Curated by Benjamin Zapico

HOUSES • MÉRIDA, MEXICO

Architects: Taller Estilo Arquitectura

Area: 375 m 2

2022

Photographs: Manolo Solís

Lead Architects: Víctor Alejandro Cruz

Domínguez, Iván Atahualpa Hernández
Salazar, Luís Armando Estrada Aguilar,
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Text description provided by the architects. With the premise of

"He arrived first", Casa Tamarindo is a home that aims to explain
the symbiosis between architecture and nature. The tree is the
main piece and organizing axis of the architectural project. Built
elements that frame nature from the main entrance to the other
spaces that make up the program. The location of the walls that
organize the floor plan functions as guidelines that lead us to the
main entrance of the house.
The public and private areas are naturally separated by orientation and
responding to the original location of the tree, maintaining most of the
original landscape intact and bringing the natural landscape inside. All areas
of the house are naturally connected to the outdoors, always seeking internal
courtyards and paths that end in gardens. A proposal that not only rescues a
tree but makes it the protagonist of the project.
A home with a deep connection to nature and art. Instead of avoiding trees, the
architects decided to embrace them. Located in the center of the San Sebastian
neighborhood, on a plot with irregular characteristics and pre-existing
vegetation, it was the canvas to develop a singlefamily home for a plastic artist
and his wife, a graphic designer and writer.
Although the architectural program was not complex, the
characteristics of the plot, the client's requirements
regarding the image, the existing larger trees that had to be
preserved in their entirety, and the adjoining elements were
the factors that created the challenge of resolving a 2-
bedroom home with a bathroom, an open-plan
living/dining/kitchen area, a studio for plastic work, a
writing and work studio, and various exterior areas that
include garden areas, a pool, an outdoor dining area, an
outdoor living area, and a sunbathing area, all resolved on a
single floor.
The general concept of the project was to create a home
that allows its inhabitants to enjoy different spaces
throughout the day, organizing these around the Tamarind
tree, which was the oldest and largest tree, seeking the best
possible orientation for the use of cross breezes and natural
lighting.
Two elements clearly stand out in the composition of the
ensemble: the Tamarind tree, which serves as a focal point
and organizes the spaces around it, as a central courtyard
allowing the interiors to open towards a controlled,
designed, and contained exterior by the architectural
volumes.
The second element is the guiding wall that receives all the inhabitants, their
own and strangers, and leads them gradually through the terrain, creating a
pleasant path throughout the journey, from the street access to the main entrance
itself. This wall is present and transforms along its length, sometimes being
completely blind and imposing with its 6.20 meters in height, and at other times,
it opens up to create a large window that frames in both directions either the
built architectural element or the existing and complementary vegetation. It also
transforms into a niche that marks the access and houses the exterior vestibule
of the main entrance, to finally end and receive the plastic work studio.
The materials of the interior and exterior walls were essential to
achieve the image that the clients were looking for. Although
the taste for Yucatecan haciendas was present, the primary
premise was to create a contemporary, timeless work where the
materials (like the haciendas) could age gracefully and show
the patina of time, integrating it into the image of the home
itself.
This search led us to decide to use materials that felt natural, and raw,
with changing life throughout the day. Polished integral color cement
offers us this diversity because, not being a completely flat and uniform
surface, it gives a more natural and organic feeling. This achieved image
and the functional solution of the spaces generated an image that we call
Contemporary
Hacienda.