Keche House a house shaped like a binocular in Paraguay,
Atop the hills of San Bernardino in Paraguay, the Keche House, designed in the shape of a telescope,
was built by Paraguayan architecture studio Javier Corvalán + Laboratorio de Arquitectura.
Named after the Keche House, the 300-square-meter house serves as binoculars to a stone submarine called Bulo,
stranded in Yby’anguy in San Bernardino.
The project was inspired by the historical context witnessed in 1929,
with the aim of capturing the highest point in the terrain, which it presents as the best view.
The story of the house is based on a visit by Swiss-French mastermind Le Corbusier and author of The Little Prince,
and French aristocrat, writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Asuncion in 1929.
Le Corbusier and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry traveled together,
landed in Asuncion, and stayed at the Hotel del Lago in San Bernardino.
Keche House a house shaped like a binocular in Paraguay
The architect’s room, later named after him, overlooked the Ypacarai Lake landscape.
On a journey it was considered an unexpected event,
though he left it recorded in his annotations and drawings, as was the custom at the time.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was responsible for this, and although Le Corbusier’s visit was inconsequential,
the pilot-writer’s visit was not at all.
The Yby Anguy Segunda neighborhood is located in the San Bernardino area,
perched on one of the hillsides of San Bernardino overlooking the lake.
A large angular wood veneer covers the house as a roof and is complemented by all-glass windows,
making the house look like a full view.
The submarine is located in the area of a stone ravine (yby’anguy),
where a covered chamber or bulo with a basin has been excavated, and the Keche House is located higher,
where the periscope extends and the highest point of the terrain provides the best view.
The interior spaces are filled with abundant daylight, thanks to floor-to-ceiling glass windows,
and in the cascading stone plinth, the first section of the house includes a kitchen and a living-dining area overlooking the surrounding forests.
The architects also used furniture designed by French architect Le Corbusier, such as wassily chairs and a chaise longue.
At the end of the extended shell is a small mezzanine consisting of a bedroom with a bathtub with abundant daylight.
There is also a small balcony on the front facade, to experience the lush jungle,
with an outdoor pool in the basement.
Why the house is called Kechē (Crooked)
The house was given this name because it adapts to the topography,
it puts one pillar higher than the other and adjusts its body, it is difficult to stand on the hill,
and it seeks to look at it.
The house was completed in 2021. It also coincided with the exhibition The Little Prince,
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, which will run until June 26, 2022.
The exhibition is entitled (À la rencontre du petit prince Encounter with the Little Prince).
