* Residential Architecture: HG House by Agraz Architects

Residential Architecture: HG House by Agraz Architects: “..A family where male presence dominates; four sons, the mom and dad. That is the criterion from which emerges the HG House program. Parking spaces and service areas are located at a lower level of the house, while the house entrance and a reception area are located on a higher floor plan..Then comes one of the most interesting places of the project: dining room, terrace and family room in only one definitive un-partitioned space. Laterally, the kitchen separated from the space previously described by the stairs coming from the basement..Thus, the person who enters the house from the garage reaches the same place as the one who enters from the front door..In the second level there is a studio designed for the children, giving them independence from the common areas..Next to the studio, there is a pair of rooms for two men, with bathroom, dressing room, and access to a terrace, which aims to be a meeting point among brothers. Meanwhile, privileged orientation is for the master bedroom, which seizes the head of the house..The master bedroom is divided into a shared bathroom and dressing rooms for each member of the couple, gathered through a patio generator of light..Volumetrically, the house has a set of bodies that produce harmonious shadings throughout the day. The proposal itself is based on an intermediate level as a sustaining plaque of the big cube that surrounds the place..”  Interesting form, some interesting details; indoor / outdoor sensibility; questionable interior decoration..

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image: © Mito Covarrubias; article: “HG House / Agraz Architects” 16 Dec 2012. ArchDaily.  <http://www.archdaily.com/305203&gt;

* Residential Architecture: Casa LH by Di Vece Arquitectos + Asociados

Residential Architecture: Casa LH by Di Vece Arquitectos + Asociados: “..The architectonic concept for this residential project is to propose a composition that is achieved by the proper manipulation of “contrasts in balance”; an architecture that is generated as a response to the particularities of the site, the adequate solution for the programmatic family needs, but most important, inspired by the deep motivation for the search of the supreme wellbeing of its inhabitants. The supreme wellbeing of the inhabitant is achieved not only by the comfort derived from the adequate solution for users needs but also by achieving a composition that is subjugated by the search for balance and the adequate manipulation of contrast; contrast among the scales of the sequence of spaces that articulate around the central courtyard, contrast in the use of light and shadow that overlap within the space in order to maximize its relationship with the exterior and contextual settings, contrast in the use of the manmade and natural materials that are confronted with natural elements scattered around the interior spaces..Furthermore, the sense of equilibrium is notable at first glance by the external presence of the house by the “contrast of quantity” that is achieved by its volumetric composition. The exterior has been articulated as a solid volume where accidental insertions and protrusions are only a reflection of the programmatic needs for the interior. The mass predominates over the void only to make apparent that insertion of natural light and the search of views toward the natural settings and urban surroundings have to be maximized in order to attain maximum comfort for its inhabitants..This is architecture of light and shadow; it is a composition that makes the best out of the contrast generated by the clear and the dark, by the mass and void, by the inner view complemented by the external glance at the surroundings, this is an architecture that celebrates tension when generated between the elements of contrast..”  Extensive glazing, natural light; multiple balconies, decks, terraces; interesting form, interior volumes and details, and fenestration..

image: © Mito Covarrubias; article: Arthitectural

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* Residential Architecture: Tepoztlan Lounge by Cadaval & Solà-Morales

Residential Architecture: Tepoztlan Lounge by Cadaval & Solà-Morales: “..Tepoztlan, is a small town nestled between rocky cliffs located to the south of Mexico City, 50 kilometers away from the vibrant metropolis. With its well preserved historic center and wild countryside, Tepoztlan is a town of legends and deep cultural roots that has been appreciated by writers, poets, artists and musicians over many decades, turning it into their hometown or weekend retreat. Located in this incredible context and surrounded by an astonishing landscape, the Tepoztlan Lounge is the first building completed of a larger project that also includes a series of bungalows of different sizes and designs, which can be rented by years, months or days..The lounge is set to be a central communal space for leisure in nature, and is located in the perimeter of an incredible lawn; the idiosyncrasy of the project relies on enabling the experience of the carefully manicured lawn while promoting the experience of the wild nature existing in the boundaries of this central space. The project is a negotiation between interior and exterior, a construction of an in-between condition, an inhabitable threshold, which becomes the main space of the project; the limits between the open and the content space merge to produce a single architectural entity..The design establishes three separate living quarters designed in accordance to the 3 activities planned; each of them is a set space defined by its use, but also by a very clear and simple architectural container: the first holds an open bar with a kitchenette, together with a couple of restrooms and dressing rooms; the second is a play area for children that can also be used as a reading room when temperatures drop at night; and finally the largest container is the living area, an enclosed, tempered and comfortable space for conversation, TV, etcetera.  But it is the desire to give continuity between these three separate areas where the project is empowered and becomes meaningful; a continuous space, in full contact with the nature but protected from its inclemency is set up not only to expand the enclosed uses, but also to allow new activities to arise..And it is through the definition of this central space, through the definition of its shape, that the contiguous courtyards are defined; those are as essential to the project as it is the built architecture, and allows constructing as a whole, single spatial experience. At the same time that the three built containers give continuity to the central space by mans of their use and space, the adjacent patios qualify it, while providing diversity and idiosyncrasy to open space. The design of the swimming pool is part of this same intervention, and responds to the desire to characterize the spaces; its formalization necessarily resonates the layout of the lounge, while incorporating to its nature the possibility of a multiplicity of ways of using water, and plunging on it..The building is located as a plinth valuing the views of the mountains. The building wants to be respectful to the existing context, and understands that the vegetation and life at open air are the real protagonist. Two impressive trees that are in place are incorporated within the layout of the lounge, as if they were part of the program itself. The Tepoztlan Lounge is constructed in concrete not just for being a inexpensive and labor intensive material in Mexico and to minimize its maintenance, but also to expose its structural simplicity and neutrality towards the astonishing nature..”  Ample glazing, natural light, nature views; interesting form, interior volumes, details and site integration; indoor / outdoor sensibility..

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image: © Sandra Pereznieto; article: “Tepoztlan Lounge / Cadaval & Solà-Morales” 13 Nov 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/293132&gt;

* Residential Architecture: Ucello Residence by Nicolás Vásquez

Residential Architecture: Ucello Residence by Nicolás Vásquez: “..The context where this building is located, is an area where the soil is raw material for making bricks, where a clay pit used to be. We still find some traces of this industrial activity, as evidenced by the sunken park. Therefore, the material that defines the nature of the building is brick..The project exhibits its “pieces” through different architectural solutions, multiple but logical, thus showing the naturalness of the instruments that compose the architecture and construction processes..The building contains three maisonettes in a field of 9 meters wide by 18 meters deep, with a Capulín (a wild tree that gives small fruits) located right in the middle of the property. The schema of these three small maisonettes (two in two levels) refer to spatial queries raised by Le Corbusier..The project is a tectonic experimentation, which shows what is supported, private, public, and useful, all from Louis Kahn´s logic..Through the use of brick and its relation with the steel structure, a vigorous reference is made to the place and to some buildings in the area. The contrasting relation between these two materials is established with the help of a concrete vault system, adapted from the front of the property division into nine equal parts (91.5 inches) and three bays of approximately five meters deep..The glass in the windows tightens the abstract relationship between the windows and the brick, giving the building a contrasting balanced character..The connection to the street is accomplished with a porch that is generated to solve the access to the parking lot located in a semi-basement. This gate is defined by a marquee / jardiniere that articulates and separates the rooms of the first apartment from the main entrance and into the street, giving privacy because it is just 1.80 meters above the sidewalk..”  Ample glazing, natural light; contextual sensibility; interesting interior volumes, balconies, roof terrace…

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image: © Onnis Luque; article: Cifuentes, Fabian . “Ucello / Nicolás Vásquez” 09 Nov 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/291645&gt;