es puig d’en tries · ibiza

We were asked to reproduce an old Ibizan farm. It didn’t seem like the correct approach to us, but it’s not our place to impose modernity.

The size of the farm was an invitation to work with abstract, functional volumes, so we proposed to step away from the Ibizan domestic architectural model and to recover church typical elements, mostly primary geometrics and thick walls.

After studying close the churches of Ibiza, we moved on: wide, low retaining walls that could blend with the landscape, and volumes that could take advantage of topographic unevenness and silhouettes. Fact: despite its bold volumes, the house cannot be seen from Cala Salada.

Es Puig d’en Tries is basically a rustic architecture whose sobriety is not an obstacle to its traditional beauty. Some say there are two houses, as the social spaces are erected on a larger, abstract scale while the bedroom area holds more human proportions.

In addition, its functional distribution is different from the Mediterranean model, which organizes the spaces around a patio. The patios and porches in this house go along with the rooms, which follow one another in line to meet the sea. The spaces are discontinuous and their location is based on the views of the steep coasts, which creep into every single corner.

Es Puig d’en Tries shows us how to be inspired, how to conserve and get back the identity of traditional architectural elements … And, above all, how to let pastiche aside.

Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza
2002 – 2005

Architects
Jaime Romano
Manel Landete

Collaborators
Andres van Gelder
David Blanco
Roger Meyer

Builder
Construcciones Peral

Industrials
DyD Instalaciones
Carpinteria Pazos
Piscinas Pepe

Publications
Living Deco no. 5