Punta Pite
Contents |
Punta Pite
Designer
Teresa Moller
The Beginning
- The Punta Pite project began in 2003 when a Chilean insurance company that invests in real estate, bought the land for development
- They hired Santiago-based landscape architect Teresa Moller for the site’s environmental studies and overall landscape design
Location
- Punta Pite is a 27-acre piece of land that follows the contours of a bay between Zapallar and Papudo as an ocean side trail
- These two seaside towns are located 93 miles north of Santiago, Chile
- Construction on the site took place from 2004 to 2006.
Design/Programmatic Goals
- Punta Pite was designed as a residential development
- The parts were meant to create one single spatial experience of the site.
- The overall design goal was to give surrender to the power and beauty of the ocean
- The overall layout separated into separate parts giving different experiences
- There is a pathway connecting the entire layout, one part of which is working with the topography of the existing cliffs giving an 'open to the elements' feel
- At the same time another part of the pathway leads you through a creed forcing a close single spatial experience on the individual passing through.
-This was designed to be a modern day inca road system
Strengths And Weaknesses
- It is believed that nothing like this experience could be built in the U.S due to the amazing naturally given cliffs this area inhabits
- No place would be able to portray the dark romantic, unstable, lost consumed by the wilderness feel this place gives
- Lack of complete safety, however, that only plays into support one of the goals of the design
- Not open to the public but will be opening in the coming months
Success or Failure
This site is very successful in terms of the experiences forced on those who adventure here. Reviews state that this would be a landscape that Edgar Allen Poe himself would find trouble putting into words. The materials used to construct the path work well and blend with the existing natural elements consisting of the rigid surroundings.
