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Casa Kiké
Costa Rica, 2005—2007

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A private house and writing studio set on a beach in Cahuita, Costa Rica. Two timber pavilions, each a parallelogram, are orientated so their sides are parallel to the boundaries of the site, the glazed ends are twisted away from the meridian to catch the northerly sea breezes and shade the glazed walls at all times. One volume for daytime use, one for night, the pavilions are raised 1.2 m above ground level on timber bases supported on timber piles. Inside, the library of 17,000 books, a writing desk and a grand piano, where the books and the structure are brought together in what are in effect structural bookcases. A locally adapted architecture, using locally sourced materials and labour, that impacts on its surrounding only minimally both physically and environmentally.

Casa-Kike
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"It is a remarkable work. For all the timber pyrotechnics of the roof structure and the irregularity of its shape, it is a calm and comfortable place to be.  The project shows what can be achieved with a modest building type and a simple brief when placed in the hands of an imaginative and assured architect."

Lubetkin Prize Jury, 2008

Casa Ki-Ké
A film by Gianni Botsford and Jim Stephenson

Casa Ki-Ké in Costa Rica was designed by Gianni Botsford for his father, his 17,000 books, a grand piano, and his paintings. In the years up to, and following Keith Botsford's death, the award winning house had begun to fall into disrepair and so in 2019 Gianni returned to begin the process of cleaning, and restoring the house as well as recovering lost artworks, readying it for new owners. This film uses footage shot by Gianni on his return, coupled with a reading of a letter he wrote to his father, posthumously reflecting on the process of designing the home.

"It is incredibly refreshing to see a film about a building during its life, rather than when it is new. This film tells the story of building in time, how it is affected by the weather, how it needs to be cared for, the connection between a person and a building designed for them, about building in the context of a community, how a local work force built it and then repairs it using timber from the garden."

Kate Darby

Awards

  • Winner, Lubetkin Prize, 2008
  • Runner-up, AR House Award, 2010
  • Winner, AIA UK Excellence in Design Award, 2009
  • Winner, RIBA International Award, 2008
  • Winner, Chicago Atheneum International Architecture Award, 2008
  • Shortlist, World Architecture Festival, 2008
  • Winner, IstructE Structural Award Community and Residential Structure, 2008
  • Winner, Architectural Record Design Vanguard, 2008

Design Team

  • Gianni Botsford
  • Anahi Copponex
  • Toby Burgess
  • Richard Green

Consultants

  • Lechenne Construction, Contractor
  • Christian Richters, Photography
  • Tall Engineers, Structural Engineer

Project Bibilography

  • Sophie Pinet, ‘Une retraite sous les tropiques’, in: Architectural Digest, vol.83 (Architectural Digest, France, May 2009), pp.122–127 → Read More
  • Will Jones, Green-Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design (Australia, 2012)
  • Amalia Vivian, ‘Kiké House, Cahuita, Costa Rica - Gianni Botsford Architects’, in: Ar Arketipo: Climi Difficili / Challenging Climate, vol.51 (Ar Arketipo, Italy, 2011), pp.50–59 → Read More
  • 145: Runner-Up’, in: The Architectural Review: House, vol.1362 (The Architectural Review, 2010), pp.50–53 → Read More
  • Dominic Bradbury, ‘Fully Booked’, in: The Financial Times (The Financial Times, 2009)
  • ‘Casa Kiké, Costa Rica’, in: Hinge Magazine, Arresting Houses, vol.164 (Hinge Magazine, Hong Kong, 2009)
  • Linda C. Lentz, ‘Gianni Botsford: Develops high-tech tools to make buildings for people’, in: Architectural Record Design Vanguard, vol.208 (Architectural Record, 2008), pp.112–115 → Read More
  • ‘Gianni Botsford Architects : Casa Kiké, Cahuita, Costa Rica 2006’, in: A+U, Architecture and Urbanism, vol.458 (A+U, Architecture and Urbanism, Japan, 2008), pp.90–97 → Read More
  • Costa Rican Newspaper (Costa Rican Newspaper, Costa Rica, 2008)
  • Carole Gutler and Christian Richters, ‘My father is very happy there’, in: AJ-RIBA Award 2008 (AJ-RIBA, UK, 2008), pp.8–9 → Read More
  • Estilos y Casas (Costa Rica, 2008)
  • Will Jones, ‘Tradition and knowhow’, in: Architecture Aktuel (Architecture Aktuel, 2008)
  • Brazilian Casa Vogue (Brazil, 2008)
  • Beatrice Fankhauser, ‘Writer’s retreat in Costa Rica’, in: Lounge Magazine, Switzerland (Lounge Magazine, Switzerland, 2008)
  • Sara Banti, ‘Bio- Biblioteca per clima tropicale’, in: Corriere della Sera, Italy, vol.120 (Corriere della Sera, Italy, 2008)
  • ‘Gianni Botsford: Casa Kiké, Cahuita, Costa Rica’, in: Casabella, Italy, vol.761 (Casabella, Italy, 2008) → Read More
  • Randall Zuniga, ‘La Casa de los libros’, in: Su Casa - Costa Rica Edition, vol.41 (Su Casa, Costa Rica, 2008)
  • Will Jones, ‘Jungle Books’, in: De Architects, Holland (Holland, 2007)
  • Rob Gregory, ‘ar house : Writer's blocks’, in: The Architectural Review, Layers of Meaning (The Architectural Review, UK, 2007), pp.80–83 → Read More
  • Jeremy Melvin, ‘Casa Kiké, Costa Rica’, in: AD, vol.77, issue 6 (Architectural Digest, 2007)
  • In Costa Rica, Built for Books and Breezes’, in: The New York Times, Home and Garden (The New York Times, 2007) → Read More
  • The International Herald Tribune (2007)
  • Henrietta Thompson, ‘Art and Soul’, in: Wallpaper (Wallpaper, UK, 2007) → Read More
  • Fred Bernstein, ‘The house that Gianni built’, in: New Straights Times (New Straights Times, 2007)
  • Yapi (Turkey, 2007)
  • Ulla Hanselmann, ‘Neue Heimat in Dschungel’, in: Hauser, Germany, vol.C3176 F 5/07 (Hauser, Germany, 2007)
  • ‘Casa Kiké’, in: Plan Magazine, Ireland - The Boys Are back in Town (Plan Magazine, Ireland, 2007)
  • ‘Casa Kiké’, in: Blue Print Magazine (Blue Print Magazine, UK, 2007)
  • Elisabeth Károlyi, ‘Retraite Tropicale’, in: Archi Cree - Maison 2007 (Archi Cree, France, 2007)
  • ‘Write Retreat’, in: Design Today, India (Design Today, India, 2007)
  • ‘Refugio para un Escritor’, in: ESCALA, vol.211 (ESCALA, 2007), pp.60–63
  • Lukas Feireiss and Robert Klanted, ‘Gianni Botsford Architects : Casa Kiké, Cahuita, Costa Rica’, in: SpaceCraft 2 (2009), p.150
  • Philip Jodidio, ‘Casa Kiké’, in: Architecture Now! - Houses (2009)
  • Casa Kiké’, in: Divisare (Divisare, 2016)
  • Alexander Berg, ‘The architect took everything into account when designing the writing room’, in: Klikk (Klikk, 2017)