The House I dream Off

As architects and designers, we are encouraged to create a piece of work that will become a masterpiece, in many cases, a well designed and original house serves this purpose. I still want to visit one day the Glass house, by Phillip Johnson and the Fallingwater house by Frank Lloyd Wright. However, the house I dream off it's not about a fantastic design I want to create and it's not one house but two of them.

As a child, after my parents divorced, I went to live into a river town called Lorica, on the Colombian North Coast, The two houses I grew up were very different but both of them made me what I am today. I call them Auntie Ana's house, with an impressive facade that runs along the piazza in front of her, big terrace, courtyard, backyard, and people coming to visit at all times of the day.

The other house, I called it Telle's house, my mom's mother house. Strong as her character, right in front of the town's church, with a big balcony we called the Galleria, not only a place to play with friends but also to watch religions processions, funerals and big weddings. With rooms so big we called them Recamaras and the smaller ones, contrarecamaras.

There were elements both of the houses have in common : rocking chairs to accommodate us and the visitors, hammocks where we used to have a nap, children played and grandmas places to sleep. But the main thing they shared, was the loving spirit of a family united to make us feel at home and protected.

Today, I live in a 550 square foot apartment and I have realized it's not about the size of your house or how well designed it is, it is about the memories created in the spaces, the peace it brings to the people who lives there, you may not know it, but you may be living already in the house you dream off, for sure, I am.

Note: Auntie Ana is still alive., late 80's...and still living in her house. I try to visit her every time I go back to Colombia, she is my second mother and she and her house will never be forgotten.