Legendary architect the late Rafael Viñoly, best known for designing 432 Park Avenue in New York and the London-based Walkie Talkie in London, is behind the mass timber inspired Médano El Pinar, a Uruguayan apartment complex including 120 super luxury beachfront residences.
Recognised as Mr Viñoly’s “final design” – who passed away, aged 78, in March last year – the project is “an innovative, ultra-sustainable, luxury, multi-family residential development,” according to the New York City-based studio Rafael Viñoly Architects, which Mr Viñoly’s son now manages.
Significantly, it will be constructed from a locally sourced mass timber structure, becoming Uruguay’s first “nearly Zero-Energy Building,” and will use solar panels, rainwater capture, a green roof and cross ventilation.
“The building’s long, low-slung, and sinewy shape integrates it with the organic landscape of its setting to minimise its visual impact on the neighbourhood and make it completely invisible from the public beach.”
In addition, “generously proportioned interiors open to large elevated private gardens with panoramic views, creating a sense of ‘conscious luxury’,” with interior renderings showing double-height living spaces with wood beams distributed throughout and capped by a wood-slated ceiling.
The design is part of a growing push towards mass timber across Latin America. Last year, Wood Central reported that mass timber is growing across Argentina, Brazil, and now Uruguay, aiming to become the leader in cross-laminated timber across South America.
Already, Uruguayan businesses are working with US interests to establish mills in Montevideo. In 2022, they opened a new mill with a production capacity of 50,000 cubic metres per year, and they aim to grow more production facilities to service the wider region.
Last year, Rafael Viñoly’s son, Román Viñoly, spoke to Dezeen after his passing, explaining how he and the studio’s staff, some of whom have been working with his father for 40 years, now feel responsible for extending his legacy.
“There is a feeling of responsibility that everyone here shares, and we are all perfectly aligned on it,” says Román Viñoly, who looks around at the skyscrapers his legendary father created.
Rafael Viñoly was responsible for hundreds of buildings worldwide, and Román Viñoly added that “not everyone can walk around and see the work of their loved one all over the city and all over the world.”
“Strangely, my favourite is a building for a pharmaceutical company,” he said, adding, “It’s the building that most closely resembles the core high concept that generated its design and planning approach.”
