An Umbrella Can Also Be a House
A selection of drawings of the Casa Desmarás by Amancio Williams
Model of Una nueva bóveda cáscara [A new shell vault], 1949. Photographer unknown. Gelatin silver print, 22 x 42.7 cm. ARCH286221. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
As early as 1939, Amancio Williams was working on studies for Una nueva bóveda cascara [A new shell vault], a modular structural system comprised of umbrella-like structures that could be multiplied to form an architectural canopy. Around a decade later, Williams collaborated with architects Jacobo Saal and Helvidia Toscano de Saal and engineer Julio Pizetti on the design and prototyping of these structures in reinforced concrete, resulting in a square-shaped vault capable of supporting large loads atop a hollow column that doubled as a drainage pipe.
Fabrication of Una nueva bóveda cáscara [A new shell vault], Córdoba, Argentina, 1949. Photographer unknown. Gelatin silver print, 14.2 x 22.6 cm. ARCH288353. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
Model, Una nueva bóveda cáscara [A new shell vault], Córdoba, Argentina, 1949. Photographer unknown. Gelatin silver print, 11.1 x 17.1 cm. ARCH288354. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
This structural system appeared in many of Williams’s design concepts in the following decades in a multitude of arrangements and scales. One example is Casa Desmarás [Desmarás House], an unbuilt house designed in 1969 for a site in Las Lomas de San Isidro in Bernal, Argentina. Here, the plans show three monumental umbrella-like structures looming over the property in a way that echoes Williams’s many abstract drawings of clouds and kites.
Perspective drawing, Casa Desmarás, Vivienda en Las Lomas de San Isidro [Desmarás house, residence in Las Lomas de San Isidro], Buenos Aires, Argentina, ca. 1969. Ink and coloured pencil on paper, 42.2 x 50 cm. ARCH288345. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
Perspective drawing, Casa Desmarás, Vivienda en Las Lomas de San Isidro [Desmarás house, residence in Las Lomas de San Isidro], Buenos Aires, Argentina, ca. 1969. Ink and coloured pencil on paper, 32.6 x 50 cm. ARCH288346. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
Perspective drawing, Casa Desmarás, Vivienda en Las Lomas de San Isidro [Desmarás house, residence in Las Lomas de San Isidro], Buenos Aires, Argentina, ca. 1969. Ink and coloured pencil on paper, 49.9 x 65.1 cm. ARCH288344. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
From our collection database
Casa Desmarás, also known as Vivienda en Las Lomas de San Isidro, is a two-storey private residence for Raul and Noemi Desmarás in Buenos Aires. The project was not realized. Williams worked on this project in 1969 in collaboration with architect Luis Santos. The design proposal includes a terrace with a swimming pool covered by three shell vaults. In the house itself, most of the living spaces are located on the second floor. It includes a living room with large windows on each side of the room, a conversation pit with a skylight right above it, and bedrooms that include two floor-to-ceiling semicircular wrap-around wardrobes with mirrored doors. The ground level, partially underground, serves as access to the house from the main entrance and the driveway. It also appears to be where the kitchen and service area are located.
Amancio Williams, Details for shell vaults, Casa Desmarás, Vivienda en Las Lomas de San Isidro [Desmarás house, residence in Las Lomas de San Isidro], Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1970. Ink on translucent paper. ARCH288280. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
Structural plan and detail for shell vaults, Casa Desmarás, Vivienda en Las Lomas de San Isidro [Desmarás house, residence in Las Lomas de San Isidro], Buenos Aires, Argentina, 29 December 1969. Ink on translucent paper, 74.8 × 172.3 cm. ARCH288278. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
Amancio Williams, Structural plan and detail for shell vaults, Casa Desmarás, Vivienda en Las Lomas de San Isidro [Desmarás house, residence in Las Lomas de San Isidro], Buenos Aires, Argentina, 4 January 1970. Ink on translucent paper. ARCH288279. Amancio Williams fonds, CCA. Gift of the children of Amancio Williams © CCA
This project is featured in the exhibition Domestic Monument curated by Pezo von Ellrichshausen, the third and last in the Out of the Box: Amancio Williams series. For more information regarding the Amancio Williams fonds, visit the collection finding aid.
