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Architects: Juan Ignacio Castiello Arquitectos
- Area: 330 m²
- Year: 2010
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Photographs:Mito Covarrubias
Text description provided by the architects. By an almost 40m wide cobblestone street that integrates a very generous lineal park full of tress is located “Home and Studio”.
The plot has a 330m2 surface (11 x 30 north-south) and its topography is completely flat. It is located in the border of two contrasted realities in México: south, it overlooks a lineal park full of eucalyptus trees that belong to one of the city´s privileged colonies; north, it overlooks a mosaic of rooftops and water tanks from a low-income part of the city.
The project had to optimize all kind of resources: economical, energetic, time and land. Also the family requested to have a big garden and distant views.
In order to take the most from the immediate context, the house is oriented south, towards the trees, the park and the winter sun. That also reinforced the park´s security as the house gives a sense of vigilance by opening the windows towards it.
In this street there is no setback regulation which allows the project to occupy 100% of the plot. The architect also decided that the studio had to be an extension of the house so he wouldn’t waste time in transportation and save money from expenses from an office elsewhere.
Description:
The first level is above the street level in order to generate an extension of the visuals from the terrace-salon benefiting from the wide street and creating a “garden-balcony” that makes the house more secure by being in a higher level than the street.
The house has four levels: the basement (street level) that occupies the most possible surface so that the three other levels were slimmer and concentrated on the back to liberate the front and have more space for the garden-balcony above the garage and the studio.
The studio is completely independent from the house. For both, you access from the street level by different doors. The studio ventilates and illuminates from a patio that connects with the garden from a “hole” delimitated from the garden by tall, translucid crystals that contribute for a shared intimacy.
The house is staggered at its northern end to maintain a proportional scale with the neighbors at the southern end.
The library crowns the house on the fourth floor with a longitudinal tunnel vault which follows the direction of the space. It is a generous place where you can enjoy the free visuals both north and south.
Some of the materials used for “home and studio” are recycled, like the waste from the marble that was used to cover some walls, was used in smaller pieces as a mosaic.
