There’s a certain calm to museums—a sort of expansive peacefulness that’s become increasingly difficult to find in a world that seems to thrive on noise. When a friend of Arturo Grimaldi’s approached Grimaldi–Nacht Arquitectos seeking to build a new home, this was the feeling he wanted to recreate.

“The main challenge of this house was figuring out a balance between domesticity and that museum-like quality he was after,” Grimaldi says. “This dynamic determined the scale of the house and its relationship to the exterior.”

As the chairman and CEO of a financial company and the father of four school-age children, the owner sought to build a tranquil property that would bring peace to the demands of both responsibilities. But he also wished to build a museum of his own making, where he could proudly display his extensive art collection in an exhibit that would never close.

“He asked for a home that would provide space for artwork in interior galleries, as well as an enclosed yard for a large-format sculpture,” Grimaldi continues.

The owner introduced Grimaldi to a 1.2-acre plot of land set in a gated city called Nordelta, about 25 miles outside of Buenos Aires in Argentina. The verdant site on the banks of a tranquil lake could provide the canvas for the owner’s dream of a personal museum, as well as more than enough space for his children to call their own.

But Grimaldi also saw another opportunity for this home. Given the scale of the project, he stressed the importance of creating a unified aesthetic that would sharply contrast with the lush site. So he chose three main materials to support and define the build.

“The house is made entirely of reinforced concrete, and it’s expressed on a horizontal formwork,” Grimaldi says. “The shutters are coated in champagne-colored lapacho wood from the province of Misiones, and the stone was quarried in Balcarce, a province of Buenos Aires. In Argentina the cost of skilled labor is low in comparison to that of other countries, enabling us to develop highly refined details and handcrafted finishes using the natural materials of our region.”

The simplicity of those three materials—concrete, stone, and wood—helps to ground the scale of the six-bedroom, six-bathroom residence. Concrete can be found indoors and outside, where it covers the live-in service area and pool house. At 16,700 square feet, the expanse is a lot to behold. But the streamlined palette makes it easier to take it all in.

“The materials gave the correct type of ‘emptiness’ we needed for the different spaces in the home,” Grimaldi adds.

The building materials also form the ideal backdrop for the owner’s art collection, which will include 80 to 100 pieces when the curation is complete. Wide-open walls support the owner’s precious artworks and commissions, and the home’s central yard displays a large-scale sculpture. Grimaldi says that, with a closer look, the triangular metal sculpture complements the other pieces hanging indoors and throughout the exterior—creating an atmosphere much like the curated pathways of a public museum.

If the calm of a museum was what the owner first envisioned, then Grimaldi hopes he can feel it as he walks the hallways—or even as he sits on the patio admiring the landscape.

“We share a strong commitment to art,” he says. “But the relationship the home has with the garden and lake is one of my favorite parts.”

Related Reading:

A Staggered Concrete Home in Argentina Nestles in the Woods

A Concrete Vacation House Keeps Life Simple in Coastal Argentina

A Concrete Hillside Home With a Green Roof and Killer Views

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Grimaldi–Nacht Arquitectos

Builder/General Contractor: Obras y Sistemas

Structural Engineer: Ing Sebastian Berdichevsky

Landscape Design: BULLA

Lighting Design: Arturo Peruzzotti

Interior Design: Grimaldi–Nacht Arquitectos

Sound Engineer: German Selmo

Other Company: MORAS

Other Company: GUT METAL

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An Architect Built a 16,700-Square-Foot Museum That Happens to Be a Home