Casa Klotz By Mathias Klotz

Casa Klotz was the first major project by Chilean Architect Mathias Klotz. Completed in 1991 for his mother, the pared back beach house sits within the context of its coastal site so seamlessly that the design appears to have been predestined for existence. 

Situated on the seafront in Tongoy, 400km’s north of Santiago, Casa Klotz exudes a romantic alter ego, tamed by its straight lines and heavily curated aesthetic.  What appears to be a rudimentary timber clad, white-washed box on approach, unfolds to reveal a stunning vista of the seascape viewed as a vast panorama through double height, wall to wall windows in the ground floor living room and balconies above in its northern elevation. The sunlight, palette, materiality and form of Casa Klotz render it so poignantly anchored within its beachside aspect that one cannot help but applaud the architects sophistication and restraint in its design.

A lesson in necessity and form, Casa Klotz is defined by its surroundings which it effortlessly reflects. The house itself is made up of a rectangular box 6 x 6 x 12m with a symmetrical layout designed around a central living space on the ground floor. Bookending the living space is a kitchen/dining area and small bedroom with two further bedrooms upstairs with recessed terraces that frame the expansive vista of dunes and ocean.

Mathias Klotz has gone on to design many more buildings that all hinge on his recognisable aesthetic of crisp architecture that utilises clean lines and precise geometry. Like that seen at Casa Klotz, Mathias Klotz has continued to develop a new contemporary architectural signature that culminates in realised buildings that harness a profound contextual understanding of their individual sites. 

Photographed by Roland Halbe.

Words by Tiffany Jade.