an intricate timber viewpoint by dum-dum lab rises beside chile’s laguna troya
a timber lookout opens toward laguna troya
At Laguna Troya in Calbuco, Chile, a small timber structure rises beside the water as a place to pause and view the landscape. Designed by Chilean architecture studio Dum-Dum Lab, the Troya Viewpoint sits between architecture and environmental interpretation, giving visitors a collective viewing point over the lagoon while keeping the surrounding vegetation and birdlife close to the experience.
The project was completed in 2026 with support from Fondart Artistic Creation 2025, and its scale is modest, at 6.8 meters by 6.9 meters by 5.8 meters, covering 38 square meters. Its value comes through the way a simple lookout becomes an open classroom, shaped for observation, local knowledge, and encounters with the lagoon’s wildlife.
images © © Katherine Cáceres, Pamela Villamar
dum-dum lab builds with small timber elements
The team at Dum-Dum Lab develops the structure through the aggregation of small timber components, using a stereometric logic modeled with Rhino, Grasshopper, and Karamba. Instead of relying on large pieces, the architects repeat and vary smaller elements to tune density, rigidity, and permeability across the volume. The structure reads as both frame and filter, with gaps that change the way visitors see through it and move around it.
The open timber system also leaves room for the site to enter the architecture over time. Vegetation can grow through and around the structure, while the spacing between members allows birds to pass, perch, and inhabit the porous frame. This gives the lookout a shifting presence on the edge of the lagoon, where the act of viewing is held at a slight distance from the habitat it observes.
Dum-Dum Lab designs a timber lookout beside Laguna Troya in Calbuco, Chile
a stepped platform works as an open classroom
Across the ground, the architects organize the mirador as a series of stepped platforms facing the water. These timber levels create a shared place for sitting, gathering, and looking outward, with the lagoon becoming both view and subject. The arrangement gives school groups, local residents, and visitors a direct setting for environmental learning without enclosing them in a conventional room.
Scientific illustrations by marine biologist and illustrator Sol Pacheco Ortiz are integrated into the route, adding another layer to the act of looking. Drawings of local flora and fauna function as reading tools, helping visitors connect the living details around them with specific species and ecological relationships.
Set within the locality of Putenío, the viewpoint forms part of a wider initiative linking territorial research, design, construction, and community participation. The work brings local knowledge into the way the space is defined and used, so the mirador serves as a piece of public infrastructure as much as a constructed object.
the Troya Viewpoint opens as a small public space for observation and learning
the structure uses repeated timber elements to create a porous frame near the water
stepped platforms give visitors a place to sit, gather, and look across the lagoon
the open frame allows vegetation, birds, and changing light to move through the structure
scientific illustrations render native flora and fauna along the visitor route
small timber components shape a lightweight architecture tuned to the lagoon setting
project info:
name: Troya Viewpoint
architect: Dum-Dum Lab | @dumdumlab
location: Laguna Troya, Calbuco, Chile
partner: Concón Maderas Impregnadas
design team: Francisco Calvo, Katherine Cáceres, Juan Luis Marín
scientific illustrator: Sol Pacheco
construction team: Pamela Villamar, Rosina Viotto Bergmann, Juan Peña, Florencia Verdugo Silva, Camila Vera Llanos, Mauricio Santana Münzenmayer, Bernardo Marín
photography: © Katherine Cáceres, Pamela Villamar
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