Mar Vista Residence / PPAA

Architects: PPAA
Area: 417 m²
Year: 2024
Photography: Luis Garvan, Fabian Martinez
Project Team: Pablo Pérez Palacios, Emilio Calvo, Miguel Vargas, Alice Moreno, Jonathan Reséndiz, Nancy Estévez
City/Location: Los Angeles, California
Country: United States

Mar Vista Residence by PPAA reinterprets suburban living through a sculptural interplay of geometry and spatial fluidity. Located near the beach in Los Angeles, the 417-square-meter dwelling merges straight and curved lines to generate continuity between the built and natural environment. A subtraction-based design strategy reshapes the pre-existing structure and its twin patios to foster openness and light, while an independent guest volume introduces flexibility within the site. The curved roof, reimagining the traditional gable form, satisfies local regulations while asserting a contemporary identity. Inside, a palette of oak wood, neutral tones, and polished concrete produces calm luminosity, complemented by handcrafted striated plaster façades that lend the exterior a tactile character rooted in craftsmanship.

In Mar Vista Residence, PPAA transforms architectural geometry into a narrative of movement and connection. The project’s composition juxtaposes rectilinear clarity with gentle curvature, creating a visual rhythm that guides perception throughout the house. This geometric dialogue becomes both an aesthetic statement and an environmental response, directing natural light and air through the interiors while maintaining an evolving relationship with the landscape.

The design originated from an existing structure organized around two patios—one front-facing, the other to the rear. PPAA approached the intervention through subtraction, carving voids from the original mass to generate openness and reorganize domestic life around these courtyards. The patios become the house’s lungs, drawing air and light inward while structuring daily activity around the play of shade, vegetation, and space. A detached secondary volume accommodates guests, offering autonomy and intimacy while maintaining visual continuity with the main residence.

Spatial transparency defines the home’s experience. Openings cut across the plan to create layered perspectives, allowing the eye to move freely between interior and exterior. This permeability extends beyond form, enhancing natural ventilation and promoting energy efficiency suited to Los Angeles’s temperate coastal climate. The result is a living environment that feels at once enclosed and expansive, where interior comfort and outdoor life seamlessly merge.

The façade is articulated through a sweeping curved roof that interprets the traditional gable in a contemporary register. This architectural gesture reconciles formal regulation with design freedom, softening the building’s silhouette while emphasizing horizontality. By relocating the main entrance to the side, PPAA cleared the principal elevation, enabling a full visual connection between the interior and the front patio through broad glazing. This spatial openness establishes a welcoming threshold that blurs distinctions between the private and public realms of domestic life.

Materiality reinforces the project’s calm yet expressive sensibility. Oak wood, polished concrete, and neutral surfaces generate warmth and light within the interiors, forming a subtle backdrop for daily activity. Outside, the tactile texture of striated plaster, applied by hand, deepens the play of sunlight and shadow while connecting the residence to local craftsmanship traditions. This attention to material and light grounds the modern geometry in a human scale, allowing the architecture to remain both refined and approachable.

Through Mar Vista Residence, PPAA advances a vision of domestic architecture that harmonizes spatial rigor with environmental sensitivity. The house reflects an ongoing investigation into how geometric clarity can coexist with softness, and how subtraction can yield generosity. In balancing form, climate, and craft, the project establishes a composed yet dynamic presence—an architecture that feels simultaneously sculpted by design intent and shaped by the natural rhythms of its coastal setting.