El Viento

Client: Smollen & Rockwell, LLC, Isla de Margarita, Venezuela

The Casa Viento Windsurfing Retreat is constructed on the arid, southern coast of the Isla de Margarita, Venezuela, in the tiny town of El Yaque. Due to the tropical climate and strong and steady winds of Margarita, surfers claim it as one of the best high-wind, flat-water sailing sites imaginable.

The native cactus became a metaphor for the design of the retreat.  The organizational diagram of the architecture mimics this characteristic succulent of the desert island, with the core being the energy stem housing water storage and bath functions, solar water heating, gray water reclamation, rainwater harvesting and rooftop gardens.  As an eco-tourist location, El Viento is a place for retreat that is in harmony with the unique site and climate.