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Architects: Echeri Bioconstrucción, MCH Arquitecto Interiorista
- Area: 2863 ft²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:César Belio
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Manufacturers: GAIA, Interceramic, Legrand / Bticino, Mano a Mano, URREA
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Lead Architect: Eréndira Soto
Text description provided by the architects. Located in the magic town of Tacámbaro (nearby the Pátzcuaro’s lake area), this project emerges from a local family’s idea to create two small vacation houses into an existing rustic villa. Casa Corsal pays homage to the artisanal and constructive heritage of the region, by integrating local systems and materials, combined with bespoke designed objects and furniture.
To access the villa, visitors must travel around narrow streets and some vernacular architecture. Situated on a trapezoidal site, the project shows itself to the public through a large adobe wall covered with a clay-straw plaster. This massive wall allows the user’s privacy, while on top of the façade, a brick lattice allows a subtle dialogue between the urban context and the property.
The main entrance is composed of a narrow door and corridor, which leads to a courtyard that distributes the rest of the program. In this way, the new hospitality spaces are respectfully integrated into the existing buildings and environment. The design premise is based on respecting most of the natural elements -such as trees, rocks, and the climate-, and these were considered in the project. Based on this, the two houses respond to the site’s topography and location of the existing trees, taking advantage of the slopped terrain to level it with platforms and terraces, avoiding unnecessary excavations.
Visitors are cast to go through the complex to walk and look around the existing lush greenery, and to discover the rest of the program. Along with these complementary spaces, a red-brick pavilion stands out using handcrafted vaults and a rose window.
The two cabins have a triangular-shaped floor plan, with an inverted position that creates an organic geometry and a movement sensation on the exterior walls. The 260-square-meter house encompasses two bedrooms, a kitchen, one bathroom, a dining area, and a living room for each one. The social areas function as the main axis for the houses, while on both sides of the homes, the private areas are open timidly to the outside.
The home’s main structure is composed of adobe bricks -manufactured with local soil from the excavations-, rendered with a mix of clay, lime, and natural pigments. This earthy and ochre palette is complemented with the use of timber, and clay floors -which integrates a unique designed made from tile debris-.
One of the most striking features is the interior design, featuring neutral colors with vernacular styles. The project premise is the integration of furniture and objects designed by one of the architects, created by an initiative that recognizes and involves the work of local artisans and artists.
In this way, the architecture and interior design complement each other, where the materiality and reduced surface of the spaces evoke silence and introspection; contrasting with the ocher tones and the management of heights with sloping roofs, which give warmth and visual amplitude to the interiors, creating different atmospheres as time goes by.
