“My mother always talked about this magnolia tree in her childhood garden,” recalls Ecuadorian architect Felipe Escudero. That memory stayed with him through adulthood as he honed his craft working for MAD Architects in Beijing and Heatherwick Studio in London, eventually founding his own firm back in Quito. So when his mom approached him to design her house on the outskirts of town, Escudero placed a magnolia at its center. Crafted of glass and concrete, the new single-story structure (pictured) wraps a courtyard, offering dynamic views of the branching specimen, as well as the Andes. “I wanted the house to look very lightweight, like it’s posing on the landscape in a very delicate way,” he reflects of the home, a breakthrough performance for this rising international star. Seen from above, it resembles a crisp sheet of paper atop the hilly terrain. Inside, curved concrete walls and minimalist furnishings, nearly all by Escudero, lend a futuristic feeling. (The pièce de résistance is the superlong dining table.)
Such poetry of form is a through line in Escudero’s work, which includes a forthcoming contemporary art museum, restaurant, and photography studio—all in the Quito area. “I like to think about a building as an object that can communicate an idea in a very simple way,” he explains, adding that it’s a testament to his mother. “She passed on her love of modern architecture to me.” felipeescudero.com
