If there is a dream place on earth, it would be one that is located on that thin line that separates the sky, the field, the lagoon and the sea, an almost impossible point on the horizon where nature achieves a perfect union. In the town of José Ignacio, Estancia Vik rises, an initiative of the Norwegian developer Alex Vik, a “whim” that aims to sustain itself with the twelve rooms of this super exclusive country hotel.
The special character of this proposal is given by the brand of sixteen Uruguayan artists who intervened in the different environments with paintings and sculptures. Clever Lara painted the ceiling in the living room, where there is also a sculpture by Pablo Atchugarry. The chapel was treated like a jewel by Carlos Musso and the grill bears the stamp of Marcelo Legrand. The games room was intervened by Roberto Piriz and José Pelayo, while each patio has sculptures by Águeda Dicancro, Ricardo Pascale, José Pelayo and Alejandro Turell.
With a structured design around four interior patios that connect different areas of the room, each space is identified by colors, materials and textures.
Here, the patios have great prominence and even their floors differ: they were designed following a chromatic order and using materials whose textures and colors convey different sensations, from grass to brick, stone or wood.
The sheet metal shed took color from the hand of the plastic artist Marcelo Legrand. Here a central hearth stands out with a huge steel bell held by tensioners. The pool in one of the interior patios is built in black stone with little lights that imitate the celestial vault and are programmed to subtly twinkle. It is surrounded by a large solarium with arches that allow you to enjoy the view of the countryside and the lagoon.
The twelve luxurious suites are between 46 m2 and 85 m2, all with large terraces that allow you to have spectacular views of the landscape, either towards the countryside, the lagoon or the stream that crosses the property.
In the suite decorated by the painter Carlos Musso, the Uruguayan writer Felisberto Hernández is evoked, and the frescoes represent characters from his stories. Musso interpreted the mystery of his stories in a voluptuous and nocturnal key, with a predominance of intense blues and reds. The detail makes the difference in this room by José Ignacio, treated with the care of a private home, although its destination is to provide accommodation as a sophisticated hotel: each room is simply unique.
The building of Estancia Vik follows the Spanish colonial style, with its 5000m2 located on the ground floor, and is distributed according to the arrangement of four patios: in two of them, to the north and south, the main entrance and the pool are located.
In the wings of the room where there are rooms, the vaults were painted in colors: blue for the west wing and yellow for the east wing.
In a contemporary version of Spanish colonial architecture, with lines that have been streamlined and decoration more stripped down, the architect Marcelo Daglio designed these suggestive vaults that recall the serenity of monasteries. From there you can access the rooms.
In the interior environments this precious passion to give each one their identity is extreme. As examples, the nightstand brought from Europe and José Ignacio’s basket with starfish.
The marble column by Pablo Atchugarry has a leading place in the living room and in the general plan, since it can be seen from the entrance to the room.. Credit: Santiago Ciuffo
In the living room, a frieze by Clever Lara that represents Uruguayan landscapes. Striking quartz and amethyst geodes play a decorative role.
The bathroom of the Vik Suite, entirely made of jacaranda from India by the Leal brothers, from Montevideo. Next to it, the artist Eduardo Cardozo, worked directly on the walls, where he represented scenes from the countryside.
The quality craftsmanship in the coatings and bathroom fixtures gives them a distinctive character that sets them apart from any standardized proposal.
The bathroom in the Cardozo suite, clad in cut-out pieces of marble. Next to it, the bathtub of the Master Suite Daglio, made of beech wood by Uruguayan artisans who are dedicated to making canoes, with the design and supervision of the Architect Daglio.
