Oval House by Jorgelina Tortorici & Asociados + Nicolás Lanza: Organic Geometry and Spatial Fluidity in Concrete

Located in Bella Vista, Argentina, the Oval House by Jorgelina Tortorici & Asociados in collaboration with Nicolás Lanza transforms the traditional suburban dwelling into a sculptural spatial experience. Completed in 2022, this 415-square-meter residence unites bold geometry, organic interior flow, and material precision.

In a gated neighborhood characterized by wooded plots and conventional homes, Oval House asserts its individuality through contradiction—a seemingly rigid exterior conceals an intimate world shaped by curves, light, and void.

The Concept: A Geometry Within a Box

At the project’s heart lies a deceptively simple but powerful idea: a central oval patio, embraced by a “U”-shaped plan that unfolds around it. From this interior void, every space in the house is organized, creating a dialogue between enclosure and openness, mass and transparency.

Externally, the house reads as a solid geometric block, its straight lines echoing the formality of the surrounding context. Inside, however, the architecture dissolves into movement. Curved walls, glass planes, and fluid transitions carve out a soft and continuous world, where form follows emotion rather than convention.

This deliberate tension between the rational and the organic defines Oval House’s identity—a celebration of the plastic and sculptural potential of concrete.

Spatial Experience: From Entrance to Embrace

The journey begins at a semi-covered entrance, where the boundary between inside and outside blurs through layered thresholds. Passing through a gate, visitors enter the oval patio—a verdant internal void bathed in natural light.

From here, spaces unfold radially. The living and dining areas occupy a double-height volume that opens in both directions: to the enclosed patio and to the rear garden, creating dual perspectives at once contained and infinite.

The kitchen, positioned at the axis of daily life, offers panoramic oversight of both social and private zones. Its minimal detailing conceals appliances within cabinetry, reinforcing the home’s refined material continuity.

Upstairs, the plan resolves as an elegant U-shaped ring. One wing houses the children’s rooms, the other the master suite, both overlooking the oval courtyard below. Corridors disappear—circulation becomes experience, turning spaces into moments of suspension, light, and connection.

Climate, Orientation, and Light

The house’s orientation is meticulously considered. Aluminum sunshades wrap the exterior, adapting to the direction and intensity of sunlight. The front façade, clad in aluminum panels that mimic the warmth of wood, provides privacy and variegated light, while the rear façade opens generously to the landscape through sliding sunbreaks.

Every room benefits from cross ventilation and abundant daylight, complemented by deep eaves that temper heat and glare. The architecture performs as both shelter and mechanism, reducing energy demand through passive design principles.

Material Composition: Concrete, Stone, and Warmth

Concrete shapes both the structure and the identity of Oval House. Its precision enables free-form curves and open spans, eliminating the need for unnecessary supports.

The ground level features continuous Tundra Grey marble flooring, uniting interior and exterior surfaces and even extending into the pool basin. This seamless material flow amplifies spatial unity.

On the upper floor, oak wood flooring introduces warmth and tactile softness, contrasting with the cool, smooth concrete. In the basement, a multipurpose room enjoys natural light from custom skylights, maintaining livability across all levels.

Every junction—between wood, stone, and concrete—was conceived with artisanal care, expressing what the architects call the “plastic side of concrete.”

Light, Form, and Detail

Curves define not only the structure but every element inside. Staircases, railings, niches, and furniture continue the oval theme, creating a holistic spatial language that binds architecture and interior design.

The firm personally designed the furniture and material palette, ensuring coherence from the largest gestures to the smallest details. The result is a home where design disciplines merge seamlessly—a built portrait of craftsmanship and compositional harmony.

“Oval,” say the architects, is a meditation on continuity and containment, proving that geometry can evoke intimacy as powerfully as it evokes form.

Conclusion: Concrete as Emotion

Oval House transcends the archetype of suburban living. It transforms the static box into a breathing composition of light, material, and geometry. Through its oval void and play of contrasts, it proposes a way of living that is both energizing and serene—a contemporary reinterpretation of domestic architecture in the Argentine context.

All the photographs are works of Alejandro Peral