Studio-Home
In 1998, Decastelli designed his studio-home in the Colegiales section of
Buenos Aires.
Like his artwork, this construction is characterized by the austerity of its
materials and the purity of its forms.
A total of 320 square meters, the construction has three levels including
patios, a yard and terraces designed according to the changing position of
the sun.
The figure of the straight line—which is broken to form the core of the
house—governs the composition of the floor plan, integrating volumes
and interior and exterior spaces connected by large openings.
The ceilings are exposed concrete with layered formwork; the floors gray
smooth cement. Fine plaster details are found in the interiors and
cardboard-color covering in the exteriors. All the materials serve to unify
the construction; their finishing may vary, as in the case of porphyry, which
is polished for the counters, in sheets in the bathrooms and in tile form in
the exterior passageways.
A double-height section of the building, his studio is both integrated into
and differentiated from the rest of the house, allowing for fluid interaction.
This tremendously ascetic space—just a table, some benches, sheets of
cardboard, tools—is the setting as well as the context for his work, which
he performs alone or with an assistant, when the work process so
requires. It is also, once a week, the gathering point for his students.