Wrapped in the stillness of a pine forest, Casa Bor rises from the mountain slopes of Altos de María—a place where the air thins, the temperature drops, and the noise of Panama City dissolves into silence. The site is steep, dense with towering pines, and opens intermittently to reveal the distant peaks of the central highlands. It is a landscape that invites contemplation, shaped by mist, filtered light, and the quiet rustle of needles underfoot.

The house was conceived for an artist seeking refuge and reconnection. She wanted a place to create, to gather with friends over long meals and longer conversations, and to feel closer—paradoxically—to her roots in Croatia. A mountain retreat that could hold both solitude and community, stillness and creative energy. A home that breathed.

The architectural response is deliberate. Rather than settle into the hillside, the residence lifts—anchored on a platform that fluctuates with the topography, creating a generous void beneath the structure. This gesture gives Casa Bor the sensation of flight, suspending the living spaces between the forest floor and the canopy. The plan is entirely open, dissolving the boundaries between kitchen, living, and work areas, allowing movement and sightlines to flow uninterrupted. Pine-clad facades wrap the volume, grounding the architecture in its context while floor-to-ceiling glazing frames the mountains beyond. In the bedroom, a single large window functions as a living painting—mountain peaks held in perfect composition from the bed.

Materiality is essential here. The pine exterior echoes the surrounding forest, aging naturally over time. Inside, custom furniture by Kajou—beds, desks, shelving—was designed specifically for each space, creating a coherence between architecture and object. The kitchen is defined by green cabinetry, a deliberate accent against the otherwise neutral palette. Perhaps most intimately, the ceramic tiles throughout the house were hand-painted by the client herself, working alongside a local artisan with a traditional kiln. This collaboration embedded the home with a personal narrative from the very beginning.

Casa Bor is, ultimately, a house shaped by longing: for distance, for creativity, for connection. It does not impose itself on the mountain but rather negotiates with it—lifting, opening, breathing. A refined retreat where the city feels far, where art and life intermingle, and where the forest becomes not a backdrop, but a collaborator.