La Chascona has much more space on its site to spread out and makes use of that by dividing the programs into 3 different buildings connected by a central garden. These buildings were also both designed with a focus on the views. La Sabastiana and it’s very vertical form allow for many widespread views of the hills of Valparaiso and the ocean below. La Chascona focuses instead on the views of the central garden and courtyards. Besides the floor plans, the interiors of both buildings were very similar. They were very eclectic, combining many different styles and cultures. Each were filled with a variety of memorabilia and prized possessions that Pablo Neruda collected throughout his lifetime. The interior designs are a good reflection of Neruda’s lifestyle and the things that he found important.
Exploded perspective of La Chascona
Exploded perspective of La Sabastiana
View from window of La Sebastiana
La Chascona symbol in on the house in Santiago
I also visited both of the Pablo Neruda houses nearby and found that they were very different experiences. Firstly, both houses had very different sites. La Sebastiana’s location within the hills of Valparaíso gave it an incredibly scenic view of the town and the ocean. All the windows in the project capitalized on this to give Pablo and his visitors a glimpse of the colorful buildings, the mountains, and the ocean that is characteristic of the area. La Chascona on the other hand was hidden away in a small urban area. While approaching it I was unsure of if it was the right place until i spotted the logo on the wall. There was also construction happening nearby that added to this confusion and broke the magic. That obviously wasn’t the atmosphere it was built in but it did influence my experience of the building. That being said within the boundaries of the lot the landscaping and layout of the building helped mask this and make it feel like a lush green paradise within the city.
The layout of the houses and how people travel through them also varied quite a bit. La Sebastiana was very vertical with the main way to get from space to space being narrow staircases. The stacked shaped help allow for more windows out towards the seas in many spaces. Then The Cascona was more spread out in its organization with some spaces connected through exterior stairs through the gardens. This is partially because the house began as a space for Pablo’s mistress and was later expanded when he moved onto the property as well after leaving his first wife. The means that the area was a little bit fragmented in nature but this added to the character and encouraged visitors to experience the garden areas and they went for space to space. This also allowed Pablo’s office to be separate from the main entertainment spaces which allows for more privacy in that area, unless the entertaining area was the summer bar which is adjacent to the office.
I agree with you, Hannah, about the exterior and it’s stacking. In a way I think that that was continued in the interior through all of his different cultural objects from around the world. Each piece of the exterior and interior was connected through its individuality. With the exterior and it’s mix of unique shapes and then the interior with its mix of different objects created a unity that I don’t think would have worked if the house had a certain style or theme. Such as the table China. The glass cups and the plates for not of the same set but still managed to seem to fit well together because of the hodgepodge of different items around. I appreciate how he made his house something like a blank canvas and filled it with highlights of his life.