Guadalajara-based architect Moises Sánchez has created a stucco-clad, cube-shaped holiday home shaded by a large tree in western Mexico.

The simple, 450-square foot (42-square metre) structure, known as Tonalli House, was completed in 2023 in Jocotepec, Jalisco, minutes from Lake Chapala, the country's largest lake.

"The project arises from the pursuit of a peaceful experience, drawing inspiration from the rhythms and atmospheres of the popular architecture in Mexican villages," Sánchez told Dezeen.

From the outside, the house is a solid white cube, punctuated with strategic openings.

Using local construction systems, materials and labor, the cube is formed with brick walls plastered with a mix of sand and mortar to create two textures — a rough, stone-like base and a smooth monolithic form above.

However, Sánchez prioritised the existing landscape in his description of the project.

"The true protagonist of the project is a large tree and its relationship with the built environment," Sánchez said.

"Its roots create a natural vestibule, serving as the entrance to the volume, the trunk and leaves act as a crowning feature in the views from the interior, while its form and shade simultaneously regulate the microclimate of the surroundings."

Occupants step from the tree-formed vestibule into a double-height foyer and lounge space.

Turning to the right is a kitchen with multi-colored ceramic tiles crafted by artisans from Guadalajara "reminiscent of traditional Mexican kitchens".

Three small lights hang above the peninsula creating an offset spotlight effect in the space, which features unadorned, smooth plaster walls and grey-stone tile flooring.

The bathroom is tucked into a corner off the kitchen.

Across from the entry, lit by a square window, is a staircase that leads up to the sleeping loft, which is open to the lounge below.

"Upon reaching the upper floor, you are greeted by a beam of light penetrating the ceiling, creating a dimly lit atmosphere, at the other end of the loft, a window opens to offer a direct view of the vegetation and the large garden surrounding the villa," Sánchez said.

The limited, neutral material palette – characteristic of the nearby architecture surrounding Lake Chapa – uses light washing along the surfaces and views of the tree outside as the ornamentation.

"Perhaps the most symbolic is the relationship established by the openings in the volume," he said.

"These windows create a link between the interior and exterior, possessing a tactile quality that makes it seem as if both are touching."

In the temperate climate, the villa relies on passive systems for heating and cooling like cross-ventilation through the windows and the skylight that acts as a chimney to expel hot air.

A solar heater provides hot water for the house.

"The success lies in its simplicity; the richness of the project is not the sum of its parts but an exponential multiplication of its virtues," Sánchez said.

"From it, we learned that achieving excellence doesn't necessarily require a tremendous effort but rather finding the right solutions in the right place."

Also in Jalisco, COA Arquitectura constructed an "earth-toned" monolithic house punctuated by blocky forms and triangular cutouts and Tatiana Bilbao built a rammed earth weekend house on the shores of Lake Chapala.

The photography is by Ansatz / Fernando Sanchez.

Project credits:

Architecture: Moisés Sanchez
Ceramics: Lofa Ceramics

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American hotel brand Bunkhouse and interior design studio Reurbano have used motifs derived from the history of a Mexico City structure when converting it into a boutique hotel.

Hotel San Fernando is located in the Condesa neighbourhood of Mexico City, a largely residential zone that in recent years has seen an influx of national and international travellers.

Bunkhouse worked with local interior design studio Reurbano to take a 1940s apartment building and convert it into a 19-room hotel, with finishes informed by the neighbourhood.

The face of the structure was restored and painted a light green, with darker green used on the awnings that provide coverage for seating attached to the hotel's lobby and restaurant, which open to the street through glass-paned French doors.

An art deco-style logo spells out the name of the hotel above the door. Saint Fernando is known as the patron saint of engineers, and the team wanted to highlight this by maintaining the name of the original building in the branding of the new structure.

"We wanted to honour this building," said Bunkhouse senior vice president of design Tenaya Hills.

"We love the story and the history and like to imagine what it has been for people over the decades."

This primary entrance features a metal door with glass panes informed by the original stained glass of the building.

The entry corridor leads past a lobby lounge, with lighting by Oaxaca studio Oaxifornia and furnishings by local gallery Originario; and design studios Daniel Y Catalina, and La Metropolitana, which also created custom furniture for all of the guest suites.

At the far end of the lobby lounge is the restaurant's bar, which features a large semi-circular cabinet with mirrored back to hold the spirits. A chandelier by local sculptor Rebeca Cors hangs above the clay-clad bar.

The entrance corridor has green encaustic concrete tiles from the original building. Other original details include the wainscotting and casement windows.

A reception area is located at the end of the corridor and behind it is a circular staircase with metal-and-wood railing that leads all the way up through the building, with landings on each of its five floors, terminating at a terrace on top of the building.

The guest rooms range from single-room setups to multi-room suites, the largest of which are accessed through French doors with opaque windows.

Here the studio departed from the greens used on the exterior and the lobby and utilised soft orange, pink and white paints.

Floors in the rooms are either tile or wood and furniture made from light-coloured wood is covered by locally derived textiles. Three rooms on the rooftop level feature furniture designed by Bunkhouse and fabricated by local design outfit B Collective Studio.

Pendant lamps and sconces by local ceramicist Anfora are found in the kitchens and bathrooms.

The rooftop features a tiled dining and lounge area surrounded by sculptural breeze blocks, designed to mimic the original building's patterned stained glass.

Mexican design studios Mexa and Comité de Proyectos contributed furniture pieces for the rooftop.

Other hotels in Mexico include a tile-clad structure in San Miguel de Allende by Productora and Esrawe Studio and a hotel in Mexico City with wooden lattices by PPAA.

The photography is by Chad Wadsworth. 

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Local architecture studio RA! took cues from Latin American art deco design when creating the tiny interior of Los Alexis, a small taqueria in Mexico City's Roma Norte neighbourhood.

Los Alexis is a taco eatery – or taqueria – in Roma, a famed district in Mexico City, which features examples of art deco architecture.

RA! drew on the "vibrant personality" of the area when designing the single 15-square-metre room restaurant, housed within a former beer depository.

"One of the most important requests of our client was for this tiny space to shine among the rest of the retail premises on the street," said studio co-founder and designer Pedro Ramírez de Aguilar.

RA! clad the walls and floors in a distinctive mosaic of broken ceramic tiles with green joints as an ode to Barcelona, where chef Alexis Ayala spent time training, the designer told Dezeen.

A curved bar finished in slabs of ribbed green material fronts the open kitchen, which is positioned on the right of the small open space.

Utilitarian materials, including the tiles, were chosen throughout the restaurant for their "endurance and fast cleaning processes".

White-painted steel breakfast-style stools line the bar, which has a top made of steel – selected for its resistance to grease, according to Ramírez de Aguilar.

The studio decided to preserve the space's original, peeling ceiling "to create a wider contrast [within the eatery] and to remember the old premises".

Informal seating lines the pavement just outside of the taqueria where customers can eat and socialise.

Other than a small bathroom at the back of Los Alexis, the one-room restaurant is purposefully defined by its bar and open kitchen.

"Typical 'changarros' [small shops] in Mexico City are all about the conversation with the cookers, so we tried to have this interaction between people as a main objective," explained Ramírez de Aguilar.

Founded in 2017, RA! previously created the interiors for a restaurant in the city's Polanco neighbourhood with a bar counter shaped like an inverted ziggurat.

DOT Coffee Station is another hole-in-the-wall cafe in Kyiv, Ukraine, which YOD Group designed with a similar floor-to-ceiling mosaic of tiles.

The photography is courtesy of RA!

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Architecture studios Oficina de Diseño Colaborativo and Atelier TBD have created a cultural space that preserves the "self-built essence" of San Miguel de Allende.

Created in collaboration with interior studio Maye Colab, Santa Tere Espacio is a cultural space and office that will primarily serve to foster reading in the surrounding neighbourhoods.

"Santa Tere Espacio emerged from the idea of creating architecture through renovation, reuse, repair, and repurposing," said the team. 

"Based on the self-built essence of the neighbourhood, Office of Collaborative Design, TBD Atelier, and Maye Colab joined forces with a shared vision to propose a project that engages with the site's legacy."

According to the team, self-construction is a "common building practice in Latin America", a technique they sought to preserve by repurposing both the existing architecture and materials from the site, which was a former six-room, single-story dwelling.

For Santa Tere Espacio, the team distributed several meeting rooms, a kitchenette, a bathroom and a central courtyard along the structure's lateral plan with a second, detached bathroom tucked into a corner of the site. 

A long alleyway, marked with a curving concrete path, runs along the length of the exterior and provides access to each space.

"The intervention primarily involved demolitions to bring in light and allow ventilation of the spaces, and the incorporation of new elements such as doors, windows, and tile finishes that contrast with the pre-existing structure," said the team.

"Openings were created in the form of doors, windows, and domes, and some walls were demolished to make way for the central courtyard."

Colab worked with a palette of red, yellow and pink on the interior, based on hues found during construction.

"The idea of capturing the site's essence is also reflected in the project's colour palette, designed based on the colours found in the construction, with a contrasting colour being the blue of the ironwork."

Bright blue windows and doors were distributed across the space and finished with geometric handles.

Interior furnishings were finished primarily in red, with the kitchenette covered in bright red tile and desks throughout the space trimmed in the same shade.

In a desk at the front of the building, the stalk of a plant grows through an opening carved in its surface, while a silver of a triangular skylight sits above.

The project's landscape design incorporates both native plants and others commonly found around the neighbourhood's rooftops, patios and facades.

A spindly palo verde plant was planted in the courtyard to provide shade, a species considered sacred to the Aztecs and associated with the feathered serpent god, according to the team. 

Santa Tere Espacio will act as a co-working and cultural space and will host OCD, Maye Colab and the bookstore Una Boutique de Libros.

Programming will focus on "reading, feminism, design and diversity". 

Founded by Nadyeli Quiroz Radaelli, OCD and Maye Colab are design studios based in Mexico, while Atelier TBD, founded by Victor Wu, is an architecture office based between Brooklyn, Taipei and San Miguel.

Elsewhere in San Miguel de Allende, design studio Mestiz opened a studio to showcase its collaborations with local craftspeople.

The photography is by Leandro Bulzzano.

Project credits:

Architecture: Oficina de Diseño Colaborativo OCD, Atelier TBD
Interior design: Oficina de Diseño Colaborativo OCD, Atelier TBD, Maye Colab
Furniture and colorimetry: Maye Colab
Landscape architecture: Oficina de Diseño Colaborativo OCD, Atelier TBD
Principals: Maye Ruiz, Nadyeli Quiroz, Victor Wu
Design team: Alejandra Skinfield, Paola Bravo, Sara Lopez Farias
Structural consultant: Formula+, Yoyo Wu
Sources:
Steelwork: Crónica Estudio

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Clay tiles line the front of a slender family house in San Miguel de Allende that was designed by local architect Mauricio Alonso to be in "continuous dialogue with the landscape".

Designed for a family of three, the house is located in a dense neighbourhood and occupies an oddly shaped property in a cul-de-sac. To the northeast is a city-owned park.

Providing a generous garden and a connection to the outdoors – without sacrificing privacy – were primary goals for the project.

The site conditions figured heavily into the design of the 1,948-square-foot (181-square-metre) home.

"The house proposes a way of living that starts from a continuous dialogue with the landscape in which it is located," said Mauricio Alonso, head of local studio M Aquitectura.

Just 16.4 feet wide (five metres), the house is rectangular in plan and rises two levels.

Rather than face the street, the architect rotated the home to be oriented toward a private garden, which takes up about half of the property.

Walls are made of concrete, and the side facades are lined with large windows to deliver views and daylight. Wooden louvres help mitigate heat gain and ensure privacy.

For the street-facing side of the house, the architect opted for a windowless wall.

This "blind facade" is clad in low-cost, orange clay tiles that allude to the city's historic courtyards while also giving the house a "powerful personality".

This front wall is elevated above the ground by steel columns to form a sheltered parking area. Just off this carport is a rustic staircase, which leads up to the home's main entrance.

"The access is ascending, covered with local flagstone caressing traces of the terrain that were left uncovered intentionally," the team said.

The interior features a simple and fluid layout.

The main level holds the social areas. A double-height living room occupies one side of the plan, while the kitchen and dining area are found in the centre.

The far end contains a study that doubles as guest quarters. The room can be closed off by translucent sliding doors.

An airy stairwell connects the ground level to the bedrooms on the upper floor. For a terrace adjoining the main bedroom, the architect created a distinctive trellis made of angled concrete panels.

In terms of the interior material palette, the architect focused on using concrete, steel and congona wood throughout.

"These three combined create a more welcoming, honest and versatile environment," the architect said.

"They provide a particular style to the house and express purity in a very warm way, which adapts perfectly to the conditions of the land."

Known for its colonial architecture and vibrant arts scene, San Miguel de Allende is located in Mexico's central state of Guanajuato.

Other projects there include a house with a cruciform plan and thick stone walls by HW Studio Arquitectos and a pink hotel with a lush courtyard by architect Ian Pablo Amores.

The photography is by Rafael Gamo. 

Project credits:

Architecture and landscape: Mauricio Alonso of m aquitecturA
Engineering: Arturo Gómez Villegas
Collaborators: Elias Granados, Axel Arellano, Daniel Valle

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Design firms WORKac and Ignacio Urquiza Architects have created a multi-level, concrete community centre in an underserved neighbourhood that is meant to "promote the regeneration of social life".

The building by New York's WORKac and local studio Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos – officially called PILARES Lomas de Becerra — is located in a hilly area and rises up from a dense intersection surrounded by active streets.

Located in Mexico City's Lomas de Becerra neighbourhood, the building was created as part of a government initiative called PILARES, which stands for Points of Innovation, Freedom, Art, Education and Knowledge.

For a slender, irregularly shaped site, the team devised a multi-storey facility that encompasses 5,059 square feet (470 square metres).

"In appearance, the volume is simple and compact, with a strong character that confirms its presence as a public building," the team said.

Walls are made of concrete – a material chosen for its construction and structural efficiencies, as well as its thermal and aesthetic qualities, the team said.  The concrete was dyed blue, a decision informed by the vibrant colours found in the surrounding area.

Launched in 2018, the PILARES programme aims to create opportunities for residents in underserved areas.

"Each PILARES building is designed to support various kinds of classes and workshops in support of skill building, as well as bringing cultural programming, learning opportunities, and safe spaces for leisure and cross-generational gathering to each neighbourhood," said New York's WORKac.

"The sites selected for their construction create new landmarks in the urban fabric, enabling the population to identify them as community meeting centres that promote the regeneration of social life."

Mexico City's government enlisted local and international design studios to create 26 facilities under the programme.

Buildings are meant to respond to the local context and follow programming guidelines developed through extensive community engagement.

The team tried to reflect the community and its values in the architecture.

"The use of colour in Mexican architecture is an element that has been transformed and reinterpreted in the hands of many artists and architects across generations," the team said.

The building is fronted by a plaza that is shaded by pre-existing trees.

Part of the ground floor is sliced away to form an angled, glazed entry wall, which helps "the transition between exterior and interior spaces", the team said.

"The diagonal opening on the ground floor provides clear and free-flowing pedestrian routes in every direction, inviting users to walk around the plaza and enter the building," the team said.

Inside, the building contains three split levels, all of which are connected by a central staircase. Rooms are designed to be fluid and adaptable.

"This flexible approach leaves open the possibility for changes to the programme over the lifetime of the building and allows it to freely evolve and adapt," the team said.

WORKac and Ignacio Urquiza Architects have designed a second PILARES building, in the borough of Azcapotzalco, that follows a similar design vocabulary.

Other PILARES buildings include a community centre in Iztapalapa by Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura that features a series of bridges, walkways and exterior staircases.

The photography is by Arturo Arrieta and Ramiro del Carpio.

Project credits:

Architect: WORKac and Ignacio Urquiza Architects (IUA)
Team: Amale Andraos, Dan Wood, Ignacio Urquiza Seoane, Michela Lostia di Santa Sofía, Eder Hernández, María del Mar Carballo, Ana Laura Ochoa, Anet Carmona, Noé García, León Chávez, Fernando Tueme, Sacha Bourgarel
Interior design and lighting: WORKac, IUA and APDA
Structure and engineering: BVG (César Barquera, Eduardo Barquera); Ecomadi
Landscape: Genfor Landscaping (Tanya Eguiluz)
Development: Mexico City government and ZV Studio (Carlos Zedillo)
Digital visualizations: Israel Levy
Client: Mexico City government

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Mexican architect Javier Guzmán Cervantes has collected urban waste materials including cinderblocks and rebar to create a series of furniture for a show in Mexico City.

Working with his research project Ex Soup, Cervantes gathered materials from construction sites and waste deposits throughout the city to create an exhibition at design gallery Utíl.

Curated in collaboration with the arts organisation Lugar Vivo, the Construcciones Domésticas exhibition (Household Constructions) includes objects ranging from tables and chairs to lighting and day beds.

Cervantes told Dezeen that the project was exercised to shed light on the ecological effects of waste in construction, the lack of options in affordable, durable furniture and the need for architects to free themselves from the "mental realm of design" and focus on making.

"I think these times that we are living in require us to explore new lifestyles and new ways of configuring our domestic interiors, more attuned with the present global economic and environmental reality," said Cervantes.

He added that new values must be garnered from industrial landscapes and ecological ruin.

"This is exactly the spirit of Ex Soup, to take discarded materials and transform them into something beautiful and useful to life in a process that prioritizes energy efficiency and practical thinking."

Cervantes said that he has been working on creating furniture from salvaged materials since his teens, but only recently began formalising the practice, founding Ex Soup in 2022.

Much of the material comes from the architect's daily life, while driving or walking, as well as from materials discarded from construction sites and given to him by friends.

The name, Ex Soup, is a reference to his preferred materials: industrial products like metal and glass that "were heated liquids in their production processes and were given shapes".

Projects included in Household Constructions consist of mixes of different materials stacked to create recognisable forms, and many were created without the use of glue to create "ergonomic shapes" held together by tension.

Among the works is a coffee table constructed using steel beams with surfaces created from a discarded mirror and glass.

The work of tension is most obvious in some of the taller pieces, such as a desk. Cervantes stacked pieces of paving stone and PVC piping in two pillars and used strapping to hold up the desktop, which was created from a reused headboard.

Many of the pieces are simple and have a brutalist effect, given the steel and concrete used in their construction, while others are more colourful, such as a divan covered with an expressive weave of scrap clothing.

Rolls of electrowelded mesh also feature heavily in the collection, at times serving as supports for a console and at others serving as lamp shades.

Cervantes said that the pieces were meant to show the large number of combinations possible in using these materials.

"There are some pieces that are easily replicable since many times trash comes in patterns, but I would say I see Ex Soup more as an endless search for new shapes and ways of perceiving materials, so the focus is in constantly adapting to change and variation," he said.

Other furniture made using scrap materials includes a chair made from old musical instruments by Jay Sae Jung and a series of Knoll chairs refashioned with used car parts by Noel Mercado.

The photography is by Javier Guzman.

Household Constructions is on view at Utïl in Mexico City from 8 November to January 2024. For more events and exhibitions in architecture and design visit the Dezeen Events Guide. 

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Interior designer Tara Bernerd worked with local artisans when dressing the cavernous rooms at the Maroma hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico, which were renovated to reflect hacienda-style living.

Housed within white stucco volumes arranged on a coastal plot between lush jungle and the Caribbean sea, the longstanding Maroma, A Belmond Hotel was renovated earlier this year but retained much of its traditional-style architecture.

Bernerd and a team of local artisans conceived the eclectic interiors to reflect the palapa-topped structures, creating a range of bespoke curved furniture and ornaments.

"The buildings themselves are organic in shape and form and were originally positioned in response to the sacred Mayan geometry," she told Dezeen.

"We sought to retain and enhance the beauty of the hotel's original character."

Among the custom pieces are over 700,000 tiles hand-painted and crafted by ceramicist José Noé Suro using clay from Mexico's Jalisco region.

The tiles cover the floors in all of the 72 guest rooms, which are characterised by rattan wardrobes and amorphous timber furniture pieces – 80 per cent of which were hand-carved.

Artisan Max Kublailan blew bulbous glass sconce lights, which feature throughout the rooms and are reminiscent of glowing gemstones.

"It was a joy working with the local artisans who brought our designs to life and the process was more like a conversation between artisan and designer, with each inspiring and on occasion challenging the other," reflected Bernerd.

The entrance to each guest room also features individual ceramic, painted signs informed by traditional Lotería cards, which are used to play a similar game to bingo in Mexico.

"We built up the layers of design within the spaces, with rich pops of colour being brought in through the tiled or mosaic floors, the use of decorative tiles in the walls and dado rail as well as cushions and fabrics," explained Bernerd.

Maroma's two restaurants follow a similar design, with accents such as rattan pendant lights and tables featuring textured legs that give the appearance of tree trunks.

An open kitchen clad entirely in caramel-hued glazed ceramic tiles was tucked into a corner of the Woodend eatery while Casa Mayor includes clusters of hand-painted plant pots.

Throughout the hotel, cavernous alcoves were also dressed with custom interiors made up of stone, clay, wood and natural fibres.

"Location and layout were key and I am especially proud of how we have managed to reimagine previously under-utilised areas and have created a balance between unique, dramatic spaces and cosier, slightly hidden areas," said Bernerd.

Traditional Yucatán doors with dense timber frames and chandeliers made from clusters of seashells were chosen to respond to Maroma's setting.

The hotel's central swimming pool was renovated with Sukabumi turquoise tiles handmade from volcanic stone to emulate the cenotes – water-filled sinkholes formed by the collapse of limestone – found in the Yucatán Peninsula.

"In essence, we wanted to create something that was effortlessly serene and had the feeling of a chic home," said the designer.

"So we also drew inspiration from traditional hacienda-style living to create a relaxed, almost residential vibe throughout the resort and evoke a sense of connection, unity and flow between all of the public area buildings," she concluded.

The British designer is the founder of the London-based architecture and interiors office Tara Bernerd & Partners.

Elsewhere in Mexico, local firms Productora and Esrawe Studio designed a San Miguel de Allende hotel with planes of green tile. Architect Alberto Kalach added a series of vaulted, brick arches to a resort in Oaxaca.

The photography is courtesy of Belmond. 

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Mexico is experiencing a "renaissance" in architecture and design because of its embrace and promotion of artisanal practices, says designer Héctor Esrawe in this exclusive interview.

According to Esrawe, who runs a studio in Mexico City, the last 10 years have seen Mexican creativity being taken more seriously at home and abroad.

"There is this renaissance where all the creative activities have evolved, and the standard that we can create now in Mexico is being expressed and accepted worldwide," he told Dezeen.

Esrawe pointed to increasing interest in Mexico's various cultures and artisanal traditions by the architecture and design community as the key element in the success of the country, which just last month held its 15th annual design week.

"We started to look inward, we started to value and appreciate what we were made up of," said Esrawe.

"We started to relate to our ancestors, to our narratives, and understand the vastness and richness and skills that we have as a culture, and I think that eventually became contagious."

Esrawe is one of a handful of architects and designers at the forefront of a new wave of Mexican design. He is known for his sculptural architectural and design work that incorporates artisanally crafted materials such as wood, bronze and stone.

An important aspect of Mexico's design renaissance, according to Esrawe, has been supporting handmade objects and artisanal processes in the country without falling into the trap of mass-producing cultural objects for consumption.

He said that artisans such as stone workers or wood carvers are often "put on a pedestal" but expected to conform to the needs of mass production.

Instead, Esrawe argues that the collaborations between designers and these groups, which have fed into his own practice, should push everyone towards new forms and provide artisans with a platform to get the best results.

"We should create a dialogue in a horizontal way, and create a platform that allows for the artisan to express and create those collaborations – it's extremely rich and powerful," he said.

"I see [collaboration] in a positive way," he added. "I see more experimentation. I see new languages appearing."

Collaborating with artisans comes with challenges that must be respected, he acknowledged.

"There's a risk on the side that has to do with the ambition of more and faster," he continued, adding that designers need to understand that working with materials like metal and stone in small-batch operations takes time.

Esrawe said he has also struggled with a conception among Mexicans that things produced natively should be cheaper.

He recalled that when he opened his gallery in the early 2000s people would ask why the work was so expensive, with greater value typically placed on objects from countries like Italy.

"There was this conception that we were only labourers and not so creative and didn't have the power to become something that could challenge another culture, which was more 'stylish'," he explained.

However, two moments marked turning points for Esrawe's own perception of the potential of Mexican design and architecture.

The first was the ascendency of chef Enrique Olvera's restaurant Pujol. For the first time, the best restaurant in Mexico was by a Mexican chef.

"This has been a transformation that started happening in parallel in many activities, in many activities that you can perceive as unrelated like food, but then in others that are more connected, like art, fashion, architecture and design," he said.

The second was his experience of an exhibition in Finland.

"For me, it was completely new to see in the same gallery an artist, a designer, and an artisan exhibited together," he said.

"That was not common for me. That was not common in Mexico. So in a way that shaped my understanding of how it should be."

Since then, Mexico City has become a hotspot for design and last year, Masa, a collective run by Esrawe and designers Age Saloe and Brian Thoreen, put on a show featuring contemporary and historical Mexican art and design underneath the Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Esrawe said that this wide recognition has been accompanied by an influx of designers into the city, all wanting to explore the potential of production in Mexico.

"It became more attractive," he said.

"Many other artists from all over the world have moved to Mexico, understanding that those [production] possibilities are disappearing in many cultures," he continued, referencing again the wide array of artisans and craftspeople in the country.

"You cannot even think of that in the States, for example."

Esrawe has in recent years further dedicated himself to the principles of smaller production and artisanship.

He recently closed his factory, limiting production to focus more on architecture projects and smaller-batch design items.

"I decided to do this because I fully believe in it," he explained.

"I believe sometimes you need to burn the ships in order to really practice your principles, or your aspirations or what you believe."

Esrawe Studio recently collaborated with Productora on a Mexico hotel outfitted with planes of green tile and Cadena on spinning, woven chairs at FORMAT festival in Arkansas.

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Blocky forms and triangular cutouts intersect to form Casa Cielo, a monolithic house that Mexican studio COA Arquitectura has added to a forest in Jalisco.

Nestled among trees on the triangular site, the Mexican home is coated in textural, earth-toned plaster and punctured by angular openings, balconies, and semi-outdoor spaces.

"Our aim was to create one monolithic piece of one earth-toned material in the forest using the least possible elements," said COA Arquitectura architect Tania Robles.

"We sought for a peaceful integration with the landscape," Robles told Dezeen.

Responding to the site's position on the border between a dense forest and a residential area, COA Arquitectura designed the home with ranging levels of privacy.

"On the sides where we had a very tight side yard with very close neighbours, all the apertures had to be small," it explained. "And on the rear yard, which is the least occupied side, we aimed for a full aperture to the dense forest, to have a direct connection, where there are no neighbours."

Casa Cielo's entrance is marked by a large rotating wooden door, which is set beyond a series of stone steps that stretch through a gap between the home's textural walls.

"The house is both a transitional space between the street, city and the forest and a refuge from both," it added. "Hence the emphasis on the entry experience, to leave behind the outside so that the foyer and the murmur of water welcome us."

Beyond the entrance is an open space that extends the length of the home. Here there is a stair to the home's upper floors and a large opening that connects to the living and dining area.

On the other side of the staircase is a kitchen with wooden cupboards and a worktop that wraps around the edges of the room.

Bordered by a wall of sliding glass doors, the open-plan living and dining space is fitted with a granite bar and casual seating areas. The glass doors follow the inverted, triangular opening that cuts into the room, leading onto a raised patio with steps to the forest.

The middle floor is filled with an arrangement of living spaces. Texturally plastered walls and wooden joinery are paired with grey tiled floors throughout the interior, maintaining the home's minimal material palette.

On the top floor, the main bedroom and bathroom also feature large openings that look out onto the forest, while two additional bedrooms open onto semi-outdoor spaces.

"We thought that on the rear side, where we could open the most, is where the public program should be, to be able to engage more with the forest," said Robles.

"On the front, we decided to place the kitchen and the two guest bedrooms, the latter of which have cornered patios that allow a full opening to the side but at the same time protect them from the close neighbours," added the studio.

Other Mexican homes recently featured on Dezeen include a residence centred around a tile-clad bar and a minimal pink dwelling sandwiched between two buildings.

The photography is by César Béjar Studio.

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A bar counter shaped like an inverted ziggurat sits at the centre of this restaurant in Mexico City, designed by local architecture studio RA!

Tana is a tapas spot located in the city's wealthy Polanco neighbourhood, within a compact and intimate space facing Parque Lincoln.

RA! gutted the 65-square-metre unit to make way for its cave-like concept, achieved by applying textured plaster and concrete across the four-metre-high walls.

"The intervention began by demolishing the superimposed finishes of the old premises, in order to discover the structure and the materials that originally constituted the space," said RA! co-founder Pedro Ramírez de Aguilar.

"The balance of the sounds, colours, textures and tones of the space creates a cave atmosphere that shelters those who inhabit it," he contined.

The main dining area is organised around a central bar counter, which has a stepped form reminiscent of an ancient pyramid – similar to those located at the Aztec archeological site of Teotihuacan just outside of the city.

Rough concrete also wraps the bar's tiered sides, under which cove lighting is installed to illuminate each layer.

"The bar questions the traditional linear organization of bars to create a square distribution that allows greater coexistence between users and the mixologist," Ramírez de Aguilar said.

Further cove lighting encircles the room just above floor level, and about two-thirds of the way up the walls, as well as beneath the narrow drink shelves.

Behind the bar, a copper lighting fixture comprises two concentric circles, with a soft glow emanating from behind the small, front disk.

The copper fixture was mounted on a floor-to-ceiling shelving system built from thin metal pipes, which displays liquor bottles and holds hanging plants at the top.

"The plate made in Michoacán, Mexico, is positioned on a large formation of rods that go from the support cabinet to the ceiling, generating a series of shelves on which the bottles and other service elements are positioned," said Ramírez de Aguilar.

Tall, slender-framed stools surround the bar, and provide additional seating along either side of the space.

Above hang cylindrical concrete pendant lamps with steel caps, which direct the light downwards as a series of spots.

Behind the shelving unit is a small, omakase-style dining area that offers guests a direct view of the kitchen.

The restaurant opens fully to the street, where more tables are placed on a covered patio surrounded by plants.

RA! was founded in 2017 by Ramírez de Aguilar along with Cristóbal Ramírez de Aguilar and Santiago Sierra in Mexico City, where the dining scene is booming and many creative minds are helping to shape interiors for its chefs.

Along with Tana, new spots include Pizzeria della Madonna in Roma Norte, which designer Sofia Betancur modelled on a neighbouring church, and Ling Ling, an Asian fusion restaurant on the 56th floor of the Chapultepec Uno skyscraper.

The photography is by Ariadna Polo.

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Mexican architecture studio Lucio Muniain has created Casa HMZ, a brutalist house with raw board-formed concrete walls in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Completed in January 2023, the 8,600-square foot (800-square metre) house – known as Casa HMZ – was designed as a sculpture that you can live in, and follows Mexican architect Luis Barragán's approach of creating moments of mystery and discovery in addition to the traditional living spaces.

"The house is based on that unique theme: creating spaces that dramatize the path in-between typical domestic spaces," architect Lucio Muniain told Dezeen.

"Mass, volume, textures and light are key elements that define it."

The heavy rectangular house sits on a golf course, where its solid appearance contrasts with its surroundings.

However, its recessed windows – tucked into niches of varying depth – offer the interior spaces wide views of the surrounding landscape.

Entirely constructed in raw gray concrete poured into handmade wooden formwork, both the interior and exterior rely on light, shadow, height and compression.

On the interior, the floors are covered in tropical Tzalam hardwood and travertine stone.

White plaster ceilings lighten the spaces, while steel and glass serve as accents to the heavy concrete.

The ground floor contains the public spaces: a living and dining room, a kitchen and a library that open up like terraces and allow wind to blow through the interior spaces.

The northwestern edge of Casa HMZ holds the primary suite. A three-car garage is located on the eastern corner of the house, while a double-height exterior patio space sits in the southern corner, where it is shaded by deep concrete beams.

"The use of the house maintains an informal and comfortable concept that brings an aspect of comfortable dwelling being a dramatic sculpturesque architectural piece," the studio said.

Two spiral staircases rise up to the second storey, which contains three large suites, two small suites, a central lounge and a walkway that overlooks the patio through a glass wall.

In the future, the two upstairs bedrooms, which are currently used as children's bedrooms, could be used as guest rooms or studios.

"Corridors, patios, double heights, paths, dramatic changes of scale, and other rhythms define this habitable sculpture," Muniain said. "These 'new' proposed spaces are the ones that create the magic of routes and paths towards basic needs."

Muniain noted that the biggest challenge of the project was constructing an all-concrete form — but believes that the material's imperfection adds to the design's beauty.

Other recent brutalist projects constructed in Mexico include a breezy hotel designed by Seattle-based Hybrid and Mexico City-based Palma and a cube-shaped vacation home designed by Mexico City-based Ludwig Godefroy.

The photography is by Edmund Sumner.

Project credits:

Architect: Lucio Muniain
Project development: Juan Carlos García, Michel Hernández, Gustavo Morales, Jose Luis Arroyo

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Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica has created a concrete community centre defined by a series of arches in Jálpa de Mendez, Mexico.

The 13,350-square foot (1,240-square metre) Community Development Center (CDC) was completed in 2022 near the southern edge of the Gulf of Mexico.

Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica (CCA), which was founded in Mexico City by Bernardo Quinzaños, organised the orange concrete building around a linear, planted courtyard garden over which eight semi-circular arches form a monumental colonnade.

The CDC is part of a larger urban master plan for Mexico's Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development SEDATU and works to "revitalize the city's public life by creating a space that offered inclusive opportunities for cultural and educational development within the local community," CCA told Dezeen.

The concrete arches create a sculptural sequence, through which the rest of the program can weave, while the central garden provides an oasis-like area for occupants.

The educational spaces – including classrooms and a library – face inward to the open-air courtyard, with inset floor-to-ceiling glazing in dark red metal frames.

A floating walkway was cut into the arches with a smaller rounded portal forming an elevated colonnade along the upper storey.

A secondary arched cutout runs transversely across the centre of the plan, creating a portal on either side of the center and connecting it to the surrounding landscape.

A double-height auditorium holds the southwest corner of the building.

The trapezoidal space has rounded corners created with vertical ribbed concrete.

The rest of the building's exposed concrete was poured using horizontal formwork with phenolic plywood.

"This collaborative approach with the local builders incorporated traditional woodworking techniques, minimizing formwork waste and optimizing material costs," said the studio.

In addition to training the local workforce in traditional crafts and innovative building systems, the technique maintained control of the concrete's quality and ensured its strength.

The orange-coloured material draws its tone from the region's architectural identidy and serves multiple purposes: reflecting heat, preventing moisture build-up and contributing to the project's sustainability.

"Regarding environmental considerations, the CDC project incorporates strategies to maximize re-use, minimize waste, and reduce the building's embodied carbon," the team said.

Using local materials and efficient construction practices, the project minimizes waste generation, reduces environmental impact and carbon footprint and contributes to a sustainable future for the community and the planet.

"The Community Development Center brings numerous benefits to the community, enhancing the quality of life for its users by providing services and activities that promote personal and collective development." the team said.

"It also contributes to reducing social inequalities by offering equitable access to community spaces and resources for people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and provides the community with a dignified, aesthetically pleasing, and functional space to accommodate the cultural activities they need."

The CDC in Jálpa de Mendez has been shortlisted in the civic project section of the 2023 Dezeen Awards alongside projects by Studio Weave and James Gorst Architects.

In 2020, CCA completed a Boys and Girls Club with monumental concrete steps that lead up to an arched colonnade in Mexico. Other structures in Mexico that reflect local building and material practices include a museum in Progreso by Estudio MMX.

The photography is by Jaime Navarro.

Project credits:

Architect: CCA | Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica / Bernardo Quinzaños
Design team: Bernardo Quinzaños, Andrés Suárez, André Torres, Miguel Izaguirre, Javier Castillo, Carlos Cruz, Gabriela Horta, Florencio de Diego, Lorenza Hernández, Mara Calderón de la Barca, Norma Mendoza, Jair Rodríguez, Santiago Vélez, Begoña Manzano, Fernanda Ventura, Victor Zúñiga.
Construction: TRASGO. José Fernando Orozco González, Gerardo González Gutiérrez, Eber Castellanos Ramos
Client: SEDATU, Municipio de Jalpa de Méndez

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A private mezcal bar forms the heart of this house that Amsterdam interior architecture firm Barde vanVoltt has overhauled in Mexico City's La Condesa neighbourhood.

Working for longstanding Dutch clients who live in Mexico, Barde vanVoltt transformed a historic, dilapidated building into a contemporary residence that respects the heritage of the existing structure.

"We walked together into this old, beautiful building, and instantly fell in love," said studio founders Bart van Seggelen and Valérie Boerma. "Even though the house was falling apart, we felt its soul was fully alive."

The three-storey house had previously been used as a mezcal tasting venue, and the duo used this as a starting point for the design.

A primary aim of the renovation was to create a "vibrant oasis in the city" with a better connection to the outdoors.

This was achieved by connecting a series of courtyards, terraces and semi-enclosed corridors to form a route and airflow through the building.

"We worked together with Thalia from Aldaba Jardines, a talented landscape designer, to create a seamless flow from the indoors to the outdoors and back again," said the studio..

In the central courtyard, Barde vanVoltt removed the roof from the double-height space and replaced it with operable glass panels to let in more light.

The designers turned this space into a mezcal bar as a nod to the building's former life that the owners could use for entertaining friends and family.

Backed by a semicircular brass panel, upon which shelves for liquor bottles are mounted, the rounded bar counter is wrapped in narrow terracotta tiles.

A five-metre-tall guayabo tree was also planted in the courtyard, casting shadows across the surrounding walls.

Open archways lead from this central space into various rooms including the kitchen and living area, which features dark cabinetry, open shelving, and a large bespoke wooden dining table.

Beyond a row of French doors is the back courtyard that forms an outdoor lounge, and an annex that accommodates a home office on the upper level.

To retain some of the original character, the architects recreated the cast iron, Art Deco windows and Spanish-style railings. and extended them to the back of the house.

The overall layout of spaces was kept largely the same, aside from a few walls that were removed to combine or create bigger rooms.

For example, the primary bedroom and bathroom now flow together as one space, divided only by a partition of angled bricks that forms a backdrop to the freestanding bathtub.

"We included the bathroom into the space to create a home sanctuary to rest and refresh," said Barde vanVoltt.

Two further bedrooms are located on the first floor, the other side of the central courtyard void at the front of the house.

The roof terrace features a plunge pool, an outdoor shower, a row of loungers and built-in seats, all accessed via a spiral staircase from the loggia outside the main bedroom.

The building's exterior is covered in greige-coloured plaster, as a nod to Mexico's prevalent concrete architecture, while warmer earth tones decorate the minimalist interiors.

Moss green sofa covers and bed linens visually tie to the plants outside, and wood, terracotta and off-white hues complement one another.

"We love the natural feel these colours have together," said the designers. "According to colour psychology, nature-inspired hues are the best for interiors as they soothe and invigorate."

Floors for the stairs, bathroom and outdoor areas are tiled with handmade bricks by Tata Mosaicos, made from compacted earth sourced from different regions throughout Mexico.

"This unique structure means they need 50 per cent less cement, using the sun and shade to dry naturally and secure the structure," Barde vanVoltt said. "An environmentally friendly solution, sourced locally."

Custom lighting and Mexican objects, textiles, sculptures and other wall art are also found throughout the residence.

Barde vanVoltt has renovated many older buildings, having converted a former garage into a light-filled home and a century-old farmhouse into a retail store – both in the Netherlands.

The photography is by Alejandro Ramírez Orozco.

Project credits:

Lead interior architect: Barde vanVoltt
Contractor: CF Taller de Arquitectura
Architect: ZVA Interiores & Arquitectura
Bathroom: Agape Bathrooms
Kitchen appliances: Gaggenau
Lighting: Studio Davidpompa, ILWT, Nuumbra, Federico Stefanovich, DCW editions
Material: Tata Mosaicos
Rugs: Txt.ure
Furniture: Casa Quieta, Chuch Estudio, Acoocooro, Carl Hanssen & Sons, Arflex
Art: Kreyé, Chic by Accident, Carlos Vielma, Prince Láuder, Axelle Russo, Rrres, Saudara, Luuna Wabi
Landscaping: Aldaba Jardines

The post Barde vanVoltt orients renovated Mexico City house around mezcal bar appeared first on Dezeen.

Architecture studio Taller Capital has created a linear park in Mexico City that incorporates a walkway and made with materials optimised for water retention and dust mitigation.

Called Héroes de Tecamac Boulevard, the project was located in an urban area north of Mexico City.

The project saw the renovation of 2.1 kilometres of a vacant median that runs through the city, passing through a social housing complex.

Twenty metres wide, the structure allows for easy pedestrian use and features recreation areas strewn about its length for use by the local community, and the studio estimates it will serve more than 20,000 individuals who live alongside it.

According to Taller Capital, the boulevard was constructed in the early 2000s to facilitate the growing population, and though the median was dug it was never completed. The excavated materials from the roadway sat there, creating small dust storms.

"It works as a retroactive infrastructure: it is a device to control dust storms, absorb rainwater, facilitate non-motorized mobility to connect with the Mexibus stop, and bring ports and recreational facilities to the nearby community," said the studio.

Taller Capital was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Territory and Urban Development to create the recreational spaces, but the studio recognised that the project provided an opportunity to improve the infrastructure of the area, which has very few pedestrian corridors.

"We were commissioned to design public recreational and sports facilities along the median strip," the studio told Dezeen.

"However, we realized that it could not become only that, but it should mainly work as an infrastructure, both in terms of pedestrian mobility and dust control," it continued.

"We were able to redesign traffic lanes at the ground level, broadening sidewalks, designating specific areas for parking and allowing two car lanes at each side of the strip."

To ensure the safety of the pedestrians, the structure was elevated, a move which also allowed for the soil conditions necessary to plant a series of trees for shade.

The studio included volcanic gravel along the elevation to allow for water absorption and to control dust. It also noted that the gravels consistency means that very little maintenance will be required during the lifecycle of the boulevard.

The route also connects the community with a transportation hub at its north end.

Opened in 2021, the park has already enjoyed use and areas have seen a number of fairs and concerts that go beyond its original program.

"If the place continues serving the purpose it has demonstrated to satisfy up till today, we can imagine that in the future it will become more lively and used, as the trees will have grown and shade will be provided during direct daylight hours," said Taller Capital.

Héroes de Tecamac Boulevard has been shortlisted for the mixed-use project category in the 2023 Dezeen Awards.

Other projects that revamp infrastructure for pedestrian use include New York's High Line, a former elevated train line that has been converted to pedestrian walkways and community space.

The photography is by Rafael Gamo.

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Mexican architects ODAmx and Rubén Valdez have designed a restaurant with an ash-coloured interior inside a former mechanic's workshop in Guadalajara.

Now located in the Mexican city's Santa Tere neighbourhood, Xokol began in 2017 within a small space that housed just four tables and room for 16 diners.

In 2020, the restaurant relocated to this larger building, where the aim was to preserve as much of the intimacy and connection between the diners and chefs as possible.

"Xokol is a restaurant in which the act of eating becomes a collective ritual," said ODAmx and Rubén Valdez in a joint statement. "The architecture of the space acts a catalyst for the reinterpretation of Mexican culinary traditions and a communal dining experience in which the boundaries between diners, staff and food preparation are non-existent."

The restaurant's interior has a minimalist, monastic quality thanks to the dark grey stucco covering the walls and ceiling, and the black clay comal ovens on full display in the open kitchen.

"These muted tones foreground the naturally rich colour palettes of the dishes," the architects said.

The concrete workshop building's exterior was left largely unchanged, aside from the layers of tall panels of steel added across the garage-door entrance to guide guests inside.

A 15-metre-long oak table runs the length of the double-height interior, enabling 48 covers to be seated at once and share the experience.

Suspended above the table is an industrial pendant light that stretches its entice length, emitting a soft glow over the place settings.

Over the centre of the dining area, a large skylight is covered by a metal grill from which hundreds of corn cobs hang – providing the only hint of colour in the otherwise monochrome restaurant, besides the dishes served.

The kitchen runs alongside the table on the other side of the building, towards the back where a grid of shelves contains jars for fermenting ingredients.

A staircase winds around a totemic stone sculpture by local artist José Dávila, up to a mezzanine level that overlooks the dining area.

All of the materials used for the project were sourced locally, and the dining table, pendant light and shelving were fabricated by Guadalajaran artisans.

"Since its beginnings, Xokol has aimed to conserve and recover the Mazahua culinary traditions and share them with a broader public in a contemporary manner," said the architects.

"The architectural project acts as an enabler for such goal where every design decision has been thought to achieve it," they added.

Xokol is shortlisted in the restaurant and bar interior category of Dezeen Awards 2023, along with a Toronto seafood restaurant by Omar Gandhi Architects, a vaulted brick brewery taproom in Poland by Projekt Praga and three more projects.

Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, is a hotbed for architectural talent and has a thriving food scene.

Other restaurants with impressive interiors in the city include Veneno, designed by Monteon Arquitectos Asociados to resemble an archeological site, and Hueso, which Cadena + Asociados lined with thousands of animal bones.

The photography is by Rafael Palacios.

Project credits:

Architecture: ODAmx and Rubén Valdez
Carpenter: Joselo Maderista
Artwork: José Dávila

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In this week's comments update, readers are discussing news that architecture studio BIG has completed its first supertall skyscraper in New York City and debating a minimalist pink house in Mexico by César Béjar Studio.

Called The Spiral, BIG's latest completed project in New York reaches 314 metres (1,031 feet), making it a supertall skyscraper.

Located along the High Line, the 66-storey building gets its moniker from a series of stepped terraces wrapped around its exterior.

"There's something truly cynical about this work"

Dezen readers were quick to give their opinions about the project in the comments section.

"Just what the city needs: more unused office space during record-low occupancy rates," wrote BillH11103. "Meanwhile, no one can afford to live in the city anymore. Brilliant!"

"There's something truly cynical about this work, IMHO," commented Frank. "Bjarke continues to toss out this 30-second, back-of-a-napkin, copy-paste-array diagram stuff and people keep buying it."

In a comment that was upvoted 10 times, Jacob Volanski wrote "for a firm that prides itself on its 'environmentally responsive' architecture, this glass monolith with some greenwashed terraces is a major disappointment".

However, commenter Hmm was pleasantly surprised by the finished project."This did not look good in the renders – it seemed like just another bland and uninspired Lego tower trying too hard to be cool," they recalled.

"But I think it turned out really well. The proportions work, the detailing seems to be on point and fits in rather well – quite restrained without silly gimmicks," they added.

Do you like the latest project from BIG? Join the discussion ›

"The perfect pink"

Another project that got readers talking this week was César Béjar Studio's minimalist pink house sandwiched between two buildings in Culiacán, Mexico.

Some Dezeen readers were won over by the colour scheme.

Edward Sheng found the "white interior calm" and Ken Steffes described the house exterior as "the perfect pink." But not all commenters were in agreement.

"I love the minimalism of the exterior," wrote Milton Welch. However, the "interiors appear a bit hazy and claustrophobic due to coloured daylight coming through the tinted glass and diminishing the benefits of the white interiors", they added.

Puzzello stated "I could not live in a house without a visual relationship to the exterior from the interior".

JZ chimed in, writing "I'm always captivated by the way light can be manipulated, but I agree with you. Emotionally, I need to see some blue sky, perhaps some clouds and some green."

Calming or claustrophobic? Join the discussion ›

"I love when something is so good that I'm mad it wasn't my idea"

Also on commenters radar's this week was the story that Canadian designer Omer Arbel has created a home in British Columbia with expressive pillars made from concrete poured into fabric.

The columns run through the house, with some approaching 10 metres (32 feet) tall, fluted at the base before extending upwards into an expansive "lilypad" shape.

Mark Zudini was impressed. "Love the spaces and light – overall, inspiring," they wrote.

In the same boat was Rob Rohena. "Wow. Beautiful. I love when something is so good that I'm mad it wasn't my idea."

However, some other readers weren't so quick to celebrate the project.

Jb reckoned that "the 'expressive pillars' are fun and intriguing but they clash with the dour, modernist aesthetic."

George Panagos was less forgiving, writing "well, that's a whole lot of concrete for a thoroughly claustrophobic and unattractive bunch of pillars."

Which side are you on? Join the discussion ›

Comments update 

Dezeen is the world's most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page and subscribe to our weekly Debate newsletter, where we feature the best reader comments from stories in the last seven days. 

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Mexican architecture firm César Béjar Studio has sandwiched a minimalist pink house between two buildings in Culiacán, Mexico, while bringing light into its centre via atriums and voids.

Completed in 2020, Casa en Tres Rios is covered entirely in a pinkish-red hue, giving the building a starkly different appearance than its white and wood neighbours on either side.

"Willing to be the simplest household in the neighborhood, the house is free of the ornaments that the different materials tend to evoke," said architect César Béjar. "Its quality lies in being monochrome."

The 330-square-metre house sits on a long narrow plot, walled in on its longer sides by the adjacent structures.

Its front elevation comprises a door and a bi-folding gate at street level, which open onto a forecourt with space for parking, and a heavy cube-like volume lifted above.

The minimalist architecture and the bright render "breaks the surrounding plasticity through the contrast of colour, shape and texture", according to Béjar.

The upper portion includes a single opening, revealing a glass door that opens onto a small balcony.

This recessed, south-facing aperture is also partially open to another larger balcony and the sky above, but shaded by the overhang.

Due to the site constraints, the house features various courtyard spaces and voids that allow light into its central spaces.

"The two double heights intertwine and connect the whole house," said Béjar. "When entering and looking up, the gaze is lost and the house is prolonged, the feeling of narrowness is muffled and its condition finds freshness as a result of this spatial quality."

On the ground floor, the double-height living and dining area is positioned between the forecourt and a potted garden, while the kitchen faces onto this garden and a back patio beyond.

Pink render also covers the walls of these pockets of outdoor space, reflecting off the white interiors and imbuing them with a blush-like glow.

Meanwhile, a clerestory window at the top of another atrium in the home's core is tinted yellow, washing the spaces below in a sunny hue that contrasts the pink.

The effect is similar to that frequently used by famed Mexican architect Luis Barragán in his residential spaces.

"The atmosphere of the house comes from the colours," Béjar said.

"Between the pink of the patios that bounces and enters the house, and that of the direct overhead yellow light that combines with pink and averages the tones on these neutral surfaces."

One level up, a bedroom suite is located at each end of the house, while a platform-like living area in the centre overlooks the two voids.

A further bedroom and bathroom occupy the top floor, with access to the enclosed balcony at the front, and a studio space opens onto another larger terrace at the rear.

Béjar recently completed a minimalist beach house in Nuevo Vallarta, in collaboration with Fernando Sanchez Zepeda, and was part of the team that worked on the Ederlezi residence in Monterrey that is shortlisted in the urban house category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Béjar is also one of Mexico's most prominent architectural photographers, and has captured projects across the country by firms including CO-LAB, Esrawe Studio, Zeller & Moye and 1540 Arquitectura.

The photography is by César Béjar.

Project credits:

Architects: César Béjar Studio
Builder: José Roberto Béjar

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An exhibition showcasing designs by French designers and Mexican artisans as well as a retrospective on local studio EWE's work were on show during Mexico City's annual design festival.

With official programming as well as exhibitions at satellite galleries, stores and workshops, Design Week Mexico showcased the best furniture and decor design from across Mexico and the world for its 15th year.

The festival is based around a continuing set of programming organised by the leaders of the festival, Andrea Caesarman, Emilio Cabrero and Marco Coello, long-time friends and founders of local studio C Cubica Arquitectos.

The studio year kicked off this year's events, which run for varying times but are focused in early November, at its newly opened office block and gallery in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighbourhood.

This year's festival saw the continuation of the core exhibitions, with many other galleries and workshops across the city hitching their wagons to the festivities.

The core exhibitions included a yearly furniture design showcase called Inédito as well as Design House, the much-lauded event where 20 local makers partner with large brands to completely build out the interiors of a home in just one month's time.

Other galleries, such as Mexico City stalwart EWE and the electric Orginario opened up their locations for showcases.

Much of the work highlighted the strong relationship between designers and craftspeople working with local materials like wood and stone.

"It's exciting to experience a design culture that's exploring contemporary ideas and approaches while from a deep tradition of artisanship and craft," New York-based designer Joseph Vidich, who was visiting the fair, told Dezeen.

"The results of which are rich investigations of form and material through the precise and novel use of traditional techniques."

While the programming showcased the aesthetics of the country, talks such as a conversation between intellectual designers facilitated by Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat of Manhattan's ICFF/Wanted Design festival also took place.

"Having the opportunity to meet many great talents from different countries makes the world feel smaller," said Guatemalan designer Esteban Paredes, who took part in the talk.

"It definitely opens a window to create interesting relationships and collaborations between designers from Latin America and the rest of the world."

Read on for Dezeen's picks of this year's best exhibitions.

Design House by Design Week Mexico 

This yearly showcase saw the transformation of an ageing home in the hilly, mansion-lined neighbourhood of Lomas into a multi-faceted design showcase. Not only were the interiors completely transformed in the styles of the individual teams, but the exteriors were too, with a sculptural terrace by Mood Estudio.

Other standouts in the three-storey home included a shop with bright colours and central shelving by local studio De la Cerda Estudio, a tranquil, wood-and-stoned line area by outfit Estudio Claudina Flores and gallery Covarrubias Collection, both of Guadalajara, as well as a spa-inspired room by Espacio Tangible.

Well-established outfits like Moltenic&C and Breuer Studio were among the companies that brought the vision of the home to life.

Los Acompañantes by Mughal and Rocca Luis César

Mexican designer Andrés Gutierrez hosted an exhibition at his shop Originario in the city's Roma neighbourhood. Called Los Acompañantes, it foregrounded a collaboration between Mexican artist Rocca Luis César and rug company Mughal.

The series of geometric rugs were placed on the walls and floors of the two-storey space and the entirety of the gallery was painted in shades of blues and oranges to reflect the textile's dominant colour schemes.

Gutierrez also hand-picked a selection of design objects and crafts to accompany the exhibition as it weaves through the spaces of the gallery.

Inédito by Design Week Mexico

The week's yearly showcase of Mexican furniture and decor filled the hall of a modern structure called Espacio CDMX in Chapultepec Park. A selection of emerging and established designers were placed alongside innovative projects from students from local schools.

Work from French designers such as the sinuous bamboo furniture of Aurelie Hoegy and the waste fabric brick of FabBRICK were included, highlighting 2023's collaboration with that country.

The furniture included by participants encapsulated a wide range of materials, from stone to fabrics, metals and plastics, showing the diversity of styles and processes at play.

Archivo Personal by Andrea Soler and Taina Campos

Part of the Diseña Colectiva series, Archivo Personal was an exhibition hosted at Laguna, a textile factory in the city's Doctores neighbourhood converted into an arts and community space. The exhibition, which was accompanied by a series of workshops, placed the work of women designers next to artwork by "dissident" practices.

Curated by local designers Andrea Soler and Taina Campos, the works filled the cavernous space. Included among the objects was a maximalist cupboard by local design studio Comité de Proyectos and a woven wooden chair by Perla Castañon. An installation of graphic design highlighting issues women's and LGBTQ+ issues was included.

In the space's courtyard, gridded dividers were turned into a community poll called Mi Calle, Nuestra Calle (My Street, Our Street) where visitors could vote on what they would like to see in their community – for example, clean streets or public space – with multi-coloured clothespins arrayed in a grid.

Retrospective by EWE

Founded by Age Salajõe, and designers Manuel Bañó and Héctor Esrawe, EWE has been a powerhouse on the Mexico City design scene since 2017. During this year's design week, the studio opened up its Roma location for a retrospective that looked at the processes and iterations of the studio's design objects.

EWE's commitment to artisanal processes can be seen in its monumental stone forms, its blown glass lamps as well as in a series of milking stools.

The stools, based on a traditional design, followed a variety of iterations, from wood to cast objects and even the moulds from past collections were showcased, highlighting the processual, yet innovative, nature of the work.

Visión and Tradición by Design Week Mexico and Mobilier National

Design Week Mexico partnered with the French Institute and France's furniture association Mobilier National to host an exhibition highlighting an initiative that paired French and Mexican designers with craftspeople from the Mexican state of Queretaro. The result was a series of objects that combined traditional techniques with contemporary design language.

Located on a pedestal in the entry building of the city's Museum of Anthropology, the exhibition celebrated the collaborations, which were arranged on tables and surrounded by documentation of the collaborations.

Standouts from the exhibition were a wood-and-glass coffee table created by French designer Sammy Bernoussi with Mexican artisan Uriel López López as well as a massive wicker sculpture created by Mexican designer Sebastián Ángeles and artisan Martín Cruz González.

Bernoussi told Dezeen that he used Google translate to communicate with López to plan the work after having meals with the artisan to understand the dining traditions of the region.

Bomboti by MYT+GLVDK

Mexican architecture studio MYT+GLVDK showcased an exhibition at its freshly opened concept store in the Polanco neighbourhood, Bomboti. Drawing from hundreds of design and art objects used throughout the architecture studio's work, the exhibition included graphics explaining the work.

Every space in the two-storey gallery was filled with art and design objects, from the stone sculptures of local designer Rebeca Cors to the glasswork and ceramics of Perla Valtiera.

More conceptual design was also shown alongside the handcrafted, such as upcycled plastic objects from local studio Bolsón.

Diseño Contenido by Design Week Mexico

Located at Parque Lincoln in the city's Polanco neighbourhood, Design Contenido saw dozens of studios and galleries fill shipping containers with work, creating a pop-up design space. Each studio had a single shipping container and only had a few hours to set up, placing objects, information and installations within the narrow spaces.

Works on show ranged from the wicker design objects of the local studio Hiato to the brutalist furniture of Mesawa. By far the most intensive installation was set up by lighting designer David Pompa's studio.

Showcasing a collection inspired by volcanic stone, the studio's container featured a narrow entrance where visitors could walk in and view the lights arrayed around mounds of rock.

Fall Group Show by Angulo Cero

Design gallery Angulo Cero opened up its newly opened location in a house in the city's Lomas neighbourhood. The exhibition saw a variety of works from local design studios such as Abel Zavala and ADHOC.

The works were arrayed in a white-walled space, spread throughout the first two storeys of the gallery. Rugs by Balmaceda Studio were arranged in many of the spaces, as the design studio shares the home as its office. Also included in the exhibition were works by artists Daniel Berman and Jesús Pedraglio.

Té Ahorita by Su Wu and Bettina Kiehnle

At Salon Rosetta, above the renowned Rosetta restaurant in Roma, curators Su Wu and Bettina Kiehnle selected more than 100 tableware objects from Mexican designers. Based on an exhibition curated earlier in the year by Wu at Studio IMA, the exhibition focused on dining rituals and the use of objects in them.

Working with Rosetta chef Elena Reygadas, the curators arranged the objects by designers such as Maxine Álvarez and Patricio Campillo on contemporary furniture. The exhibition included a daily tea service as well as a shop where visitors can purchase objects.

Design Week Mexico is on from 10 October to 4 November 2023. For more events, talks and installations in architecture and design, visit the Dezeen Events Guide. 

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Mexican architect Frida Escobedo has completed a seaside resort in the Yucatán Peninsula with wooden guest quarters suspended on stilts.

Known as Boca de Agua, the complex includes 26 vacation rentals along the Laguna de los Siete Colores (Lagoon of the Seven Colors) in Bacalar, Quintana Roo.

"Built at the intersection of ecosystem preservation and well-being" the project resulted from a "desire to create a place that contributes to environmental, social, and cultural regeneration while offering its guests an equally regenerative, unique and relaxing experience," the team said.

The 26 freestanding villas – including 22 suites – function as treehouses, lifted on pillars to reduce the environmental impact of the ground plane and to raise guests into the leafy jungle landscape.

The raised units left 90 per cent of the land intact and are designed to age naturally over time with a breezy wooden pavilion structure.

Sand-coloured concrete staircases with thin metal railings rise to the raised units, which have shed roofs.

Sourced from a FSC-certified forest logging program, the dark-coloured local Chicozapote wood creates a rhythm across the facades, which is punctuated by vertical window mullions and slatted railings.

Boca de Agua's in-house team and local artisans used recycled wood from a nearby plywood processor to design the furniture within each unit – as well as selecting exclusive pieces from Mexican and local brands including Bandido Studio, Cacao Design, Nossara Towel and Hacha Ceramics.

The most notable rental is the Masterpool Jungle Treehouse with a private pool and terrace. The light-filled villas offer views out in every direction with double-height windows.

Frida Escobedo also designed the complex's amenity spaces including a reception area and offices, as well as a restaurant, bar and kitchen. Those are complemented by public exterior spaces including a rooftop with a lagoon view, terraces and a pier, which all connect back to the villas by curated pathways.

"With references to local culture, the common areas serve as visual anchors in the landscape," the team said. "The experience's design functions as a modern reflection of the traditional social centres with stone temples and wooden houses of the Yucatán region."

The pool is surrounded by emerald green subway tile and features hammocks strung across the water. The pier has a simple wooden structure that could be hung with fabric for shading. The common areas feature plush, off-white loungers that contrast the natural tones.

Following a framework of regenerative tourism, the project works to contribute to the local economic development as well as conserve the landscape in which it sits.

An on-site wastewater treatment plant ensures that no waste ends up in the lagoon, and the facility teamed up with local community, nonprofit, and academic organizations to rehabilitate the area's mangrove ecosystem.

Additionally, Boca de Agua worked with the nonprofit organization Mono Araña to protect and expand the natural habitat of the endemic spider monkeys, who roam the property.

The studio is led by Frida Escobedo, who was recently awarded the Le Prix Charlotte Perriand for 2024. She is currently working on a design for an addition to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The photography is by César Béjar.

Project credits:

Architecture: Frida Escobedo
Design team: Héctor Arce, Rogelio Morales, José María Gómez de León, Matthew Kennedy

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Mexican studio Colectivo C733 has created a square-shaped pedestrian pier that hovers over a coastal lake in Bacalar, Mexico to serve as an aquatic exhibit, protecting the site from urbanisation and human activity.

Ecoparque Bacalar, completed in January 2023, is a delicate boardwalk that stretches 20,451 square feet (1,900 square metres) over a 17-acre (70,000 -square metres).

The Bacalar Lagoon in Quintana Roo is home to the world's largest freshwater bacterial reef and living stromatolites, an invaluable evolutionary treasure that gives the water its vibrant teal shade.

The shore features one of the last remaining mangroves in Bacalar, as the coastline has been threatened by urban sprawl.

"The project's main strategy is to minimize the impact of human activity by reducing the program, acting with precision, and treading lightly on the rich flora and fauna," Colectivo C733, which is based in Mexico City, told Dezeen.

The 2,625-foot (800-meter) long open-air pier forms a square, looks out in every direction, and varies in height to avoid disturbing the mangroves while allowing visitors to glide out over the water.

The slope of the pier casts an elongated shadow across the water during the daytime.

The efficient structural system was constructed with local wood and functions as a column, beam and foundation all at the same time.

Trailing through meandering pathways from the street, visitors arrive in the centre of the western side, where service areas, restrooms, and a research laboratory are built into the pier's solid form. Four small pavilions serve as the only interior space.

The rest of the pier is flat and uncovered – with guardrails where needed but otherwise open to the landscape – using the treeline as shade where possible.

"The project reduces the amount of built space, reinforcing the strategy and the site's natural systems," the studio said.

Instead of inhibiting the view or threatening the ecosystem, the team opted to inscribe the museum exhibit on the pathway, carving a timeline of the area's biodiversity onto the wood and inviting visitors to engage with the environment.

"The landscape strategy mitigates water pollution through natural filters, depressions, rain gardens, and the rehabilitation of degraded mangroves, while a museum exhibit raises awareness of the area's unique biodiversity," the studio said.

Ecoparque Bacalar has been shortlisted in the infrastructure and transport architecture category of the 2023 Dezeen Awards.

Colectivo C733 – a collaboration between Carlos Facio, Eric Valdez, Israel Espín, Gabriela Carrillo and José Amozurrutia – recently completed a brick music school topped with a soaring timber roof in Nacajuca and a marketplace with an inverted trapezoidal roof structure in Matamoros, Mexico.

The photography is by Rafael Gamo.

Project credits:

Architecture: Colectivo C733: Carlos Facio, Eric Valdez, Israel Espín, Gabriela Carrillo and José Amozurrutia
Design Team: Fernando Rodríguez, Montserrat Loyola, Dino del Cueto, Santiago Blanco, Carolina Andrade, Karim Gómez
Structure: Óscar Trejo
Electrical and mechanical engineering: Spl, Riparia
Bioremediation Strategies: Taller Nuevos Territorios
Mangrove restoration strategies: Dra. Claudia Teutli and Dr. Jorge Herrera
Other consultants: Dra. Luisa Falcón, Ing. Juan Ansberto, Luz en arquitectura, Pedro Lechuga, TEMAS MX
Museography: Dra. Luisa Falcón, Laguna
Contractor: Zenith
Client: SEDATU, Municipio de Bacalar

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Mexican studio TO Arquitectura has worked with the local community to create a music school that features a vault made from recycled and donated masonry in Mexico City.

Known as the Kithara Music Kiosk, the 645-square foot (60-square metre) project sits on an 860-square foot (80-square metre) corner lot in the Yuguelito neighbourhood. TO Arquitectura completed the project in March of 2022.

Yuguelito is located in Iztapalapa, an area that experiences high levels of conflict due to violence, poor soil quality and water scarcity.

Set along the base of the Xaltocan Volcano, an earthquake in 1985 reduced Yuguelito to rubble, and the community has been working to improve the soil for construction and to re-establish the residential area for the last forty years.

In 2015, the Kithara Project – a classical guitar education program based in Boston, Massachusetts – arrived in the area to offer free music lessons to the community using one of the most popular instruments in the world.

To show their appreciation, the community members donated a small plot next to the local library for a guitar classroom, and TO Arquitectura held a workshop with the guitar students to develop the designs for a music school.

The resulting structure is a rectangular space that sits diagonally on its site, orienting toward the volcano and the intersection rather than the street grid. This allows the building to be opened up to the views when it serves as a stage for events in the neighbourhood.

The team employed recycled and donated materials and labour from three local builders.

The open-air, pavilion-like vault is composed of different types of donated masonry, including red brick, cement blocks, volcanic stone, and a red stone called tezontle.

The two-storey vault serves as a shelter for a wooden stand made of reclaimed lumber. A set of concrete stairs climbs up to a set of raked, wooden bleachers that form the classroom space.

A small restroom is tucked underneath the staircase and the landing is used as a teaching platform.

The underside of the bleachers functions as a bandstand with double-height wooden doors swinging open to the community. The reclaimed wood was cut into small sections and assembled like tiles over the doors to create a varied pattern.

Light and airflow through the ground-floor space from doors on each end, while mismatched ceramic pendant lights serve as a small suspended detail.

The combination of wood and masonry creates "an acoustic balance between sound absorption and reverberation," the studio said.

Integrated metal scuppers run along the intersection of the vault and the wall and capture rainwater that is piped into a collection chamber and a small garden.

"Nowadays Kithara Music Kiosk has surpassed its intended uses, and the community has used it for making different events like theatre arts presentations, choir concerts and different types of social gatherings," the studio said.

"It has a personal space scale but it definitely resonates as a collective space."

Kithara Music Kiosk has been shortlisted in the small architecture project category of the Dezeen Awards 2023.

TO leaders Carlos Facio and José Amozurruita are also members of Mexico City's Colectivo C733 with Gabriela Carrillo, Eric Valdez, and Israel Espín. Together they have created a brick music school with a coconut wood roof in Nacajuca and a market with an inverted trapezoid-shaped roof structure in Matamoros.

The photography is by Jaime Navarro and Santiago Arau.

Project credits:

Architecture: TO (Carlos Facio, José Amozurrutia)
Project team: Lizeth Ríos, Úrsula Rebollar, Lena Arsenijevic
Client: Matthew Rode, Kithara Foundation
Structural: Armando Pelcastre
Construction: TO, maestro Pablo Escobar
Landscape: Entorno, Tonatiuh Martínez

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Architecture firm RootStudio has converted a historic convent building into a centre for celebrating the rich culinary legacy of Mexico's Oaxaca region.

The Centro Gastronómico de Oaxaca occupies the former convent of Carmen el Alto in the city of Oaxaca – the capital of the state of the same name.

Dating back to the 16th century, the colonial-style structure has been carefully restored by RootStudio to create "an educational and multidisciplinary space where culinary traditions and sustainability create a sensory experience", which hosts different chefs from across the region.

The cultural centre accommodates several areas and functions within the existing building and its grounds, including a study centre comprising an administrative office, classrooms and public library.

An array of commercial and recreational facilities are also incorporated, such as a restaurant, kitchen, cocktail and tasting rooms, gallery, cafeteria, multipurpose rooms, auditorium, courtyards, arcade gardens and retail premises.

The restoration work was carried out in compliance with guidelines provided by the Oaxaca division of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, which dictated the preservation of primary features and the original layout.

A team of more than 20 designers and supervisors from the Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural del Estado de Oaxaca (INPAC) and the Instituto Oaxaqueño Constructor de Infraestructura Física Educativa (IOCIFED) took part in the project.

Over the years, the building had been used as a civil registry and a warehouse, among other functions, and several discoveries were made during the efforts to strip it back to its original bones.

Among them was an 18th-century sewer, which has now been transformed into a space for mezcal tastings and other culinary events.

The team also uncovered a diagonal window similar to one located in the convent of the same order in San Ángel, Mexico City.

Wall frescoes, vaulted ceilings and the original floor levels were all recovered, while windows that had been walled-up were reopened.

Details were restored using traditional construction techniques, with materials like lime, brick, wood and Oaxacan Cantera verde stone.

"[The] synthesis, which preserves the materiality and typology of the building, establishes a dialogue between the urban environment and the pre-existing building," the studio said.

Extensive restoration work was also required across the building's exterior and the surrounding landscape, which was planted with species that are either edible or associated with cooking.

Arcades in the former goods handling yard were converted into spaces for outdoor events, while a new intervention that juxtaposes the historic building was constructed in the parking lot.

"In order to contrast past and present, [we] installed an elevated contemporary element in raw steel, containing the industrial kitchens," said the firm.

This two-storey pavilion with a steel frame and vaulted brick ceilings also houses 12 commercial spaces and a large, flexible event space with a panoramic view of local landmarks.

Throughout the cultural centre, a variety of collaborations with local artists and artisans are displayed.

These include a mural by Juchitán-born artist Demián Flores that illustrates the various species of corn that are endemic to the region, and imagery that indicates the building's different functions by Sabino Guisu.

Furniture was custom-made using Macuil wood, also called rosewood, which is known for its medicinal properties.

Close attention was also paid to accessibility in the new addition, which has multiple elevators.

"Accessibility and inclusion are fundamental principles in this project, as it seeks the interaction of individuals with their environment through facilities for people who have some type of disability," said RootStudio.

RootStudio is led by architect Joao Boto Caeiro and is known for its approach to sustainability, with previous projects including a concrete hotel on the outskirts of Oaxaca that was constructed in stages.

Centro Gastronómico de Oaxaca is longlisted in the Heritage Project category for the 2023 Dezeen Awards, along with the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station in London and the conversion of a Beijing textile factory into headquarters for a Chinese pastry brand. See the full architecture longlist here.

The photography is by Lizet Ortiz.

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Mexican studio S-AR has completed a complex spread over a series of buildings oriented around a central platform as a glamping retreat in Nuevo León, Mexico.

The studio – formerly known as Stacion ARquitectura – designed the forest destination for Glamping Concéntrico and The Outlands in 2022.

Collectively, the structures measure 2,270 square feet (210.75 square metres), spread throughout the wooded area on the outskirts of Monterrey in Sierra de Santiago.

The project works to create multiple levels of connections: between people and nature, among structures in a specific landscape, and between the buildings and the forest.

The buildings – composed in chromatic palettes of grey, black, white, yellow and red – are absorbed by the forest's browns, greens, and blacks, connecting to the landscape and each other through material and program.

The structures weave "the goodness of protection and security in architecture with the forest's force and apparent unchangingness," the studio said.

A central rectangular platform serves as the heart of the campsite with a sunken circular seating area around a campfire and an open-air dining area.

The gathering space has concrete and stone walls, as well as tree bark fillers. Raw wood tables and benches add warm accents.

Adjacent to the gathering space – and up a set of concrete steps – is a multi-use room built on a platform from a pre-existing terrace with an old chimney. Constructed with a combination of steel and wood, it runs the length of the central platform.

A thin corrugated metal roof wraps down and around three sides of the building with floor-to-ceiling glass walls that retract and open to the gathering space.

Inside, warm wood panelling juxtaposes the rough stone fireplace, while a circular central window contrasts the orthogonal lines.

Oriented along the width of the gathering space is a rectangular concrete box that holds the kitchen. Black steel doors roll to the sides to reveal a linear cooking space, which is backed by another steel gate, creating a breezing pavilion.

Separated throughout the sloped site are the sleeping cabins – distanced to ensure privacy for the guests. One cabin is a gabled form raised on a concrete platform with a semi-circular terrace.

The cabin is wrapped in silver corrugated metal with black accents and a wood floor. The interior receives light on the gabled ends through a small porthole window on the uphill side and a large sliding door on the downhill side.

The other cabin – a small concrete box clad in blackened wood – is just big enough for a bed, tucked under a large square window in a wood-wrapped room. Guests can climb up to a roof terrace, protected by a thin red railing, via a ladder on the side.

The final structure is an enigmatic concrete cube that holds the common bathrooms.

The poured-in-place structure is marked by a narrow arched doorway and plays with geometry inside with a rectangular stall, a circular mirror, and a triangular-capped stall. Light filters in through skylight slits along the walls and wood accents relieve the solid concrete.

S-AR's affinity for exaggerated geometry and combining wood and concrete is evident in its design of a small chapel in Monterrey. The one-room building has a steeply sloping roof with an arched wooden framework inside.

The photography is by The Raws.

Project credits:

Architects in charge: César Guerrero, Ana Cecilia Garza
Collaborators: Carlos Morales, María Sevilla, Kimberley Loya, Narda Rigal
Video: Hugo Tirso - Mavix
Builder / General contractor: Daniel Hernández
Interior design: S-AR, Juan Pablo Lojero
Landscape design: S-AR, Juan Pablo Lojero
Supervision: Daniel Hernández, Juan Pablo Lojero, S-AR

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Mexican architecture studio Productora has restored a concrete industrial complex in Mexico City into a series of studios including its own office.

Productora has been gradually renovating the building, which was originally a textile factory built in the 1920s, since it moved its offices to the structure following an earthquake in 2017.

The studio originally took up residence in an empty "nave" in the factory in Mexico City's Doctores neighbourhood along a furniture company.

Since then, the studio has been "slowly rebuilding the complex while inhabiting it" and more than twenty other companies have moved into the complex, which is now called Laguna,

For the renovation, the studio focused on the interior of the complex while leaving the street-facing, painted-concrete exterior, generally untouched so that one might not know the complex is there at all.

The complex is now orientated around two courtyards that were cleared of existing structures to create new circulation and gathering areas.

Within these courtyard spaces, a mix of newly built concrete workshops and the renovation of existing brick-and-mortar and concrete buildings will continue to take place over the next several years. The studio said it hopes that the project will be one of "constant adaptation and transformation".

Now, the most significant aspects of the renovation have been the cleared courtyards and added buildings, as well as expressive walkways and a new freight elevator that towers above the site.

Green detailing was chosen because it was prominent in the trim of the windows and roof on the facade of the original structure, and these green details continue along the causeways and in the gridded window frames.

Social spaces have been installed in the courtyards so that members of the various companies can gather.

In the future, Productora plans to build wooden workshops on top of the preexisting structure to create flexible and modular extensions to the current program.

Jozz Gómez, a coordinator for Laguna, said that the presence of the complex has also positively changed the environment around the complex.

"It started to bring more employment, but also changed the neighbourhood," she told Dezeen. Adding that students and younger people are now often in the vicinity.

Productora was founded in 2006 and has additional offices in Brooklyn. Recent projects include a hotel in San Miguel de Allende clad in red and green tile as well as a bright-blue cohousing project in Denver, Colorado, USA.

The photography is by Pablo Manjarrez. Top photo by Camila Cossio. 

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Local studio Heryco has completed a renovation of a pink apartment building with arches influenced by the form of aqueducts in the city of Querétaro, México.

The 5,920-square foot (550-square metre) building was completed in 1994 two blocks from the city's iconic Querétaro Aqueduct.

Heryco converted the previous building into a restored apartment block that holds four spacious, three-bedroom apartments and a ground-floor architecture office that serves as the street-level connection and anchor.

"Our inspiration blends history and modernity, taking the curves of the building as a starting point and using the warm colors of Querétaro's traditional local quarry to create a contemporary and youthful space," the studio told Dezeen.

In order to achieve a monotone pink, the studio clad the structure in Nanocal-pigmented lime stucco across the facade and courtyards.

The local material blends in with the surroundings, resonating with colonial architecture and reinforcing the studio's "commitment to the local identity and culture".

Previously square windows were capped by arched steel frames that were painted one shade darker than the walls to create contrast.

The arched motif continues to the interior courtyard with curved portals and exterior window frames.

Greenery climbs up the pink walls and spills over the terraces, while white globe sconces illuminate the passageways.

The renovation revealed an outdated construction system – based on steel beams and lightweight concrete slabs – that limited options and prevented the studio from demolishing partition walls.

This led the team to search for ways to reinforce the building's structure and repair the corroded roof without making too many interventions into the floorplan.

"We managed to find an aesthetic solution by leaving the exposed steel beams uncovered, enhancing the spaciousness and natural lighting in the spaces," the studio said, noting that it also added steel details like a gate.

On the interior, the studio configured three interlocking, two-story apartments around a central stair corridor. The fourth apartment stacks on top of the others and holds the north end of the building.

The apartments are set up to be used as Airbnb rentals, and each of the terraces open views out to the surrounding landscape.

As part of the renovation, the studio also installed an efficient heating system, ensured optimal water pressure at all times and selected high-quality furnishings.

"To complement the modern aesthetics of the building, we integrated artwork by various Mexican artists, creating a unique and sophisticated atmosphere," the studio said.

Contrasted to the pink exterior, the architecture office is finished in white with off-white steel details and open wooden shelving. Globe-shaped lighting is suspended in the office.

The renovation gave new life to an existing building while preserving its historical details while adding accomodations in a reclaimed space.

The renovation also "reduces pressure on land use and prevents uncontrolled urban expansion".

Also in Querétaro, Cuartopiso and Barragán Arquitectos recently completed an apartment building with planted balconies and Reims 502 topped a basalt-clad home with a pool.

The photography is by Ariadna Polo.

Project credits:

Architect: Heryco
Lead architect: Luis Carlos Aguilar González

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Arched doorways and a rooftop studio feature in the Y.27 House, which has been overhauled by architecture firm Estudio Estudio in a way that honours the historic building's original character.

Located on a 195-square-metre site in Mexico City's Hipódromo Condesa neighbourhood, the project serves as a full-time residence for a client who is a social entrepreneur and collector of Mexican craftwork.

Originally built in the 1930s, the stucco-clad dwelling had endured years of neglect, said local firm Estudio Estudio.

The design team set out to revamp the home's interior, aiming to restore its original charm while enhancing its functionality.

The project involved removing walls, reconfiguring the layout and making structural improvements, in addition to adding new finishes. Moreover, a small storage room on the roof was replaced with a 43-square-metre studio building.

"The main goal was to unveil the hidden architectural treasures beneath layers of past modifications, meticulously restoring them to their original state to reveal the essence of the time," the team said.

"Architectural interventions aimed to preserve the authentic character of the house, rejuvenating ornamental elements while avoiding unnecessary embellishments."

Rectangular in plan, the home has a mix of communal and private spaces spread across three levels. Curves and arches – many of them original – create a "harmonious flow".

On the ground level, the layout "seamlessly integrates daily living requirements". The front portion holds an entry hall, garage and office, while in the rear, one finds a kitchen, dining area, service rooms and a patio.

At the heart of the ground floor is an airy living room with a 5.9-metre-high ceiling. A tall shelving system with a metal-and-wood ladder acts as a focal point.

A gently curved, skylit staircase leads to the first floor, where the team placed a primary bedroom, two bedrooms and a family room.

Atop the building is the new studio, which was constructed using pine. In addition to the studio, the building contains an onsen room with a barn-style door.

The studio opens onto a terrace with terracotta flooring. Rainwater is collected on the roof and channelled to a reservoir below.

"The roof terrace serves as a space to gather but also works as a rainwater collector, where rain travels throughout the house into a water reservoir and filter system beneath the back patio," the team said.

Throughout the home, the team used earthy materials and neutral colours. The lighting design – created in collaboration with lighting expert Luca Salas – is meant to balance "ambiance, functionality and aesthetics".

Notable finishes include oak parquet flooring and closets faced with cotton-canvas. Oak was used for window frames, kitchen cabinets and other elements.

In the kitchen, the team took a sample of existing checkered tiles, made of pigmented concrete, to a local craftsman, who then replicated them.

This style of flooring – called pisos de pasta – is very common in older homes in Mexico City and southwest Mexico, said Estudio Estudio.

Overall, the house is meant to balance historic elements with a contemporary lifestyle.

"This house proudly stands as a harmonious blend of past and present, inviting residents to embark on a captivating journey of refined and simple ways of living," the team said.

Other projects in Mexico City's Condesa district include a renovated house by Chloé Mason Gray that embraces its lack of natural light, and an apartment block covered in small, wooden squares that were inspired by vegetable crates.

The photography is by Zaickz Moz Studio.

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Local architecture studios Productora and Esrawe Studio have outfitted a Mexico hotel with planes of green tile suspended from the lobby ceiling.

Located on a hilly site in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the Albor Hotel is part of Hilton's Tapestry Collection.

Completed in 2022, the 6,038 square metre project contains a lobby, restaurant, bar, gym, multipurpose room, and a pool area with a grill.

Productora and Esrawe Studio pulled from the mountainous surroundings for the design.

"The hotel emerges naturally from the terrain, framing a beautiful view of the valley," said the team.

"The hotel's stone base is inspired by the mountain's interior, featuring a textured and colourful appearance."

A natural red, textured stone was wrapped around the building's first two levels, which steps up the hill on the site.

The top three levels contain the hotel's private rooms and have an exterior clad in a simple white material, which contrasts the base.

The lower levels, which contain the lobby, restaurant, bar and garden, run perpendicular to the site's cobble-stone street, while the upper-floor volume runs parallel.

Guests enter into the hotel's spacious lobby, where the same red stone was carried onto the floors, walls and bar elements.

The lobby's double-height space is divided by planes of sea-foam green ceramic tile, which feature a leaf-like pattern by Mexican artist Omar Barquet.

Crafted by tile manufacturer Latitude, they cover dividing walls, ceiling planes and panels that are suspended from the ceiling.

The space is outfitted with wide, blocky wooden tables and chairs by Roberto González. Wood was also used for a large bookshelf that spans the length of the interior lobby.

A mixture of gray, green and red cushions were used to cover the seating, with the same red tone used to frame a series of sliding glass doors that lead onto the hotel's sprawling patio.

Rectangular volumes cantilever over the back patio, reflecting the same rectangular panels used to divide the lobby.

The patio sprawls across several levels, with large square planting beds installed with cacti and other local plants by PLANTA Botanical Design.

The hotel's private rooms were kept minimalist, with the same wooden furniture echoed in seating areas, cabinetry and a bed frame.

"The rooms feature a natural colour palette and materials such as mineral clay, local crafts, wooden furniture and natural fabrics, providing a cosy and inviting atmosphere for guests," said the team. 

An earthen red tone was also carried into the private bathrooms.

Productora recently completed a bright blue co-housing complex in Denver, Colorado, while Esrawe Studio renovated an apartment in Mexico City with an oak "skin".

The photography is by César Béjar.

Project credits:

Project consultants: Hilton Cala Team
MEP installations: GISA
Special installations: GISA
Landscape: PLANTA Botanical Design
Lighting: SOMBRA
Graphic identity: Sodio
Art: Omar Barquet

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Local architecture studio Dellekamp Schleich has created an office building in Mexico City that it says is the country's largest and tallest mass-timber structure to "set an example for innovative construction methods".

Called El Jardín Anatole, the 940-square-metre structure was placed in the former courtyard of a historic house in a residential neighbourhood in Mexico City "with potential for density," the studio said.

The four-storey office and retail building has a structure that consists almost completely of engineered timber derived from oak trees from the north of Mexico, except for a dramatic V-shaped steel truss at ground level and concrete used for the elevator and stairwells.

In a country where concrete and stone are widely used for architecture, the studio wanted to "explore the potential of lighter construction materials".

"Although Mexico has had several buildings and houses made of laminated timber throughout history, none of them exceed two levels in height, have exposed laminated timber, or are located in an urban context," said Dellekamp Schleich.

"Therefore, Jardín Anatole is the first and only structure of its kind in Mexico."

On the ground floor is a double-height retail space clad almost completely in glass, with a single, dramatic steel truss that attends the entrance.

The steel supports bands of timber that wrap the second storey, which extends slightly outwards from the ground floor and has a series of wooden trusses. More glass holds the spaces between the structural timber elements.

All of the visual vertical wooden elements are structural and were left exposed to reveal the innovative methods used for the construction.

Mexico City is subject to earthquakes, so the studio wanted to make sure that it created a solid, flexible structure that could withstand seismic activity.

"As previously mentioned, the entire structure, including the truss, was meticulously designed to withstand its own weight and potential earthquakes," it said.

"Oak timber, chosen for its flexibility, offers distinct advantages over conventional construction materials."

Because of the structural supports along the perimeter of the building, the studio was able to keep the interiors relatively open, creating airy office spaces.

The exposed timber continues on the interior, with wooden floors and ceilings with exposed wooden crossbeams. The ground floor has dark stone floors that open up to a landscaped courtyard through a large sliding glass door.

Flag stone and steel dividers were woven into the plant-filled landscaping, which was designed by Hugo Sanchez Paisaje and Carla Hernández.

Mass timber has become popular in urban contexts throughout the world, with a profusion of buildings popping up in timber-rich countries and areas such as Canada and Scandinavia.

Earlier this year, Dezeen conducted a series of interviews and case studies examining the potential for the material to present a safe, sustainable alternative to steel and concrete construction.

Other projects in Mexico that have large amounts of wood in their structures include a brick music school by Colectivo C733 with a soaring roof made of coconut wood.

The photography is by Rafael Gamo. 

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Rounded columns "simulate elements washed by the sea" at this beach house on Mexico's Pacific Coast, designed by César Béjar Studio and Fernando Sánchez Zepeda.

The 465-square-metre Casa Los Tigres is located in Nuevo Vallarta, in Mexico's western Nayarit province, and was a collaborative effort between Mexican architects César Béjar and Fernando Sánchez Zepeda.

On the rectangular plot, the residence is organised as two volumes that sandwich a central courtyard and leave room for another outdoor space at the rear.

These two blocks have very different levels of transparency: the front, northern portion is very closed-off, while the back, southern volume – which is afforded more privacy – is much more open.

"The four facades of the house gradually change language, from the most closed and traditional on the street, to the most open and freely designed in the background," said the architects.

The building presents a sloped tiled roof to the street, with only small openings for windows at ground level, and a passageway that leads to the entrance door.

Inside, this double-height volume houses an open-plan kitchen, dining and living room.

The lower portion of this room is wrapped in dark wood panelling, while the upper walls and the angled ceiling are covered in textured beige plasterwork.

Large stone slabs laid across the floor match the colour of the plaster, which is also applied across the exterior walls.

Glass panels that face the courtyard fully retract, opening up the living area to the central outdoor space that serves as an al fresco dining room.

A long wooden table is positioned in front of a bed of tropical plants, which runs alongside a single-storey enclosure that joins the building's two volumes.

This portion of the home contains a laundry room and a bathroom, so for sheltered access between the front and back of the home, the residents must use a covered walkway on the opposite side of the plot.

Within the second, southern volume is a breezeway that connects to the rear terrace and is furnished as an open living room, with low seating and tables for casual lounging.

"The permeability of the ground floor in the two bays blurs the line between interior and exterior," the architects said. "The house is experienced as a large terrace that opens between patios and gardens."

Indoors, a central staircase divides the volume in two. A bedroom occupies the other side of the ground floor, while two further bedrooms and bathrooms with access to a balcony can be found upstairs.

These rooms are all decorated similarly to the main social space, with dark wood panelling, stone flooring, and select decor accessories.

Unlike the almost windowless street elevation, the longer facades of the southern volume comprise rows of rounded columns that frame large glass panes.

"The rounding of the walls and the cylindrical columns simulate elements washed by the sea accentuating the plasticity of the beach house," said the architects.

In the rear garden, more tropical planting, a swimming pool, loungers and a hammock add to the home's minimalist yet laid-back atmosphere.

A restrained and cohesive material and colour palette throughout the indoor and outdoor spaces, and a focus on detailing, elevate the architecture and interiors.

Both Béjar and Sánchez Zepeda are also prominent photographers in Mexico. Béjar has captured residential architecture projects across the country for studios like Cotaparedes Arquitectos, Lopez Gonzalez Studio, HW Studio and more.

Meanwhile, Sánchez Zepeda focuses on portrait and lifestyle photography via his studio Ansatz.

The photography is by César Béjar Studio.

Project credits:

Architects: César Béjar Studio, Fernando Sánchez Zepeda
Builder: José Daniel Segura Pimienta

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Architecture studio Tatiana Bilbao Estudio has completed an aquarium in Mazatlán, Mexico, with a labyrinthine structure that "merges marine and terrestrial elements in its architectural design".

The Sea of Cortez Research Center sits on an estuary near the ocean and is part of a general regeneration project for Mazatlán Central Park.

Tatiana Bilbao Estudio's intention is for the building to resemble a ruin that has been flooded by water and discovered in the future after the water receded, leaving behind a thriving ecosystem.

"Imagine it was 2289, and we came across a building constructed in 2023 without knowing its purpose or reason," said the studio.

"All we knew was that in 2100, rising sea levels inundated it, but by 2227, the water had receded, leaving behind a thriving marine life," it continued.

"When we arrived, we opened pathways, created staircases, and unlocked the possibilities to encounter a world that had taken over this space – a world normally hidden from our view."

The sprawling concrete structure of the Sea of Cortez Research Center is intended to create a seamless mixture of human and animal life.

Its three-level structure connects to an adjacent green space with a series of chambers holding large marine life tanks. These include a massive ocean tank, a stingray tank and a touch tank to provide a look at different types of marine ecosystems.

Monumental concrete walls jut out from various angles in the building, while a large rotunda with a spiral staircase holds the centre of the project.

Studio founder Tatiana Bilbao told Dezeen that the goal was to rethink the aquarium typology, which she believes alienates humans from animal life.

"I created the story of the ruin for humans to relate better to their own ecosystem," she said.

"The idea that nature took over a building that existed allows for visitors to understand and relate to their own world, which is one that we cannot actually experience and see very clearly."

The ground floor holds administrative areas and the large entrance plaza, while the second level has a double-height space surrounded by a series of smaller rooms containing tanks. Additional support spaces are placed on the top floor, above which are rooftop gardens.

Large stairwells at either end of the building lead up through the centre, and another proceeds down through the central plaza, from which visitors can access the exhibition spaces.

There are various entries and exits for each of the large and small chambers, which include a restaurant and auditorium, as well as a research centre.

Concrete walls are left exposed throughout the interior. Many of the smaller rooms – which vary in shape and size – have open roofs, while the aquarium spaces are darkly lit and cave-like.

Throughout the Sea of Cortez Research Center, pools and greenery are used to further the connection between visitors and the plant and animal life.

Studio Bilbao was founded in 2004 and has completed a variety of projects in Mexico and internationally, including a concrete house that "floats" on top of a hill.

Recently the studio also completed an "interactive staircase" for the 2023 interaction of the Exhibit Columbus design festival in Indiana.

The photography is by Christian Belmont and Tonatiuh Armenta. 

Project credits: 

Architeture: Tatiana Bilbao Estudio
Construction director: Soledad Rodríguez
Construction manager: José Luis Durán
Construction team: Vania Aldonza Torres, Christian Belmont, Guillermo Barrera, Cinthya González
Collaborators: Liquen, Space House, Ocean Wise, Guillermo Roel Client: Fideicomiso Acuario Mazatlán
Constructor: Kingu Mexicana
Constructor management: Axioma
Landscape: Entorno Taller de Paisaje
Structural: SENER
Life support engineering: TJP, MAT, Lightchitects Studio, NIPPURA, ICUSI

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Mexican design studio Mestiz has opened a showroom and workshop within a historic building in San Miguel de Allende, where its brightly hued collaborations with local craftspeople take pride of place.

The studio space is located on Pasaje Allende in the heart of the central Mexican city, renowned for its colonial-era architecture and arts scene.

Mestiz founder Daniel Valero collaborates with a variety of skilled local artisans to create furniture and homeware using ancestral crafts.

"In our studio, partnerships aren't short-lived; they're built to last," he said. "We've nurtured long-term relationships with artisans, where learning and creating are an ongoing process."

Pieces from Mestiz's collection fill the interior of the studio, which occupies a remodelled stone building designed as a "wild habitat" brimming with personality.

"It was once a kitchen," Valero explained, "and now it's a space that respects the idea of Mexican cuisine, infusing it into our creative sanctuary."

The studio comprises three principal spaces. In the showroom, the original wooden beams and the brick ceiling are exposed, and rough buttery plaster covers the walls.

Ledges and podiums clad in glossy tiles provide places for small items like spiky vessels and framed pictures to be displayed.

Larger furniture pieces like a triangular table and chairs with tufty backrests are arranged across the floor.

Meanwhile, textile artworks decorate the walls and huge, fibrous pink light fixtures hang overhead.

"Our creations aren't just pieces; they're stories," said Valero.

"We believe in crafting designs that engage in profound dialogues with the context and history of each community we work with."

The workshop is situated in a lean-to at the side of the building, where the rough stone walls are visible on two sides and other surfaces are left untreated.

Red-painted benches for assembling items and storing natural materials – palm, wood, wool, wicker and ceramic – are surrounded by partially completed designs.

A pink-hued storage room is also packed with products, from wicker lights suspended from the ceiling to tall totems in blue, pink and purple stood in the corners.

"Our practice is a living testament to the merging of traditions," Valero said. "Our pieces are the embodiment of cultural syncretism, where diverse influences converge to create something entirely new."

The rich creative spirit of San Miguel de Allende is also presented at the city's Casa Hoyos hotel, where colourful tiles and local craft fill a former Spanish colonial manor.

Other Mexican designers continuing local traditions through their work include Fernando Laposse, who uses corn waste to create a marquetry material, and Christian Vivanco, who launched a rattan furniture collection with Balsa.

The photography is by Pepe Molina.

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Local architecture studio Taller David Dana has stacked a series of boxes to create a vertical terraced house on a hillside in Mexico City.

Mexico City-based studio Taller David Dana completed the expansive 1,817-square metre design for Casa Madre in 2023, balancing staggered concrete volumes over five storeys in a quiet but urban area in the city's western limits.

Tucked between a large concrete complex and a red tile-roof Spanish-style house, the light grey concrete house stands out in the greenery of the urban landscape, while disappearing from into the site's steep topography.

"From the higher street, the house registers as a single-floor residence where the rooftop appears to be merged with the landscape; but from the lower level, the whole five-level can be sighted by the guests," the studio told Dezeen.

With a "brutalist but refined character," exposed concrete serves as the finish material and versatile structure for the series of glass-railed terraces and solid box cantilevers that function top-down.

The entry is located on the top floor with public areas that serve as the heart of the home.

Inside, the kitchen features a solid, dark marble island and a glass display cabinet at its centre. A sliding glass wall leads into the open-plan dining and living room with double-height ceilings featuring heavy concrete-and-wood beams along the perimeter.

In addition to a glazed wall on the western side, the southern "front" side of the living room opens through large, rotating windows onto the upper terrace that frames views out toward the surrounding city and skyline.

"For the inner walls, a micro-cement render was used to soften the rough texture of the concrete, combined with wood elements and travertine floors that together configure a cozy and warm atmosphere to embrace the user," the studio said.

The studio lauded the furniture and art curatorship carried out by Ronit Stein of Asociación Arquitectura as one of the most striking features of the interior.

A central stair – with floating travertine treads and a thin metal railing – steps down to the private level with three en suites and a family room. The family room features soft wood floors, a dark floor-to-ceiling bookcase and access to an interior landscaped patio.

"This level is decorated with bespoke furniture, combined with art curatorship and decoration, standing out with a wooden desk and a dark-marble circle," the studio said, referencing the portal-like accent piece on the wall.

On the west facade, wooden slatted shutters shade the bathrooms.

Down another stairway, the home's amenity spaces are arranged underneath the primary suite's cantilevered form. An open-air bar and dining room pass onto a terrace with a rectangular swimming pool. This level serves as a shared space between the private areas of the home and the separate guest apartment.

Exterior pathways lead downward to lush vegetation in the small surrounding garden that is protected from the lower street by a privacy wall.

Atop the house is a planted roof and a solar array.

A few hours southeast in Oaxaca, Espacio 18 Arquitectura balanced a series of concrete boxes off a hillside. Elsewhere in Mexico City architecture studio Sordo Madaleno created a terracotta-clad apartment building with terraced levels.

The photography is by César Béjar and César Belio.

Project credits:

Office: Taller David Dana
Lead architect: David Dana Cohen
Curatorship: Ronit Stein, Asociación Arquitectura

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Mexico-based architect Ludwig Godefroy has completed the renovation of a"simple" house and studio in Mexico for himself and his family that is integrated with an adjacent garden.

Godefroy and his partner renovated a former residence, focusing on the home's orientation towards the site's pre-existing greenspace.

"Casa SanJe is a very simple project," said Godefroy. "The main idea behind the project was to reconnect the house with its garden, opening large windows everywhere on the ground floor. In and out are always connected in this house."

Almost half of the square site is dedicated to the garden, while the other half contains the architect's residence.

"Casa SanJe was an ordinary Mexican house from the '80s, without any style, a simple house with tiles on the floor and texturized plaster finishing on the walls," said Godefroy.

The architect replaced the former materials with concrete, wood and tezontle – a red volcanic stone – to "calm down the atmosphere of the house".

The ground level of the home contains two entrances protected by iron doors.

A car park sits adjacent to the building's first entrance, which is accessed through a patio populated with stone, planting beds and a concrete and brick sculpture.

A second entrance is located further into the garden and leads to a vestibule space at the centre of the ground-level plan.

The interior program circulates around the vestibule, with the kitchen, dining area and living room located opposite the architect's studio and library.

The kitchen and studio spaces were pushed along the back wall of the house, with slim windows placed periodically among cabinets and shelves.

On the side opposite, Godefroy installed large doors and windows that open the living room directly into the garden.

Much of the interior furniture was made of caste concrete, like the living room sofa, the dining table, side tables, kitchen shelving and an island. And some are built directly into the floor.

Godefroy's studio also contains concrete shelving and a concrete desk that runs along the wall.

In the same space, a wall was clad in warm wood panels, while a vaulted ceiling sits above the architect's desk. A chimney sits adjacent.

Like some of Godefroy's previous projects, geometric openings were cut into interior walls.

An exposed wall made of red volcanic stone runs along the back wall of the house.

Located between the kitchen and living room, a wooden staircase leads to the second floor, which contains bedrooms and a primary bath.

The primary bath contains a sunken, circular cutout in the floor, with multiple shower heads for bathing.

In one corner, a spigot drops water onto a stepped feature.

Concrete was used for the ceiling, walls and floor.

Native plants were placed throughout the house, with a large semi-circle planter made of concrete placed above the house's entrance.

"We wanted the space to become timeless, out of any trend or decoration, just made out of simple material, able to get old instead of getting damaged under the action of time," said the architect.

Godefroy recently completed a number of projects in and around Mexico City, including a brutalist cube-shaped home and a hotel that recalls the design of an Oaxacan temple.

The photography is by Edmund Sumner.

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Local studio Práctica Arquitectura has elevated a concrete infill house with a red finish outside of Monterrey, Mexico.

Práctica Arquitectura completed the 1,615 square-foot (150-square metre) Casa Ederlezi on a small, rectangular lot measuring only five metres wide in the protected heritage neighborhood of San Pedro Garza.

"Combining classic elements of northwestern Mexican architecture with abstract contemporary features, Ederlezi's personality is deeply similar yet different from its context," the studio told Dezeen.

The plan locates circulation and service space along the site's edges and features a large courtyard in the center that divides the rest of the program into two volumes.

"The design embraces an open and ethereal space, while maintaining privacy through a boundary around the activities within," the studio said.

The street-facing facade has smooth red concrete in two tones – the darker lower level grounding the lighter upper levels – whose hues were inspired by the homeowner's travels through the Balkans.

A thin profile screen runs up the southern corner, providing both sunlight and privacy to the staircase within.

A covered entry opens to the central courtyard, which has a partly gravelled floor and houses green plants and a small tree.

Moving through the ground floor, a family living room steps up to a dining space and kitchen, while a smaller patio holds the back wall of the house.

A glazed walkway runs the length of the courtyard, connecting the two volumes with an interior space.

"The central concept behind the design of the house was to create a series of interconnecting gardens that would run the entire length of the property," the studio explained.

"By using these outdoor spaces to divide the house into different zones, it was possible to create an open and inviting atmosphere that would provide the clients with a sense of connectedness and harmony."

The second floor contains two bedroom suites.

An interior open-air terrace with a thin wood covering serves as the transition from the courtyard to the primary suite, which contains a private blue-toned patio at the back of the property.

The stairs continue to rise to a roof deck along the front edge of the house, whose serrated stair profile is visible from the street. The open-roof deck provides a 360-degree panoramic of the surrounding city and mountains.

To keep costs low, the team used traditional construction methods like concrete with lightened slabs.

The soft pink coating was applied throughout the interior. A stronger red colour was applied to metal beams, railings, and window mullions, making the details stand out in the otherwise simple and functional space.

Square saltillo tiles were used throughout the house, giving the floors and stair treads a warm feel.

"The project seeks [to] rethink the cadastral condition of the long and narrow plots in this area as a fertile typology to explore with volumes that are perforated, carved, and excavated in a dialogue between the personality of the user, the house, and its context," the studio said.

"The interior is distinct, with robust reddish atmospheres, patios, and landscaped spaces that invite a calmer, more intimate, and unplugged life."

Nearby in the village of El Barrial, Práctica Arquitectura designed a holiday home with a large pyramidal roof over the main living area. In Monterrey, Cadaval & Solà-Morales created an all-white cubic home.

The photography is by César Béjar unless otherwise stated.

Project credits:

Architect: Práctica Arquitectura, David Martínez Ramos
Design Team: Alejandro Gutiérrez
Construction: GC3
Landscape: Oswaldo Zurita

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Local studio Roth Architecture has built an organically shaped creative lab in Tulum made of concrete and palm fibre with a form driven by "nature's artistic wills".

Called the Fab Lab, the project is located in the Yucatán peninsula. The space serves the Roth Architecture studio as an office and maker space.

"We create driven by nature's patterns and artistic wills," said the studio. "The inspiration for this building, like many of the studio's constructions, is the organic, irregular, yet harmonic forms we find in nature itself".

"The spaces are distributed as independent buildings to adapt to the site. The central module rises in a meandering form, providing a visual impact of dynamism."

Made of reinforced concrete and steel, the Fab Lab's narrow structure was wound through its jungle site and in some places wrapped directly around trees, with trunks exposed to the interior.

Bulbous forms were distributed along the length of its body.

Curvilinear windows and doors of different shapes, interlaced with scale-like metal reinforcement, were placed at varying heights and intervals, with some directly touching the ground and others acting as slim skylights.

"Both the doors and the windows use patterns and shapes that could be reminiscent of tree leaves or insect wings from the jungle," said the studio.

Curving fins made of concrete also span the length to create small overhangs and protections for glass components.

Created to house machinery like 3D printers, thermoforming machines, laser cutters, water jets and a six-axis robotic arm, the interior of the space contains spaces of varying heights.

One section contains a computer lab with windows covered in translucent resins and palm fibres.

An undulating wooden desk was installed along the length of its walls.

Another, which houses the robot, was made of a dome of woven tree trunks and vines, with a base of the same curving windows.

The remaining interior contains open atriums, with trees running through the centre.

Several planting beds were integrated into the floor, which is also made from concrete, and were populated with native jungle plants.

Concrete benches and tables also rise up from the floor in various spaces.

Small wooden shelves were installed throughout the structure and studio lights were interspersed along the curving ceiling.

"The space was deliberately constructed to be enduring," said the studio. "Paradoxically, one of the lab's future functions is to create components that can be both assembled and disassembled."

The Fab Lab structure is a part of the Azulik resort by Roth Studio, which contains accommodations, a museum, free-standing installations and a restaurant which are all built in a similar, organic style.

Founded by Eduardo "Roth" Neira, a self-taught architect and builder and president of the Enchanting Transformation Foundation, the studio "aims to find original and eco-centric solutions to the needs of everyday life."

Other projects recently built in Tulum include a red housing complex by Coyote Arquitectura and a brutalist-style villa by Espacio 18. 

The photography is courtesy of Roth Architecture.

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Mexican architecture firm Estudio Atemporal has completed a gabled multi-building house that flows between indoor and outdoor living in Valle de Bravo.

Named Casa Mola, the 4,600-square-foot (430-square metre) house was completed in 2021 in a densely forested area.

Estudio Atemporal, which is based in Mexico City, arranged the spaces so the residents could live "more organically."

"Being inside protects from weather conditions and generates intimate moments, being outside extends the spatial appropriation to the entire forest, generating breaths from a more hectic life," the studio told Dezeen.

The project is composed of four structures: the main dogtrot-style house, a covered outdoor kitchen, a large sleeping cabin and a small sleeping cabin. The architecture studio aimed to blend the structures in with the context, allowing the site to be the design's key feature.

"The routes towards the different volumes allow direct contact with the environment," the studio explained. "The house, surrounded by the forest and away from close neighbors, is a place of silence and contemplation towards nature."

The volumes are constructed with light grey and sand-coloured smooth concrete and topped with timber gabled roofs with exposed rafters that cross the walls, extending from interior to exterior.

Wide slat shingles and brick walkways provide detail and texture, while black metal frames floor-to-ceiling glazing.

The arrangement of the volumes relates to the site's climate, topography, vegetation and sunlight. Rather than clearing trees to have enough space for the whole program, the team separated the rooms into small forest clearings and protected the existing trees.

"Their arrangement responds to a need to generate a series of experiences and routes between interiors and exteriors that are present at all times," the studio said. "In turn, this location avoids blocking the views between them and seeks to have optimal sunlight."

The main house uses a dogtrot passthrough to divide the public areas from the private zones. A bunk room holds one end of the rectangular plant, while an open living, dining and kitchen space comprises the other.

The interior is composed of natural colours and textures with smooth multi-toned concrete floors, wood and concrete built-in furniture, solid wooden doors and a waterfall kitchen island.

A black metal fireplace and chimney and dark kitchen cabinets accent the neutral tones with delicate pendant lights suspended under the exposed trusses. White straight-stacked backsplash tile has a similar shade to the white walls.

Adjacent to the main house is the pool deck with an outdoor kitchen. A black metal structure rises out of the brick deck and connects to a concrete wall, forming a breezy covered space with a white tiled counter and warm wood cabinet doors.

The main sleeping cabin is located downhill with two dark green bedrooms outfitted with neutral tones furnishings. The bathroom is finished with black walls and an oval stone sink. A floating wood counter and skylight above the tub lighten the space.

The smaller sleeping cabin is located uphill next to a parking area and contains a single suite.

In addition to preserving the existing landscape, the house aims to work in harmony with the land, utilizing local, low-maintenance materials and low-consumption lighting and equipment. The design also includes wastewater recovery and returns rainwater to the site.

Nearby in San Simón El Alto, Estudio Atemporal completed a holiday house with a metal oversized gabled roof. The studio also converted an industrial factory into a co-working space in Mexico City.

The photography is by LGM Studio.

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Local studio HGR Arquitectos has completed a triangular concrete apartment block with a rounded corner meant to stand up against earthquakes in Mexico City.

Known as MO288 – an abbreviation of the building's address – the multifamily project includes 15 apartments and two commercial spaces across six stories. HGR Arquitectos finished the 15,047-square-foot (1,398 square metres) project in March of 2023 for developer Ciudad Vertical.

The urban site in the Cuauhtémoc district of the city previously held a building that was structurally compromised during the earthquake in September 2017 and subsequently demolished.

Located at a busy intersection, the wedge-shaped lot measures 3,143 square feet (292 square metres), so the team worked to turn the project inward towards a large courtyard that features a rounded edge, mirroring the rounded corner on the exterior.

Load-bearing walls eliminate the need for columns and allow rectangular rooms to fit into the triangular plan.

"In addition to being a challenge in terms of architectural design, the structural design of the projected building was a major challenge for structural calculation and seismic design," the team said.

A soil mechanics study found firm soil 30 metres below the ground level so the team drove 32-metre reinforced concrete piles under the building.

"Together with the foundation slab and the concrete load-bearing walls reinforced on the ground floor, they work synchronously with the brick and concrete load-bearing walls on the upper levels," the team explained.

On the facade, brown, board-formed concrete is banded with the solid lines of the floor plates. Vertical, black-framed windows run in columns, punctuated by alternating boxy balconies that jut out of the building's perimeter in the same dark, matte metal plating that wraps the ground floor.

The rounded corner has inset balconies that look out to the intersection.

Tenant commercial spaces hold two corners of the ground floor, while the third is occupied by a compact garage with tandem parking stackers. A central circulation core leads up to the apartments.

Each upper floor contains three one-bedroom units, fit together like a jigsaw puzzle into tight floor plans between 750 and 800 square feet (70-75 square metres).

"All the spaces were well ventilated and illuminated, but try not to have large openings due to the noise of the road that adjoins the building," the team told Dezeen.

The spaces along the courtyard have narrow translucent windows that bring light into the apartments without compromising privacy. The courtyard dead ends into a planted green wall along the adjacent building's property line.

Also located in Mexico City, HGR Arquitectos alternating banded design is also present in the studio's Emiliano Zapata 167 apartment block, only translated into orange brick, which was completed before the 2017 earthquake.

A number of other buildings were rebuilt after the 2017 earthquake, including a church with a vaulted ceiling in Jojutla.

The photography is by Diana Arnau.

Project credits:

Architect: Marcos Hagerman, HGR Arquitectos
Development: Cuidad Vertical
Executive drawing: Rodrigo Durán
Structural design: Mata y Triana Ingenieros Consultores
Installation: ZMP Instalaciones
Communications: Area Colectiva

The post HGR Arquitectos reinforces triangular concrete housing against seismic activity appeared first on Dezeen.

Local studio Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados has completed a wooden A-frame house with underground bedrooms in a forested area outside Mexico City.

Nestled in the forest of Valle de Bravo, the residence has two volumes stacked on top of one another, with public areas above ground and private ones below.

On the ground level, the A-frame structure contains a semi-open living and dining room, kitchen, and family room, with a minimal footprint to create space for a terrace. The A-frame structure consists of pre-fabricated elements brought to the site.

The top and sides of the A-frame are enclosed in glass, as is the space at the back of the structure.  An outdoor pool and lounge area were placed on the terrace to bring occupants closer to the surrounding forest and to take advantage of the large base where the underground aspects are located.

"The main goal of this project was to give more importance to the surroundings present and to the open space given, embracing the idea of emptiness even with the possibility of having the architecture disappear," Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados (PPAA) founder Pablo Pérez Palacios told Dezeen.

A submerged staircase on the terrace leads to the lower level, which contains three bedrooms, each with a private bath, and a small study.

The sleeping areas were buried into the ground, with windows facing out and privacy offered by the surrounding trees.

"This design method gives you the possibility to really disconnect while enjoying your own solitude in the surrounding nature, gently forcing you to have that moment of relationship with the site, even if you're just going to bed," said Pérez Palacios

The black finish on the exterior of the lower volume and the dark roof tiles were selected to help the home blend into the environment.

"The palette focuses on one core material – certified timber – to convey a sense of admiration and respect for the home's surroundings," said Pérez Palacios.

"Whilst the stainless steel, onyx joinery and hand-finished walls are used to evoke an unpretentious sensibility and as I would say 'give prominence to the forest'."

Rainwater is collected from the pitched roof, which is then ushered into an open water deposit for reuse.

In addition to rainwater collection, the open-air A-frame structure also works to filter light and passively ventilate the house.

To further reduce the impact on site, the studio only removed one tree which it repurposed as a handrail on the terrace.

The interiors were adorned in natural materials in neutral tones, with certified wood used also on the interior walls.

Other residential projects around Mexico City include a home with a dramatic cantilever by LBR&A and an expansive holiday home with a sunken living room by Romero de la Mora.

The photography is by Rafael Gamo.

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Mexico City-based architect Ludwig Godefroy has cut circular openings into the slanted ceilings of a series of dwellings in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, to create semi-exposed pools and gardens.

Godefroy placed a series of circular openings in a cast-concrete structure to create cave-like interiors that remain open to the tropical climate of the Pacific coast site.

The project includes four identical dwellings divided between two adjacent structures.

Puerto Escondido's warm temperatures meant Godefroy could design Casa VO and Casa WO to remain open year-round while protecting inhabitants from rain.

In response to this climatic condition, Godefroy inverted the "classical scheme of the house with its garden", placing the plant life on the interior instead of the exterior.

"The project blurs the border between in and out to become a singular habitable garden, where everything remains open all day and all night long," he said.

The circular openings were instead employed as large, reclined skylights that also act as mirrored passageways at the centre of each individual dwelling's courtyard.

The partial roofs come together at the bottom of their slope to create a V-shaped structure. Inhabitants enter beneath the lower skylight, pass the pool and through a larger skylight into the covered primary living area.

Here a bedroom, kitchen, dining room and seating areas were placed underneath the slanting roof. A lofted bedroom and restroom were tucked beneath the highest point of the structure.

Notches of concrete atop the roof can be used as stepping stones to traverse the length of the building.

The kitchen is below ground level. A circular divider made of concrete separates the downstairs sleeping area from food preparation.

A similar column divider wraps around the shower in the upstairs bedroom.

Godefroy purposely avoided the "unnecessary" aspect of "urban" architectural language in favour of "simplicity".

"Mexico City urban life references disappear, no windows, no glass anymore," he said.

To bring light into the cavernous living area, additional glazed skylights and openings were lined along the back wall of the house above the kitchen and upstairs bathroom.

Falling water is caught by planting beds, the pool, or a drainage system along the slanting roof.

Party walls between the homes contain geometric circular and triangular cutouts. The walls afford inhabit's privacy while creating fin-like extensions on the building's facade.

Like Godefory's other projects, the houses were constructed using "massive" materials like concrete, wood and brick. The materials were selected for their durability and eventual patina.

Godefroy considered time to be an additional element of the design. With the selected materials, the homes will only get "better looking" according to the team.

Nearby Godefroy created a similar structure called Casa TO that also features circular concrete passageways.

Godefroy has completed a number of concrete homes in Mexico including this brutalist cube-shaped holiday home in a pine forest and a home in Mérida that references Mayan traditions and culture.

The photography is by Rory Gardiner

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Local architecture studio Romero de la Mora has created an expansive concrete and wood holiday home with a protected courtyard in Tepeji del Río, just outside Mexico City.

Casa Camelia was completed in 2021 at the Amanali Country Club and Nautica in Tepeji del Río by Romero de la Mora Architecture and Development.

The shallow 455-square-metre, U-shaped house was arranged so that all of the recreational areas are along the perimeter and the house can be opened in four cardinal directions to bring in light, air and views of the surrounding golf course.

"The general inspiration was to create open spaces connected with nature and the environment from architectural elements in a material mixture with Mexican craftsmanship," the studio told Dezeen.

The two-storey home was constructed with light-coloured, flat-finished concrete – referencing the mud and earth of the site – with large warm wooden beams that run across the ceilings of each space and draw attention to the scale of several double-height spaces.

Selected for durability and low maintenance, the home's material palette also includes sand-coloured chukum and stone cladding.

Floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding glass walls are framed in thin black metal, which reappears in the delicate metal railings of the bedroom balconies.

Within the warm, neutral interior, the living space is sunken, allowing residents to sit on benches the level of the floor, while surrounded by windows.

A continuation of ceiling beams past the sliding glass walls of the kitchen dissolves the transition between the interior and exterior.

Some of the terraces are open to the outdoors, while the expansive northern outdoor area is walled for privacy.

The open eastern terrace was positioned to act as a thermal buffer to mitigate temperature inside the house and, combined with the parallel layout for cross ventilation, negates the need for mechanical air conditioning and heating.

A solar-heated rectangular pool in the north yard is flanked by a patio space. The ventilated living spaces on the ground level feature double-height ceilings in certain areas that are topped by clerestory windows, some of which have concrete louvres.

The second level steps back from the perimeter of the house and the centre of the plan is recessed here, forming a deeper U-shape.

Inside, a corridor contains a bridge between the primary suite and the secondary suite, running parallel with the louvred window. The beams of the sloping roof are exposed in the bedrooms, which have private terraces and built-in furniture.

Planted roofs top either end of the first level while solar panels are arranged on top of the shed-like second level, located next to the skylights that illuminate the double-height staircase.

The team aimed to "make a restful home that fulfils the function of generating peace through quality spaces and natural textures, colors, lots of light and fresh air".

Nearby, architecture studio PPAA also used a concrete and wood mass in a Mexico City home, with a board-formed finish that provides texture and detail to the facade.

Other projects that include chukum include a museum outside of Mérida by Estudio MMX.

The photography is by Ariadna Polo.

Project credits:

Architect: Romero de la Mora Architecture and Development
Project team: Rodrigo Romero de la Mora, Edgar Fonsseca, Alan Islas

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Local architect Fernanda Ahumada and studio FR-EE have completed The National Biodiversity Pavilion in Mexico City with a facade of moving aluminium panels that responds to light and wind.

Located at the National Autonomous University in Mexico City, the building will house the archives and growing mammal, reptile, fish and bird collections of the Institute of Biology in radial floor plans that ascend throughout its three storeys.

The circular form of the building was designed as an interpretation of the "tree of life" concept, which illustrates the interconnectedness of all living things.

"The tree of life is a common metaphor used by biologists to represent the relationship between species," studio founder Fernanda Ahumada told Dezeen. "Molecular biologists use this tool today to organize information and knowledge; the architectural program is represented in the building the same way."

A central staircase further organizes the building's interior and represents the double helix of a strand of DNA.

"Our staircase is the centre of the museum and is intended to be a representation of the common link to all living species on earth," said Ahumada, who worked with Fernando Romero of FR-EE on the design.

The wave of thousands of aluminium modules on the building was designed to respond to the interior environment by covering the glass facade where the space inside requires less light.

The dynamic cladding follows the curve of the building, which is higher towards the south and completely closed off in some sections, with no glass, such as the area that corresponds to the auditorium.

The aluminium panels measure 30 x 20 centimetres and respond to the surrounding site by moving with the wind, alluding to the "permanence and importance" of biodiversity and creating a "living facade".

The four collections of the institute are stored in "high-density storage compactors" on metal rails located in the innermost ring surrounding the staircase.

Due to the light sensitivity of the samples in storage and on exhibition, they are located furthest away from the building's facade.

The research spaces, laboratories, and public spaces are located in the outermost ring, which provides more access to natural light and ventilation and views of the surrounding volcanic landscape.

The first floor of the building, which houses public spaces like the gift stop, cafeteria and library, directly integrates the surrounding natural environment by featuring unobstructed views out of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The second and third floors of the building, which host the building's four main collections of species, offer controlled views of the environment through the building's wave-like facade.

The foundation of the building was built with Cantera, a local volcanic stone distributed by the explosion of the Xtile volcano in the 4th century.

The National Biodiversity Pavilion is intended to be a space to store, study, and expand the archives of the Institute of Biology as well as to educate the public on its collections.

It is one of several projects recently completed in Mexico City, like this stone-clad pavilion and garden by Erre Q Erre and Mexico City's tallest skyscraper by Pelli Clarke & Partners.

The photography is by César Belio unless otherwise stated.

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Architecture studio Coyote Arquitectura has unveiled a red housing complex with residential units that repeat and interlock in Tulum, Mexico.

Coyote Arquitectura, a studio based in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, designed two modules for the 3,300-square-metre project called Tulix, which is located in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

The development consists of nearly 40 homes arranged in two parallel lines separated by a long, landscaped axial alley on a 4,800-square-metre site.

The studio told Dezeen that it wanted to "create minimal, efficient and comfortable living spaces through an equal proportion between built and unbuilt spaces".

The two different types of homes were arranged side by side along the long building to create a pattern of solids and voids and create small private areas for each unit.

There are 21 single units, which have a living room, dining room, kitchen, garage and private garden with a jacuzzi on the ground floor and a bedroom, bathroom and terrace on the upper level. Meanwhile, 18 double units trade the terrace for a second suite on the upper level.

All of the windows and folding glass doors look onto patios and across the community alley, sealing the complex from the exterior. Only the garages face out from the complex, which is marked by delicate wooden screens.

The flat, monolithic exterior was clad in a traditional reddish plaster finish called "chukum," which provides a smooth juxtaposition to the rocky terrain.

The interiors have a lighter pink finish, softening the colour and adding natural wood, textiles and high-quality finishes. The studio wanted the vibrancy of the structure to contrast with the nearby rocky jungle terrain.

"The project relates to the rugged jungle through contrast and neutrality," the studio said.

"The materials and volumes create a natural contrast, while the layout and scale of the volumes seek neutrality in terms of the footprint used and the height in relation to the trees."

The voids between the units have interior solid staircases for second-floor access, the form of which translate to a void on the exterior, forming a negative stair-shaped niche in the facade.

The units' arrangement allows for cross ventilation, natural lighting and urban gardens and shared spaces that preserve as much vegetation as possible.

"The focal point of the design is the creation of a tight-knit community, with housing arranged as blocks around a central spine to create private or common open spaces and courtyards for amenities," the team explained.

The amenities – accessed by the internal street – include a gym, lobby, bicycle parking, and resort-style pool.

The pool has large shading structures, both adjacent to and in the water, with wide, flat columns that rise above the roof like fins.

A basin wraps around several trees in the middle of the water.

"The biggest challenge is always trying to reduce the footprint of the entire complex while providing attractive living spaces," the team said.

"The context of deforestation of the Tulum jungle today is definitely on the table and we have to address it somehow," it continued.

"Tropical climate-based architecture depends on balance – between what we build and what we don't build. This balance can ultimately create a connection within the program and open up to any context."

Nearby, Void Studio also turned a housing complex in on itself with a series of internal courtyards and pools in its Cuarto Ceilos development, and Reyes Rios + Larrain Arquitectos used a similar pink finish for its Mi Querido Tulum apartment complex.

The photography is by Onnis Luque.

Project credits:

Architecture: Coyote Arquitectura
Builder and developer: Black Development Group

The post Coyote Arquitectura uses repetitive red forms for Tulum housing block appeared first on Dezeen.

Cuartopiso and Barragán Arquitectos have completed an all-electric, twelve-unit apartment complex with wide balconies overlooking the street in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico.

Local agency Cuartopiso partnered with Barragán Arquitectos, a Mexico City-based studio founded by the nephew of Mexican architect Luis Barragán, to build Hacienda Santa Bárbara 107, which measures 978 square metres (10,527 square feet) and was completed in 2023.

The complex is located on a vacant lot in the middle of the growing metropolitan area of Querétaro, and the design works to activate the property and its residents with easy pedestrian and bicycle access around the old part of the city.

"The building evokes a series of spaces that convey the experience of living in a place where natural materials, architecture and the neighborhood contribute to our happiness," the team told Dezeen.

"Our project brought life to a once quiet street and utilized an urban void in a way that allows for more sustainable and connected lifestyles to occur," the team said.

The building – which takes up about 65 per cent of the parcel – is placed at the centre of the lot and maximizes views, natural light and cross ventilation, as well as creating a direct relationship with the surrounding city through deep balconies on the top three levels of the four-storey design.

The ground level is walled off from the street but each of the twelve apartments are corner units, which the studio said is "a simple and rare luxury that substantially improves the quality of the spaces and makes it possible to separate public and private life".

The concrete floor slabs push past the perimeter of the enclosed space to create planted terraces, which bring rhythm, light, and aperture to the building.

"These exterior spaces work as an extension of the living room and at the same time include a green barrier that allows privacy to be kept," the team said.

In terms of materials, the team utilized regional limestone finishes, terrazzo and marble floors, and wood, concrete and ironwork elements.

"We made an extra effort to source materials locally, from bricks to finishes, not only to reduce carbon footprint, but also because we believe that architecture dialogs to its context through materiality."

"With these materials we respect the architecture of the area, we value nature and we recover artisan manufacturing."

The exterior walls are constructed with a double layer of hollow clay bricks that mitigate the internal temperature.

The all-electric design is fed by solar panels on the roof, which is divided into designated sections for an array for each apartment, as well as one for the elevator and common area lighting.

The roof also serves as a rain collection system that filters water into the subsoil at the basement level.

"Most importantly, the building's greatest environmental feature is its location," the team said, referencing the efforts to re-densify the city and reduce vehicular emissions in Querétaro.

Luis Barragán Rivera founded Barragán Arquitectos in 1991 after working in his uncle's workshop. The studio works to prioritize the ideal "less is more," in its design, which is evident in many of Luis Barragán's works, such as his 1976 design of Casa Gilardi.

Other recent projects in Querétaro include a basalt-clad residence by Reims 502.

The photography is by Ariadna Polo and Lost Immigrants.

Project credits:
Architects: Cuartopiso, Barragán Arquitectos
Architects in charge: Juan Pablo González de Cossio, Luis Barragán Rivera
Landscaping: matorral
Communication: area colectiva

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Local studio Reims 502 has unveiled an expansive residence in Querétaro, Mexico with warm walnut and dark basalt finishes and a rooftop pool and garden area.

Mexico-based designers Eduardo Reims and Andrea Maldonado, who work under the name Reims 502, completed the 1,000-square metre Casa Basaltica on a quarter-acre lot in 2023.

The house sits along a bike path that surrounds a lake. The challenge of the site was to create private interior space for the residents that did not sacrifice the view.

"The answer was simple," the team told Dezeen, "Reverse the planting of the program compared to the neighboring houses."

All of the private, recreation and family spaces are located on the ground floor, creating a foundation that comprises the site's entire buildable footprint.

Four suites are lined along one side of the property, creating a layered sawtooth transition with a screened porch that runs down the slanted edge of the trapezoidal house.

Movable shutters made out of thin basalt stone bars enclose the porch like blinds and serve as a thermal buffer that negates the need for air conditioning.

All of the public spaces – living room, dining room, kitchen and terrace – were placed on the top floor and arranged around a large garden and pool. The upper floor spaces are set back from the perimeter of the house on the park side to create another layer of privacy.

The service areas are located underground with a side courtyard for ventilation and natural lighting.

The home's dark material palette is also a departure from the light-coloured schemas used for the neighbouring houses.

The exterior is clad in bands of durable, resilient basalt stone, arranged in thin vertical panels. The material changes where the facade steps back from the build line, trading stone for multi-toned walnut planks at the garage and the rounded corner entryway.

The walnut staves continue to the interior "creating an atmosphere of warmth and timelessness inside."

The top-floor public zones have a walnut-wrapped colonnade that creates a transition from the garden to the interior and shades the floor-to-ceiling glass, which maintains the views out to the park.

In addition to the cross ventilation that cools the top floor areas, solar panels for water heating and energy generation as well as a water recycling system were implemented to "contribute to its overall sustainable performance," the studio explained.

Rather than departing from Querétaro's vernacular architecture like Reims 502 did, Gestalt Associates took cues from the area's colonial roots with light, airy spaces in a brick and concrete home nearby.

Other projects that have basalt elements on the facade include a holiday home in Hawaii by Walker Warner Architects.

The photography is by Ariadna Polo.

Project credits:

Architecture: Reims 502
Team: Eduardo Reims, Andrea Maldonado
Contractor: Ramon Campillo
Structure: Sergio Ruiz
Decoration: Mavi González

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A pair of stone towers and a thatched-roof palapa are among the features at a nature retreat in southern Mexico designed by architects Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carrillo.

The Cometa House is located in the small, coastal town of Mazunte in the state of Oaxaca. It sits at the edge of a nature preserve on Punta Cometa, or Comet Point, a peninsula that juts into the Pacific Ocean and was once the site of an Aztec fort.

For this site, Mexican architects Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carrillo set out to create a spacious retreat that worked in concert with the site's topography.

They faced several interesting conditions while designing the house. The property has a highly irregular shape and a 28-metre difference between its highest and lowest points. Also, per local regulations, all of the trees had to remain in place.

The architects also needed to consider how the landscape evolves throughout the year. While lush during the rainy season, it takes on a starker character during the dry months.

"One of the main searches for this house was to dilute its scale with the changing landscape of the Oaxacan jungle," the team said.

In turn, the architects conceived a series of "orthogonal platforms" that are placed at different levels on the property.

The platforms "strategically open to the landscape and the wind, and close to the sun's rays and bad weather," the team said. "They also become viewpoints for sunrises and sunsets."

Some platforms were left open as voids, while others has buildings placed atop them.

The site's central building is an open-sided, timber-framed structure with a thatched roof known as a palapa. Rectangular in plan, the building encompasses a living room, dining area and kitchen.

Near the palapa, and running perpendicular to it, is a second timber-framed structure that contains bedrooms and a den. Sitting lower on the property and tucked within the trees, this private wing is meant to offer an intimate connection to the vegetated landscape.

Situated between the palapa and private wing is a long, linear swimming pool that is lifted above the site and "floats as a lookout". Stairs lead down to a jacuzzi at a lower level.

To contrast with the site's horizontal elements, the team created two stone towers. One contains a main bedroom, and the other holds a studio.

Stone walls were left visible inside the towers and contribute to the site's earthy material palette, which also includes clay.

Overall, the design of the retreat is meant to engage the surrounding terrain and dilute the boundary between open and roofed spaces, the team said.

"The house itself is the relationship between the landscape, the topography and the orthogonal structures framing the views to the sea and the jungle," the team said.

Other properties in Oaxaca include a sprawling hotel by Taller de Arquitectura X that runs on solar power, and a concrete house by Espacio 18 Arquitectura that is meant to look like it was carved from rock.

The photography is by Edmund Sumner.

Project credits:

Architects: Offices of Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carrillo
Project team: Andrés Berjón, Pavel Escobedo, Juan Carlos Montiel, David Noble
Construction: Perma Casco
Interior design: Lecoadic Scott (Yann Le Coadic and Alessandro Scotto)
Structural engineering: Grupo SAI (Gerson Huerta)
Models: Francisco Ortiz
Client: Carlos Couturier

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Seattle architecture studio Hybrid and Mexico City-based Palma have created a hotel called NICO Loma Alta that features elements of brutalism and vernacular architecture.

NICO Loma Alta is located in Sayulita, a bohemian surf town an hour north of Puerto Vallarta, in the Mexican state of Nayarit.

With its exposed concrete frame, NICO combines elements of local architecture and building techniques with nods to both brutalism and tropical modernism.

From the residential street, the building registers as a two-floor structure; but from behind, the whole five-level, open-air grid structure can be seen.

It has five guest suites designed to open to the surrounding landscape with floor-to-ceiling iron windows and private terraces.

"NICO offers a unique lodging environment where each space has been thoughtfully designed for people to experience the distinctive surroundings and connect with each other in spaces that sit within a varied gradient of privacy and openness," said Hybrid. 

Some of the suites are open to the treetops and ocean, while others are oriented towards the area's tropical foilage. 

The communal area features a spacious full kitchen, a lap pool detailed with artisanal turquoise-coloured tile, and a powder room splashed in pink-stained stucco.

There is also a rooftop level with a plunge pool offering spectacular views framed by concrete beams. 

Furnishings throughout NICO celebrate local culture and materiality with work by emerging Mexican designers and artists including Roberto Michelsen and Diego Hernández Beauroyre, among others. 

"A neutral color palette of concrete, steel, and wood imbues a sense of craft and refuge," Hybrid principal Robert Humble told Dezeen.

"The common spaces are more brightly colored and playful to excite the senses and create a memorable experience."

NICO was envisioned by Humble and his wife, Nicole Johnson, as a way to express and share their interest in distinct design and adventurous travel. 

Other works of brutalist architecture in Mexico include Ludwig Godefroy's Casa Alférez residence and Ruben Valdez and Yashar Yektajo's Paradero Hotel in Todos Santos.

The photography is by Luis Díaz Díaz unless otherwise stated.

Project credits:

Architecture: HYBRID + Palma
Developer: HYBRID
Project team: Robert Humble, Adrián Ramírez, Alex Herbig, Scott Goodner, Josué Granados, Nia Jorquera, José Mendéz, Constanza Ponce de León, Luisa Rizo, Decada
Contractor: Adrián Ramírez
Furniture design: Roberto Michelsen
Landscape: PAAR
Branding: Trama

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The latest edition of our Dezeen Debate newsletter features an all-white stucco home in Mexico by HW Studio Arquitectos. Subscribe to Dezeen Debate now.

HW Studio Arquitectos has designed an all-white stucco home in Morelia, Mexico. The clients, a couple that have previously been burgled, wanted a minimalist design that would give them a sense of security.

Commenters were in love, one thought the home was a "beautiful response to the needs of the owner and to the social environment", while another described the project as "austere but chic".

Other stories in this week's newsletter that fired up the comments section included the unveiling of this year's Serpentine Pavilion designed by Lina Ghotmeh, an opinion piece by Dezeen editor Tom Ravenscroft on Neom's Zero Gravity Urbanism exhibition at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale and a limited-edition glass decanter by American artist James Turrell.

Dezeen Debate

Dezeen Debate is sent every Thursday and features a selection of the best reader comments and most talked-about stories. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Debate or subscribe here.

You can also subscribe to our other newsletters; Dezeen Agenda is sent every Tuesday containing a selection of the most important news highlights from the week, Dezeen Daily is our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours and Dezeen In Depth is sent on the last Friday of every month and delves deeper into the major stories shaping architecture and design.

The post Dezeen Debate features "austere but chic" home in Mexico appeared first on Dezeen.

In this week's comments update readers discussed a monolithic home in Mexico created as a haven for the residents and other top architecture and design stories.

Occupying a corner plot, the house appears as a solid block with only a recessed doorway and garage breaking the solid white walls.

"Pretty intense spaces"

Readers were unsure about the house, especially due to its few windows. "This is how I imagine solitary confinement or house arrest," commented The Resistance, who found the idea of living there rather "mind numbing".

Colin MacGillivray wasn't impressed with the location of the door and believed it "should be roughly in the centre of the long wall with a decent reception space avoiding the awkward long corridor for visitors."

JZ found the spaces "pretty intense" and "monkish" and wondered whether the clients would be able to "maintain the purity of the interior as they break it in".

Alfred Hitchcock believed that "the interior cell walls just need some padding" and that "the exterior walls make an excellent canvas for Banksy et al".

What do you think about this house? Join the discussion ›

"The lemon squeezer and some other stuff was cool"

Readers debated the residential YOO GYE skyscraper in Guayaquil, Ecuador, which will be designed by YOO Inspired by Philippe Starck.

In Alfred Hitchcock's opinion "this project represents everything that's wrong with the world" to which Mark Favermann agreed, stating that "Philippe Starck, who I admire, should just keep his day job".

Romeo Reyes, on the other hand, was impressed: "This brilliant display of Monsieur Starck's design bravado brazenly shows he still has the mojo," they said. "Bravo!".

"The lemon squeezer and some other stuff was cool," commented a disappointed Kevin McGrath, who found the proposal "dreadful".

Do you love it or hate it? Join the discussion ›

"And not an oculus in sight"

Readers discussed a home in Tokyo that was designed for a client with a love of walnut wood and contemporary Italian furniture.

Leo was not a fan of the limited windows and the fact that there is only "one view to the outside". "The need for security sounds less plausible in Tokyo," they continued, comparing the house to the all-white stucco home in Mexico mentioned above.

Higgs Merino commented that there was "not an oculus in sight". A "missed opportunity" in their opinion "but not necessarily permanently," they continued.

What are your thoughts on this Tokyo home? Join the discussion ›

"Rock on, red"

Our latest lookbook, which highlighted eight interiors that are blanketed in shades of red, was also commented on. Projects in this lookbook included an office in Belgium, a bar toilet in London and a mansion in Mexico, which some readers were impressed by and others not so much.

Betty Rubble, for one, felt quite positively about it all: "I dig these, and adore red," they said. "Everyone should do one room all red, have a blast, and get it out of your system,"they continued. "Revel in it, with the full awareness that the day is coming when you go to the hardware store to pick up a gallon of Bin primer."

"Everyone would prefer these reds in grey," disagreed Jb. "Yawn," they continued. "Rock on, Red!"

Apsco Radiales and Don Bronkema, however, would clearly not opt for red, commenting "hellish" and "nightmarish".

Do you like red for interiors? Join the discussion ›

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Mexican studio Colectivo C733 has created a brick music school in Nacajuca, Mexico that includes two structures and a lofty, cantilevered roof made of coconut wood.

The Mexico City-based collective completed the 1,325-square-metre Casa de Música in 2021.

The facility is part of the state's urban development program and "provides a space for social gatherings with warm materials and natural ventilation, while musicians benefit from spacious, isolated classrooms with state-of-the-art equipment," C733 told Dezeen.

Casa de Música is composed of two volumes connected by a public boulevard.

The larger volume – an open-plan community centre built on the foundations of a previous structure – boasts a large offset gable roof with one roof plane extending past the ridge line and cantilevering over a skylight and the opposite roof plane.

The north and south sides are supported by a series of double brick walls that hold the 24-metre trusses. The west end is transparent with rectangular glass panels shielded from the street by a porous brick screen, while the east end holds a service core.

The social space also holds a mezzanine stage for workshops and local musicians.

The smaller volume is the music school — consisting of eight classrooms, a cafeteria, restrooms and management offices — that reflects the rhythm of the community centre's structure through compact spaces arranged in a line.

"The sloping roof of the building creates a double-height space in each of these areas, with an upper terrace offering views of the treetops," the team said.

Both buildings feature local coconut wood, brick partitions, and clay tiles that provide warmth, natural freshness, and acoustic control. Wooden doors open between each structural bay, creating a loggia-like complex that opens the facility to the public.

"The project draws inspiration from the traditional Mesoamerican pocho dance and contemporary expressions, incorporating warm materials, natural ventilation, and a focus on local resources to create a space that pays tribute to its location and enhances existing elements," the team said.

The team looked beyond the site to prioritize the land on which the centre sits.

"It is essential that projects pay tribute to their location, particularly when they have the potential to highlight what already exists," the team said.

The project faces a polluted creek; but the roof directs and collects rainwater, filtering it for use in restrooms, passing it through biodigesters and biofilters in a wetland-type treatment and discharging clean water into the local river as a water management alternative.

The locally sourced coconut wood captures carbon dioxide, generates a smaller carbon footprint than other materials and promotes both craftsmanship and employment for the local workforce.

C733 includes designers Gabriela Carrillo, Carlos Facio, Eric Valdez, Israel Espín and José Amozurrutia

In Matamoros just off the Texas-Mexico border, C733 created a brick shopping centre with inverted trapezoidal roof forms. Other projects with timber roofs in Mexico include a holiday home in Avándaro by Estudio MMX.

The photography is by Yoshihiro Koitani.

Project credits:
Colectivo C733: Gabriela Carrillo, Eric Valdez, Israel Espín, José Amozurrutia, Carlos Facio (TO)
Design team: Álvaro Martínez, Fernando Venado, Eduardo Palomino
Executive architect: Leticia Sánchez, Victor Arriata
Structures: LABG (Eric Valdez), GIEE, GECCO Ingeniería
Electrical and mechanical engineering: Enrique Zenón
Landscape architects: Taller de Paisaje Hugo Sánchez
Other consultants: Carlos Hano, Laurent Herbiet
Contractor: Francisco Tripp - Grupo Plarciac
Client: SEDATU, Municipio de Nacajuca

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