Redefining the Art of Living

One of the very first Pezo von Ellrichshausen projects to capture widespread attention — including Azure’s — was Poli House, erected on the Chilean coastline in 2005. With its extreme cuboid form and irregular windows, it automatically signalled a new voice with something particular to say — not only about residential architecture, but also about the experience of living itself. Based in Concepción, Chile, Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen (he’s Chilean, she was born in Argentina) founded their art and architecture studio in 2002 and subsequently built a home-cum-studio for themselves in the shape of a small tower on a plinth. Cien House, as it’s known, allows them to easily transition from paintings on canvas to project sketches, their figurative work informing their practical output. In addition to experimenting with residential design, the couple has also created awe-inspiring installations for biennials and fairs worldwide — in Milan last year, it amplified the majesty of the ornate Palazzo Litta with the stainless-steel-clad Echo Pavilion — and is teaching at Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning. In a recent conversation with Azure, they described the philosophical — even existential — ideas that drive their work.

Through your projects — completed and not — it seems that you’re using single-family residential architecture as a field of experimentation, for both the practice of architecture and the act of living. Are you actively challenging your clients — the occupants