Echegaray, a minimalist Mexican home, rises from its site, an opaque, dark, geometric formation standing on rocky terrain. Designed by Mexico City studio Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados (PPAA), the house, located in the State of Mexico, was conceived as a 'solid black stone with a wooden pavilion on top'. Tactile and elemental, the design draws on the nature of its context, while at the same time responding to the client's brief for an elegant, contemporary family home.
The rocky base of this minimalist Mexican home
The architects composed the home to emerge from the ground, culminating in the uppermost level's terrace and light timber structure. This transition – from solid to transparent, and from heavy to ethereal – is underscored by the material selection and overall spatial treatment that plays with surface textures and light. The site's rock, excavated during the foundation build, has been left exposed on the lower level, bringing a sense of roughness and tectonic qualities to the architecture. Meanwhile, minimalist architecture of clean lines and smooth planes dominates above, till the journey leads up to the fully glass-enclosed top pavilion that opens up to the city beyond through long urban vistas and blue sky views.
'The house is made to be discovered, like going up a mountain: the project is a closed block that contains private spaces, and only when you go up to the social area on the top floor do you discover the full-length view of the land,' the architecture team, which is led by founder Pablo Pérez Palacios, writes.
In this design, the typical residential programme has been turned on its head, with the communal living spaces placed at the open, flowing top floor; private spaces below; and the closed-off, darker ground level hosting the garage. It is in this last space that 'the stony ground has been left exposed', the architects explain, offering a captivating natural display that is also celebrated through the side views of the bedrooms just above.
-
Three new coffee makers for a contemporary brew, from a casual cup to a full-on branded espressoThree new coffee makers, from AeroPress, Jura and Porsche x La Marzocco, range from the defiantly manual to the bells and whistles of a traditional countertop espresso machine
-
Don't miss Luxembourg's retro-futuristic lab pavilion in VeniceAs the Venice Biennale enters its last few weeks, catch 'A Comparative Dialogue Act' at the Luxembourg Pavilion
-
A Berlin park atop an office building offers a new model of urban landscapingA Berlin park and office space by Grüntuch Ernst Architeken offer a symbiotic relationship between urban design and green living materials
-
HW Studio’s Casa Emma transforms a humble terrace house into a realm of light and spaceThe living spaces in HW Studio’s Casa Emma, a new one-bedroom house in Morelia, Mexico, appear to have been carved from a solid structure
-
An Oaxacan retreat offers a new take on the Mexican region's architectureThis Oaxacan retreat, Casa Caimán by Mexican practice Bloqe Arquitectura, is a dreamy beachside complex on the Pacific coast
-
Take a plunge at Brandílera House on the Mexican Pacific CoastBrandílera House by Manuel Cervantes Estudio is a Mexican Pacific Coast retreat making the most of its views and green site
-
Step inside Quinto Sol house, a verdant oasis in Mexico's Pacific CoastQuinto Sol house by architect Cristina Grappin blends indoors and outdoors in a masterful architectural composition in the Mexican countryside
-
Lucha Libre and modernist architecture meet in Mexican short film ‘El Luchador’‘El Luchador’ blends Lucha Libre and architecture, in a Mexican short film set in Agustín Hernández Navarro's modernist home Casa Praxis in Mexico City
-
Mexico’s Amelia Tulum is where ‘the architecture becomes part of the jungle’Amelia Tulum by Sordo Madaleno combines a human-centred approach and lots of greenery to craft a Mexican residential community like no other
-
Scenic Garden offers architectural pavilions and a new green lung for Mexico CityScenic Garden, designed by Michan Architecture and a team of collaborators, adds green infrastructure to Mexico City's bustling urban experience
-
A Cancun retreat by Mexico’s Vieyra Estudio takes inspiration ‘from the ocean’Casa Nube, a new Cancun retreat by Vieyra Estudio, merges sea, style and sustainability in a private residence defined by a series of pools and terraces
