In a vast forest area in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, Taller Héctor Barroso has built five weekend houses, which adapt to the site’s topography. They are surrounded by pine trees that echo the sound of the wind.
Each house—identical in its typology—consists of six volumes positioned in a way that they generate a void, a central patio. The patio grants views, silence and intimacy.
The name “Avandaro” comes from a Purépecha word (a native language) that means “place of the orchard” or “place in the clouds”. It was a territory originally inhabited by the tarasco indigenous people; who gave it this name, from whose language this house takes its alias, “Irekua”: Family house, and “Anatani”: to be under a tree: Irekua Anatani = Family house under the trees. Inspired by the land, which lies covered by showy trees, principally by oyamel trees, pine trees and encino trees, from the very first visit to the property we thought that the house had to enjoy the splendor of living under this density and be intrinsically a part of it by safeguarding most of the trees and the existing forest. This gave meaning to the architectural concept that took as a foundation platform a tranquil and partly open space in the middle of the mountain. The program was adapted to that topography, adjusting each space according to its use and function within the community of the whole house.
Alejandro Sánchez García (Mexico, 1966) is a practicing architect currently living and working in Mexico City. He studied in the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City where he graduated as an architect and urban planner, becoming the Architecture Student Body President in 1990 and 1991.
The Chipicas Town Houses are four independent single buildings, which were built inside a private garden in downtown Valle de Bravo, Mexico. The vertical design was used to salvage most of the vegetation, as well as, a solution to the small footprint. The Chipicas Houses were designed with two sides of the façade made of floor to ceiling windows and two sides with a skin made of wooden lattice to gain a sense of privacy.
Santa Maria is a housing development located in a historic protected site in the heart of Valle de Bravo, a small colonial city dating from 1530, which is 2 hours away from Mexico City. This historic town has a strong physical context and is found in the outskirts of a man-made lake. Our site is located a hundred yards from the church of Santa Maria Ahuacatlan, a colonial church that dates back to the XVI century.
For the concept of this project we have taken advantage of the triangular character of the plot, the slope of the land and the views towards the Cerro Gordo´s Natural Reserve. The building has been conceived as a homogeneous mass, hollowing out a huge opening with an inviting forced perspective effect caused by the asymmetric walls that frames the natural panorama. With the objective of building an interior/exterior relation, the volumetric setting of sloping walls and slabs allow the visual journey from the interior space, deeply linking the project to the existing landscape, it is the exterior landscape which organizes our interior spaces.
This property adjoins a large lake in a small town situated a few hours from Mexico City. To take full advantage of the relationship with the surroundings, a system of elongated rectangular volumes was used, with one side of each completely open toward the lake. The sloping plot and the amount of surface to be realized led to the creation of three volumen stacked in a zigzag pattern, generating spacious open terraces and irregular, sheltered patios between them. From the street, the residence looks like a traditional construction; the use of roof tiles, wood, natural stone, and the plastered facade with small openings, grants it the regional character that is required by urban planning requirements. From the lake, the house is perceived as composition of rectangular elements with large glass surfaces; a series of typical modernist volumes, stacked in a dynamic configuration.
SITE: Altitude: 1,830 m above sea level. Temperate semi-humid climate. Rainfall during summer. Summer, circa 33°C. Winter, circa -2°C. Shallow soil with rocks, rich in pine and oak trees.
Santa Maria is a housing development located in a historic protected site in the heart of Valle de Bravo, a small colonial city dating from 1530, which is 2 hours away from Mexico City. This historic town has a strong physical context and is found in the outskirts of a man-made lake. Our site is located a hundred yards from the church of Santa Maria Ahuacatlan, a colonial church that dates back to the XVI century.
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