Architecture caught Ensamble Studio by surprise when, during the construction of The Truffle, a space midway between the architectural and the natural was discovered inside an artificial stone. A fragment of nature built with earth, and filled with air. It camouflages itself by emulating the mineral formation processes in its structure, and blends with the natural environment by submitting to its laws. The building system used is a two-way process between the texture and color that earth gives concrete, and the strength concrete provides. The first step was to build a dike on the site, functioning as a retaining wall throughout the process. Later on hay bales were piled up considering the negative space pursued. While the layers increased concrete was poured, wrapping the volume and protecting the ensemble with earth, until it settled completely. 

The calf Paulina arrived to empty the interior, feeding from it for a year until she left her habitat, already as an adult weighing 300 kilos. She had eaten the interior volume, and space appeared for the first time, restoring the architectural condition of the truffle after having been a shelter for the animal and the vegetal mass for a long time. This space shows a thick materiality, the result of the pressure of concrete against the fragile vegetal infill. The formless texture of the exterior contrasts with the free-flowing ceiling, which melds with the framed view of the Atlantic Ocean through the main opening in the room.