On a rocky promontory overlooking the Pacific, Ryue Nishizawa’s house in Los Vilos stretches across the terrain under a single, undulating roof.
The wave-like canopy descends to the ground in select locations, shaping the home’s volume and subtly segmenting the interior without the use of walls. The gesture is both structural and spatial, creating distinct zones while maintaining a continuous openness to the landscape.
The long, curved plan follows the natural rise and fall of the site. Where conventional walls might divide space, the roof itself marks transitions: public areas, such as the dining and living rooms, open directly toward the ocean, while private bedrooms are tucked into calmer sections further inland. Glazed facades and steel columns support the monolithic concrete roof, allowing large spans and uninterrupted sightlines across the home and the surrounding coastal terrain.
Structural arches connecting diagonal landing points enable the roof to stretch and float, producing a variety of openness and spatial experiences that would be difficult to achieve with conventional vaulted or pitched structures. The flowing roof creates a sense of interior volume that feels smaller than the actual footprint, while linking the house visually and physically with the cliffs and waves around it.
The project is part of a 16-house development combining contributions from Chilean and Japanese architects. Nishizawa’s design emphasizes careful engagement with the site: the house responds to the contours of the promontory, integrating floors that rise and fall with the landscape, and a roof that mediates between shelter and openness. In this sense, the building functions as much like a landscape element as a home, with its curved concrete form echoing the motion of the ocean while preserving a dialogue between private retreat and panoramic views.
