Merged into a wooded site to the outside of Morelia, Michoacán, this vacation home emerges from the idea to create a shelter that respectfully dialogues with its immediate context. Through this, the building emerges from the site and converts into a visual echo from the surroundings. The single-story dwelling takes advantage from the length and sloped topography from the site, sitting the house above the ground, giving the sensation that it floats in the middle of the trees.
On front façade, the house closes from the exterior and presents to the user as a solid and latent platform that is integrated to the environment. This volume stands out by its flatness and materiality, which is perceived as a curtain that protects a natural landscape surrounded by pine trees and oaks.
To emphasize the main access, we created a game of subtractions and offsets, that contrast with the flattened façade, creating an interesting duality between the massive stone walls and the light steel structure. This constructive system reinterprets Michoacan’s vernacular construction techniques, such as the stone foundation and masonry walls -that were covered with stone slabs and polished cement finishes; and at the same time is complemented by steel and concrete elements.
The layout is composed by three main spaces with different dynamics that set the choreography of the house: the public areas, the private areas and the services. Those spaces are smoothly organized by three steel beams that function as the spinal column that supports the roof.
When entering, the user is welcomed by the common areas, where the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, and the terrace are gathered with an open floor plan configuration that promotes the visual and space relation. The living spaces are extended to the exterior and seems to be an interior terrace due to the floor-to-ceiling windows that frames the landscape and bathe the interior with filtered daylight.
The private areas and the services are connected through an intimate hallway that embrace the user in his way to the resting spaces. Each bedroom has an elegant and sober character, that generates cozy and introspective atmospheres.
The materials palette is defined by the honesty and tectonics of its elements, selected for their timelessness and ability to age properly, seeking
