Por Ahi – Yucatán, México
Title
Por Ahi – Yucatán, México
Designed by
R79
Image Credit
© David Cervera Castro
Project Description
Project Description provided by R79 - By a twist of fate, we had the opportunity to meet a young couple who didn’t have a clear vision of what they wanted for their future home, but were certain about what they didn’t want. The proposal begins to take shape with the first sketches of this 450-square-meter residence on a regularly shaped lot of approximately 900 square meters, located on a private and quiet residential area in the most beautiful and safest part of southeastern Mexico.
The house is designed with a single storey and through a very basic scheme which some could call it “textbook” layout, manages to settle comfortably on the lot, connecting the public spaces to the private ones by a “shaded, tree-lined courtyard”—home to some carp fish that the husband so dearly treasures.
The scheme of staggered “blocks” aims to create visual interest while simultaneously creating privacy between the different areas; the choice of a spatial structure defined by walls oriented north-south, in a way, emphasizes the character of the house—its close relationship between the interior and exterior—to the point where the subject loses track of which space one is in.
Stepping away from the traditional, repetitive, almost formulaic approach to continuous space was a specific task and a personal challenge. The social can be divided but not necessarily imply a lack of fluidity. Each space has its own identity, while recognizing its role within the whole.
The choice of materials is somewhat unconventional. The floors were made of concrete, and to give them an interesting “twist,” amber glass chips were mixed into the concrete and then polished, creating a series of intriguing and unsettling sparkles.
The walls were designed using Chukum, a resin from a local tree that forms a paste which is applied over the existing plaster; when mixed with other resins and applied under different conditions and at different times, it produced very interesting contrasts and colors.
If the view was directed toward the courtyard, but the private areas were visible from there, how could they be concealed? The decision was to merge the floors with the walls then suddenly the garden which had lain horizontally, took on a vertical dimension; the private walls were covered with a mixture of cement and red soil, and then they simply waited for the vines to do their part of the bargain: climb. In an instant the exterior “devoured” the private area of the house and it simply vanished.
Glass, steel, and wood were the complementary elements used to achieve this atmosphere of warm modernity. The choice of wood: Tzalam, a local hardwood, native to the region is featured in doors, wooden paneling, details, and accents.
The young couple went beyond the role of clients and became good friends of ours, getting involved in the design process and contributing their fresh ideas to the development of details that gave the project its own identity, a sense of belonging, and a personal touch.
Their “crazy ideas” were suddenly subject to consensus, resulting in important requirements that needed to be addressed, also on many other occasions they questioned design details that had been solved automatically. The “icing on the cake” is found at the English Patio, situated beneath the master bedroom area—a space reached by a green staircase, like a garden carpet unfolding downward.
