Remota Hotel

by Germán del Sol

© Guy Wenborne - ©Turek

© Guy Wenborne - ©Turek

Architects: Germán del Sol
Collaborators: José Luis Ibañez G. - Francisca Schüler M. - Carlos Venegas
Owner: Inmobiliaria Fiordos del Sur
Location: Km. 1,5 Camino de Puerto Natales a Torres del Paine, Provincia de Última Esperanza, Magallanes, Patagonia Chilena.
General Contractor: Salfa, Punta Arenas
Structural Engineering: Pedro Bartolomé
Site Area: 4.31 hás.
Built Area: 5.300m2.
Design Year: 2004 – 2005
Project Year: 2004 – 2006
Photographs: Guy Wenborne - Turek. .

The inspiration

are the sheep farm’s buildings of Patagonia.
Not the main houses of the estancias,
their warm interiors closed to their place,
but the buildings made for the sheep farm works
where daily life in Patagonia is lived,
and finds an splendor of its own;
the barns for drying the sheep’s hides
and for the many other works at the estancias,
that have to be done inside
because of the cold or the wind, or both.

An the other many signs of human live
dispersed in Patagonia,
like the endless wire fences,
the small houses for the shepherd’s dogs, et.,

The Courtyard

The empty central courtyard or plaza,
introduces the vast wilderness of Patagonia
at the core of the hotel.

It is surrounded in three sides
by two guest rooms buildings,
and the main one in the back a little higher,
where the common areas of the hotel are placed.

The plaza is empty, except for a few big boulders,
but is full of suggestions: it is like the clear cut
that one makes to see the forest.

It lets one see what one minds,
whether it is the natural environment,
or the strong culture that has allow men and women,
to enjoy a life, as life is in Patagonia.

The main plaza is an invitation to leave
the warm environment of the hotel,
and go wandering in the wild,
unworried if the day is windy or cold,
keeping in mind that all the comforts
of one daily life, are awaiting when one is back,
the shear tasks of daily life spared.