Living the life in the trans-generational home
We ask ourselves:
Why are there so many people living such lonely lives?
The Big House is both a desire and a provocation.
For thousands of years, humans have lived alongside other generations. We grew up witnessing the lives of others — in real flesh, not through screens. This taught us to be humble, patient, and empathic. Being part of a trans-generational home is almost like taking part in a theatrical play: there may be times when you are the protagonist of the story, and others when you are behind the scenes. In a trans-generational house, knowledge is passed on through advice and experience. We learn to celebrate our own and others’ accomplishments. We are trained to endure loss and to mourn together. We may witness birth and death.
The Big House is conceived as a structure that emerges and floats in the Argentinian countryside, surrounded by water tanks, mills, crops, and some animals. It is usually windy, and the sun is quite strong.
The Big House is inspired by the thousands of immigrants who arrived in Argentina at the turn of the 20th century, made a home in the middle of nowhere, and had twelve sons and daughters who grew up taking care of one another. It is inspired by those brothers who bought a piece of land in a town that has now disappeared, and built their homes one next to the other, whose children grew up playing together and walking to school every morning with their cousins. It is inspired by those large families made of pieces of other families, and by the many aunts and uncles who were not real aunts and uncles, but very close neighbors, whose house operated almost as an extension of yours.
The Big House is a chaotic fantasy inhabited by kids, teenagers, adults, and elders living together.
The Big House is a cloister, a Casa Patio. It could not be a different type. The central courtyard is its heart; the main collective space where anything can happen. The kitchen and dining are huge and will be used for many more things than eating. Each person has its own single room, which are not tiny, because we do not believe in tiny spaces.
Th Big House has thick walls made of brick and light roofs made of prefabricated concrete beams. Once built, it will remain there probably for centuries, just like the other built before it.
