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Architects: Arista Cero
- Area: 1400 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Tamara Uribe
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Lead Architect: Claudia Aguilar, André Borges, Mario Gonzalez
Text description provided by the architects. ETERNA is a 25-suite hotel located in the center of La Veleta, Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
The concept was developed around the connection between the sky and the earth, the link that exists between the earthly plane and the worldview that the ancient Mayan civilization studied and revered.
Reinterpreting this in a scheme of intersections of 4 volumetrics, 1 horizontal volumetric, and 3 vertical volumetrics located parallel to the entire width of the land, generating voids between them, spaces that will function as transitions between public and private spaces.
The vegetation on the site is tropical, with trees and native low vegetation, with the intention of rescuing the largest number of trees and transplanting them to different points of the project.
The access to the project is through an outdoor plaza, located next to a Jabín tree that highlights and directs the circulation towards the horizontal volumetric that houses the public and private areas of the hotel's operation. They are connected through horizontal and vertical circulations that link all points of the project.
The complex consists of 5 types of suites distributed on four levels. 7 Suites of two types on the ground floor with private access to a garden and/or pool. 8 Suites of two types on the first level, one with access to a private terrace and balconies with views of the green context of the area, and the second type connect with the 3rd and 4th levels through circulation intersections designed through vaults that connect with each other, separating the social and private use of each room per level.
8 Suites of 2 types on the second level, one with access to balconies that play with the volumetric, sharing with the last level, and the second with the design of the lower level whose types of uses are reversed, playing with the sense of spaces between the different levels of the complex.
On the 3rd level, there is a common terrace with a pool for all guests and private areas of the 8 interconnected suites, divided between observatories and pools, whose views offer panoramic views of the surrounding Mayan jungle and the constellations in the sky.
The use of materials from the region is proposed, highlighting the chukum-type plaster, Mayan stone, and wood. The horizontal volumetric with a stone coating as a representation of the mass, the strength of the earth against the lightness of the chukum-type finish applied to the vertical volumetrics, providing balance and contrast to the sensations generated by both materials. The use of wood to accentuate visual finishes such as intersected stairs, circulations, and facades complements the applied materials, giving way to cohesion with the immediate context of the area and its inhabitants.