Casa TO features nine spacious suites acting as private sanctuaries in contrast to the open public areas. A covered infinity pool and terraced solarium form the heart of the hotel, offering stepped seating areas for guests to lounge in the sun and then wander down into the water to cool off. Enormous round portals in the massive concrete walls create interesting geometries and frame various views of the interiors and exteriors: the pool sparkling in the sunlight, vines crawling up the textural wall, inviting seating areas, and the lush vegetation outside.

“The project was outlined under the imprint of simplicity and conceptual elegance, where tradition and avant garde are amalgamated in an unprecedented structure embraced by the tranquility of nature,” the architects explain. “Its name, Casa TO, arises from the idea of serene contemplation in a defined space, as the reinterpretation of an Oaxacan temple, which generates a radical sensory experience just by entering it. The structure evokes the lattice pattern of two historic waterworks of timeless beauty, the Basilica Cistern — Yerebatan Sarayi — in Istanbul, dating from the 6th century, and the Hornsey Wood Reservoir in London’s Finsbury Park, built in the 19th century.”

The team adds that “Casa TO’s natural environment defined its interior design, which was inspired by the natural hue of a blue Madagascar palm tree — Bismarckia nobilis — located on the original grounds. The color palette is made up of the typical tones of concrete and stainless steel, which are complemented by shades of turquoise, present in the ironworks, the lamps by Natural Urbano Studio, and some decorative details; in addition to yellow, blue, and green accents, which contrast in the glassware and textile elements made by Vivenda, Alfredo Orozco’s Experimental Textile Workshop, and the Taller Ocho rugs.”

The influence of Oaxacan temples is evident in the hotel’s vaulted ceilings and steps, as is that of traditional Mexican courtyard houses, which are evoked in the solarium and the tropical greenery sprinkled throughout the hotel. Furniture built by expert carpenters from Puebla, Guadalajara, and Oaxaca stands alongside bamboo pieces by Tiago Solís Van Beuren. Guest rooms are open to the fresh air, with the beds tucked into little sheltered nooks and small private terraces acting as giant skylights.

Casa TO is perhaps the most dramatic and innovative project yet from Ludwig Godefroy Architecture, an elevation of the firm’s signature aesthetic of clean concrete forms accented by warm natural materials. Check out their previous project, Casa Zicatela, a home that looks like a bunker from outside but hides luxurious private spaces and reflecting pools behind its sturdy walls.

The post Casa TO: Concrete Cutouts Surprise and Delight in a Modern Mexico Hotel first appeared on Dornob.

The restaurant design is impressive from the moment visitors walk in the door. The cocoon-like vaulted lobby is surrounded by a wooden space divider that takes its shape from the Ling Ling logo, which is rendered in neon. A low ceiling consisting of bunched illuminated textiles helps foster an atmosphere of suspense before guests are ushered into the surprisingly grand interiors, where trailing greenery frames a full-sized tree strung with outdoor lighting.

“The restaurant’s interior design concept started out with the idea of generating a space recalling the grand courtyards and terraces so characteristic of Mexican architecture,” the architects explain. “This was one of the greatest challenges in the design of the project, with the formal approach and the design process using structural elements and construction methods that helped to blur the boundary between architecture and interior design. As a result, the idea emerged of a triple-height space with a porticoed structure and lush vegetation of the terrace.”

Ceilings consisting of neutral-toned wooden louvers give the restaurant the appearance of a natural landscape, “carved” out to envelop the dining areas and give them an intimate feeling despite the expansiveness of the space. Though abstracted, the result mimics the feel of adjacent buildings, mountains, and trees surrounding a courtyard and generates a natural traffic pattern through the restaurant’s many rooms. With natural light and views providing the space’s dominating features, the architects focused on a palette of vegetative hues.

“The space benefits from the triple height and corner location to surprise guests with a glazed atrium structure offering 270-degree views across the whole city,” the firm adds. “Meanwhile, the inner salon and dining room are enclosed within a vaulted structure constructed using wood stereotomy techniques, highlighted by gentle illumination, and fitted out with custom-made furniture. Under this wood structure, the Sushi Bar recreates an Asian atmosphere that will bring the guests face-to-face with the preparation of the cuisine, giving a more personal touch to their experience. On the other hand, the main bar encloses a perfect frame of the skyline of the city through an item of dynamic furniture.”

Ling Ling Restaurant and Chapultepec Uno are located in the historic Reforma neighborhood, steps away from popular Mexico City landmarks like the Diana the Huntress Fountain and the Angel of Independence. If you want the best views in the house, reserve the Tres 60 table, a banquette sitting at the point of the dining room so you feel like you’re floating above the city.

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Nuevo León’s economy minister Iván Rivas told Bloomberg that the crossing is a simple business incentive to keep money flowing into the state from the US. “And maybe there will be a lane for other companies in the future like there is for Tesla.”

The suppliers on the Mexican side of the border include APG Mexico, Taiwanese-based companies EnFlex Corp and Quanta Computer, France-based company Faurecia SE, and Germany-based company ZF Friedrichshafen. These companies provide things like structural vehicle components, optical coatings, auto glazing, computer chips, electric parking brakes, and digital connectivity systems to the automaker (lest you think they make it all themselves in Texas). Tesla reportedly struck the deal with the Nuevo León government after moving its headquarters from Silicon Valley in California to Austin.

For now, the company isn’t offering any details on the arrangement, and Rivas, who didn’t negotiate the deal, couldn’t provide any additional information. That means we have no idea what Tesla offered the Nuevo León government to get the lane, or what the rules are as to who can use it. We do know that the Columbia Solidarity crossing is one of the lesser-used border crossings between the US and Mexico, with an average wait time of 20 minutes for commercial trucks. The Nuevo León border authority, which manages the nine-mile stretch of border within its territory, does plan to expand the crossing to eight lanes from six.

The exclusive Tesla border crossing lane seems to be part of a greater effort by Nuevo León to lure in tech companies with a variety of perks. As Rivas told Bloomberg, “Nuevo León is turning into an electro-mobility hub.” He says that up to 7 percent of new investment in the state will come from EV companies this year, and expects that Tesla may add more suppliers there as well. Austin is full of electric vehicle startups like Volcon, Infinitum Electric, Moment Motors, and AYRO that may also source parts from Mexico in the future.

As usual, Elon Musk has a roundabout way of addressing this news, tweeting simply, “Teslas are the most made-in-USA vehicles.”

Would it be surprising if the lane did end up becoming available to Tesla drivers as well as employees and associates of Tesla and its suppliers? Not at all. Musk does have a way of bending the rules to get what he wants. And while it’s within reason to imagine express lanes for electric vehicles to encourage their use, it hardly seems fair for a border crossing to prioritize one carmaker over another.

The post Tesla Scores Its Very Own Border Crossing Lane Between Austin Facility and Mexico first appeared on Dornob.

Now, the forward-thinking Espacio 18 has turned their exceptional interior design eye toward yet another Oaxaca project. This time, it’s a group of residences in Colonia Reforma, just five short minutes from the city’s downtown area. Dubbed “Pensamientos Residencial” (Residential Thoughts), these four homes add to the studio’s impressive oeuvre with their distinctive focus on unifying architectural aspects. Their alluring apertures and connective patios amplify the structures’ openness and community-minded approach while also showcasing Espacio’s love of natural light and warm neutral tones.

The project addresses a local need for residential development. Rising land and property costs and increasing gentrification have led to more locals seeking housing on the city’s outskirts. Pensamientos Residencial was born as a result of this, commissioned by a real estate agency and catalyzed by the architects’ knowledge of the area and desire to repopulate the city’s suburbs.

The residences are divided into four distinct three-level houses, each with a land area of 120 square meters and laid out in the same way: an enclosed ground level/social area, a first floor including private areas, secondary rooms, and study/TV area, and a second floor that encompasses the main room and other services. While these layouts may seem pretty standard, the spaces are elevated through patios on each level, each with their own high-rise style walls that ensure privacy despite their proximity to other residences. The spaces are designed with flexibility and usability in mind — the template exists as a palette for residents to add their own stamp of originality through personalized interior touches.

The exterior, like many of Espacio’s projects, is deceptively spartan, comprised of clean lines and simple utilitarian touches dominated by neutral tones. Built with finishes made from locally-sourced wood from nearby spots like Huanacaxtle and reinforced with both steel and volcanic stones, the homes are built to last. And if the demand for housing on the outskirts of Oaxaca continues to increase, these structures will no doubt be the first of many in the area.

The post Espacio 18’s Oaxaca Housing Units are Full of Functional Flow first appeared on Dornob.

The latest project from Mexico City architects PALMA is a shining example of how designers are re-envisioning mixed-use spaces. No stranger to innovation, the firm designed “Chiripa” to “see how different users would interact with one another in a hybrid building that’s part house, part hotel.” The result is a spacious yet unassuming space that stuns visually without overpowering the landscape’s natural beauty. Unobstructed views of Mexico’s Bay of Sayulita complement the complex’s white stucco and exposed concrete slabs, while the clean lines and curvy staircases and bridges add a touch of understated luxury to the scene.

The building’s distinct but connected volumes were placed at opposing orientations to allow for an airiness and openness that lets natural light into every nook and cranny while simultaneously creating a separation that allows for privacy within. Two of the four levels are cleverly built into the site and concealed from street-level views, further highlighting the space’s perfect integration into the surrounding landscape.

Comprised of six total units, Chiripa is accessed through a central walkway/entrance hall at the top. A half-circle staircase allows residents to traverse both blocks, while a series of open-air connecting bridges builds on the complex’s airy vibes. Here, the natural surroundings aren’t just a backdrop: they’re part of the space itself, blending seamlessly with the central garden and views of nearby bay.

While the site’s multi-use configuration does overlap in common areas like kitchen and dining spaces, the privacy of the additional rooms cannot be overstated. All in all, it’s an ideal space for both short and long-term residents. Each level also features its own covered terrace that extends from both the common areas and bedrooms. Both structures boast their own rooftop pool and shared terraces that offer panoramic views of the surrounding area.

Hybridity isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a way to create spaces that are multi-use and convey a sense of fluidity in both commercial and residential spheres. With their new complex overlooking Mexico’s Bay of Sayulita, PALMA does exactly that, showing that functionality and style need not be mutually exclusive.

The post PALMA’s Chiripa Complex is a Masterclass in Mixed-Use Design first appeared on Dornob.

Restoring a historic hacienda to its former glory can be an intimidating project, but if you start from scratch instead, it’s possible to capture the luxurious tranquility that haciendas radiate while updating them for a new era. Architecture firm Chain + Siman collaborated with Modo Manera to do just that with Casa Rancha Avándaro, a weekend retreat in the Valle de Bravo area west of Mexico City. Their version draws inspiration from the openness of the traditional hacienda while enhancing its connection to nature and adding numerous all-glass walls to let the daylight stream inside.

The architects’ goal was to produce a relaxing retreat that functioned as an independent home for the clients while also providing plenty of connected spaces for guests. They wanted to incorporate key aspects of Mexican haciendas like solid volumes, interior patios, and gardens into the project while replacing the standard courtyard fountain with a jacuzzi. The home is divided into three volumes plus an annex, all with walls made of yellow stone from a nearby mine. The central volume is the tallest, flanked on either side by smaller gabled volumes.

Inside the central volume is a living room and dining room, which look out onto the terrace and the jacuzzi through the front glazing and a central patio through the back. One of the smaller connected volumes contains the main bedroom, with its own lofted study, while the other contains the kitchen and additional services. The annex, connected to the main house by a glass bridge crossing the central courtyard, hosts guests. This space is able to maintain its own sense of privacy and autonomy without feeling too separate from the main home, and it still enjoys the same beautiful views of the impeccably landscaped grounds, and the boughs of mature trees swaying in the breeze.

The result feels distinctly Mexican, preserving the best elements of the traditional vernacular architecture and all the charm they convey. The exposed beams and earthy materials connect the home to its natural setting, while updates like floor-to-ceiling windows, black steel, open plan interiors, and built-in furniture made of black plywood bring in contemporary comforts and preferences.

“The interior design is supported by the lighting, the finishes, and the vegetation of the place. Inside, the stone preserves its natural essence and is complemented by elements of black ironwork, wood in different shades in the lofts, furniture, and dividing walls, and concrete in the floors, kitchen, and bathrooms,” the architects say. “The house is a cozy, comfortable, and warm space that creates a dialogue between classic elements of the haciendas and contemporary solutions. There is a balance between luxury, aesthetics, and functionality.”

The post Historic Hacienda Style Gets a 21st-Century Update Outside Mexico City first appeared on Dornob.

“The southern border can be an inhospitable place for man or beast, and that is exactly why a machine may excel there,” says DHS Science and Technology Directorate program manager Brenda Long.

The machines are 100-pound quadrupeds with an array of integrated cameras: 360-degree, thermal, night vision, zoom, and more. Sensors detect chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. The robot can also carry up to 20 pounds worth of payload, and while the DHS doesn’t explicitly state as much, it sounds like that could include weaponry. These machines are already capable of being armed sentries. Last year, Ghost Robotics unveiled a version of its robot dogs equipped with long-range guns that can hit targets up to 1,200 meters away.

If you think this sounds like something straight out of Black Mirror, you’re exactly right. Episode 5 of series 4, entitled “Metalhead,” featured a very similar four-legged robot engaging in a terrifying single-minded chase of a woman attempting to flee after an unexplained societal collapse. But we don’t even need pessimistic science fiction to imagine what the presence of such robots could lead to along the 2,000-mile stretch of US-Mexico border.

The government chooses to portray the deployment of these machines in a cutesy, lighthearted fashion. In a feature article about the project, the robots are repeatedly referred to as “Fido,” “man’s best friend,” and “programmable pooches.” DHS says the robots will be most helpful in preventing drug-related crime, human trafficking, firearm smuggling, or even the transport of weapons of mass destruction. But by far, the most common law enforcement-related activity along the border is the apprehension of migrants, who are almost always unarmed. Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 1.7 million people suspected of crossing the border illegally in 2021 alone.

The usage of these robot dogs won’t be limited to the border in the future. DHS openly states that they could come in handy in places like “towns, cities, or ports” where agents might face dangerous conditions. Like other military technologies, they’re also making their way into the hands of police. Last year, the New York City police department leased a robot dog by Boston Dynamics for $94,000, and used it to defuse a hostage situation in the Bronx. Its presence raised such intense backlash among the public, the department returned the dog to the manufacturer.

“You can’t give me a living wage, you can’t raise a minimum wage, you can’t give me affordable housing; I’m working hard and I can’t get paid leave, I can’t get affordable child care,” Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat representing parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, said in a video posted to Twitter. “Instead, we got money, taxpayer money, going to robot dogs?”

The post Creepy Robot Dogs Will Soon Intensify Surveillance Along the US-Mexico Border first appeared on Dornob.

At the Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), an underwater art museum off the coast of Cancún, Mexico, the eerie submerged displays don’t shy away from these contradictions. Snorkeling and scuba diving are supposed to be tranquil pastimes, but these scenes (made of nontoxic marine-grade cement) are meant to provoke. A little boy sits on an upturned bucket surrounded by the sort of trash that can be found throughout the Earth’s oceans. A group of figures bury their heads in the sand. A man dressed like a banker stands in the center of a circle of children, all pointing weapons at him. Objects resembling bombs are strewn throughout the area.

Like many other underwater sculptures around the world, these displays are the work of sculptor, scuba diver, and photographer Jason deCaires Taylor, perhaps the most famous and prolific underwater artist of all time. His art can be found in the seas off Grenada in Spain, near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, in the Maldives, and near other key tourist destinations.

At first glance, it may seem a bit grandiose to fill these places with representations of human activity, regardless of the subject matter. But these pieces are actually crafted to help preserve vulnerable natural reefs that are affected by the presence of divers, creating alternative places to sightsee underwater. They also function as artificial reefs, creating new homes for coral, sponges, and other marine life.

MUSA is Taylor’s brainchild, and he serves as its Artistic Director. Joined by other artists like Karen Salinas Martinez, Roberto Díaz Abraham, Rodrigo Quiñones Reyes, Salvador Quiroz Ennis, and Elier Amado Gil, he’s filled the museum with 500 sculptures occupying an area of more than 420 square meters with a total weight of over 200 tons. “The Silent Evolution” is the largest work, comprised of a group of human figures representing cultures from all over the world. As more marine life entangles itself with the cement statues, they transform, seeming to come alive.

Each sculpture is installed carefully and timed to make sure it’s in place before larval coral spawning occurs. Often placed in areas of barren sandbanks to boost diversity, the installations also give scientists the rare opportunity to study new ecosystems as soon as they’re established. They also provide economic benefits to the areas they’re installed in, mainly in the form of tourist dollars that go back into conservation efforts.

Taylor’s works have inspired other artists to create similar installations around the world, like the Centeen Memorial Dive Park along the St. Lawrence River in Ontario, Canada by David Sheridan. Italian fisherman and activist Paolo Fanciulli similarly dropped Carrara marble sculptures into the Mediterranean Sea to prevent damage to marine life by trawling boats.

The post Ghostly Underwater Sculptures Draw Tourists Away from Busy Diving Sites first appeared on Dornob.

“How can one feel protected? What can be done when one feels vulnerable?” the Mexico-based studio mused. “This question was accompanied by an image, or perhaps a memory: a frightened child covering himself with a light bedsheet as he peeks out to make sure he can see what is going on around him.”

The result was a home that resembles exactly that: a concrete roof reminiscent of a light bedsheet nestled into the soft grass of the landscape, and a semicircle window rising in a gentle slope like the head of a little one checking to see if it’s safe yet.

Called “The Hill in Front of the Glen,” the new home in the forests of Morelia, Mexico begins with a walkway lined with concrete walls leading down into the underground retreat. The passageway is wide enough for one person to comfortably navigate but narrow enough to prevent two people from walking side-by-side, casting visitors into “a pilgrimage of solitude.” Along the journey, a large tree intersects the footpath, forcing a deviation in direction.

This pathway eventually leads to the solid pearled stone steps and heavy steel entry door. Once inside the concrete vault, guests can explore the more social living, dining, and kitchen areas on one side, or the more private bedroom spaces on the other. They’ll even find that the light sources have been matched to the intended mood and purpose of each wing.

“Public areas on the left side of the house are completely exposed to the wooded ravine, and on the right side are open more timidly to a courtyard with treetop and sky views,” HW Studio notes.

The contemplative ambience of this project was a good fit for the firm, who has a longstanding history of valuing quiet designs. They explain that “HW Studio derives its name from the union of the letter H – considered a silent letter and a graphic representation of silence in Spanish – and the letter W – taken from the Japanese concept Wabi-Sabi, which has no Spanish translation or direct equivalence with any Western concept – understood as the beauty of the impermanent.”

They add that “We understand architecture as being the act of placing limits within the void and that these limits achieve an elegant beauty of humble simplicity.”

The home also blends discreetly into the surrounding forest, according to the client’s wishes. It was never meant to be the showcase of the setting.

“The architecture is like an accent on the words of a poem, like a comma or a question mark, but never the actual poem itself,” the studio explains. “The poem is already written by the pines, the oaks, the sweet acacia, the fireflies, the road, the fence, the neighbor’s water well, the earth, the orchard, and the nightingale.”

To achieve that goal, the architecture firm used minimal materials to complete the simplistic design. Concrete takes center stage, creating the structure of the “lifted layer of grass,” while wood floors and furniture warm up the coldness of the walls. Meanwhile, steel accents like door handles and clothing rods provide hints at the modern world that created this hidden bungalow.

The post Mexico’s Hidden Hill in Front of the Glen House Recalls a Childlike Innocence first appeared on Dornob.

The clients wanted to preserve the aspects of the site that felt special, like its rocky terrain, tall trees, and breathtaking views. So the architects created an unusual floor plan that avoids removing any existing trees, arranging triangular volumes to fit in between and around them. These volumes are offset from each other, gently flowing in a stack from the elevated street level down the slope of the hillside. Most importantly, the layout leaves a central private garden around which the living spaces are arranged, allowing sunlight to reach every room.

The structural base of the home consists of concrete textured to resemble the natural boulders and a steel framework that seems to shift from white to silver depending on the light. In between the polished concrete floors and the elongated triangular shapes of the roof panels are floor-to-ceiling expanses of glass, frosted in some areas for privacy and transparent in others. The glass reflects the silhouettes of the surrounding trees and the color of the sky.

The central patio functions as “the heart of the project,” the architects say, planted with lush greenery that’s echoed inside and on a multitude of outdoor terraces. The garage also features glass walls, turning the car into a display piece with a prominent presence directly above the level of the swimming pool. Black cabinetry and mostly monochromatic furnishings help visually anchor the home to the cliffside and keep the focus on the nature outside.

Though this is clearly a luxury residence, it’s not hard to imagine using concrete and steel as relatively affordable materials in a lower-budget project, finding ways to arrange them as artfully as RE+D has done here. The firm’s founder and lead architect, Susana López González, is a former professor of architecture, industrial design, and fabric design with a master’s degree in sustainability design, and it’s interesting to see how those influences come together in her work. Like Casa Cañadas, many of RE+D’s residential projects use the dynamic qualities of diagonal lines, contrasting geometric shapes, and textural materials for spaces that feel uniquely tailored to their locations.

“With a contemporary language and with the use of exposed materials, the social area is developed with the concept of the open plan; in this way the user has the freedom to handle the furniture in different ways and combinations, giving ownership to the space,” the architects explain, adding that “with the help of a curtain wall, the social area is unified with the terrace to generate communion between the spaces and moments of coexistence, which respond to the need to generate more flexible and comfortable spaces.”

The post Casa Cañadas: Angular Mexican Home Sparkles in the Sunlight first appeared on Dornob.

Architect Andrés Bustamante Arrieta of Mexico City firm REVOLUTION has an idea to address this problem, and he’s making his solution open-source so others can easily reproduce it. The Temporary Pavilion for Healthcare Workers (TPHW) is a profit-free “emergency architecture” project consisting of temporary wooden pavilions made from 12 modular sections.

These micro-dwellings each have a footprint of just seven square meters (about 75 square feet) but contain a bedroom, wardrobe, shower, sink, toilet, electric heater, cistern, natural ventilation, and poly-aluminum thermal insulation. They’re made to be quickly assembled, disassembled, and stored until they’re needed again for another crisis.

Since their bases are so small, these modular emergency shelters can be deployed in parking lots, grassy areas outside hospitals, and any other spaces that might be available. As many hospitals dealing with an influx of COVID-19 cases have canceled elective procedures for the foreseeable future, there’s often plenty of parking spaces available to host multiple pavilions.

The prefabricated modular sections consist of wood and biodegradable plastic and already contain all of the elements needed to be put to immediate use, including a chlorinated water tank and a solar thermal panel on the roof to heat the water.

What’s nice about this design is not only its ease of deployment, but how much it feels like a real residence despite its small size. A lot of emergency shelters are made of flimsy, tent-like materials with only the barest of comforts, but these pavilions seem both hospitable and durable enough to reuse again and again.

The first prototype was inaugurated on May 15th outside the Red Cross of Ospeda Central in Mexico City, and was ultimately moved to the Mexican Red Cross Hospital in Polanco, where it will stay until September 2020.

“The design of the pavilion was intended to be installed in patios or parking lots, as these are spaces that become obsolete during contingencies,” says the architect. “Its modules resist all types of weather thanks to the thermal and waterproof properties of poly-aluminium on the outside, and inside it is coated with antibacterial paint to facilitate disinfection among users.”

“The plans and assembly manual of the modules will be available on the official website of the Mexican Red Cross for free download, so that the general public can access them as a technical resource for guidance and advice to set up their own temporary housing spaces according to the needs in [their] state or locality.”

“REVOLUTION is an office founded in 2015 by Andrés Bustó Arrieta, architect from the Universidad Iberoamericana and specialist in vertical development of housing and mixed uses by the University of New York. Among its most relevant projects are the Pabellón Pedregal shopping center in Mexico City, the MAZUL residential complexes in Santa Elena, Oaxaca, the Cancún Resort in Cancún, Quintana Roo, and the Master Plan for the construction of temporary housing for those affected by the Earthquake of September 2017 in Ocuilán, State of Mexico.”

The post Parking Lot Turned Into Temporary Modular Residences for Healthcare Workers first appeared on Dornob.

“Zicatela House” is proof that appearances can be deceiving. Designed by Mexico City-based architect Ludwig Godefroy and named for a nearby beach in the town of Puerto Escondido, it’s meant to look like a bunker to outsiders. Inside, it’s an entirely different story, with every one of its rooms and spaces designed around access to sunlight, fresh air, and views of the sky.

“The house was designed with one main purpose: to give the owner the opportunity to leave Mexico City to make a break with the megalopolis and urban habits by coming to get some rest and relax[ation] while enjoying the heat of the Mexican coast and the peaceful light of Oaxaca,” Godefroy says. “This house responds to a double landscape, on one side in the background the beach and the sea, on the other side the mountains and agave fields, the plant from which is made mezcal and tequila.”

Godefroy began working on Zicatela House in 2014 alongside his design partner Emmanuel Picault. The duo is best known for their nightclubs and bars, with their work often representing an alluring combination of modernist and pre-Hispanic influences. They based the design for this house on a Mesoamerican ball court surrounded by large symmetrical stepped walls.

The concrete and simple rectilinear shapes bring in the brutalist element Godefroy and Picault are known for, while the home’s tropical feel comes courtesy of elements like wood, greenery, and a tranquil swimming pool. What’s even more surprising, given the house’s outside appearance, is the fact that there’s no glass to be found anywhere inside. Those large shutters you see all throughout the courtyard can be closed for privacy, but otherwise, the residence is remarkably open to the world at large.

Godefroy adds that “this project has a very interesting personality of being a countryside house next to the sea, instead of a beach house. The house is based on this duality, the duality of its surroundings and its [ability] to respond to the mountains and be protective as a fortress as well as a wide-open space; giving you the feeling [of living] outside in a garden, making the border between in and out disappear.”

“Zicatela House is built on a small 300-square-meter plot, using a typology of defensive architecture, where a wall surrounds the terrain completely, helping create a 100-percent controlled area on the inside, turning it into an open-sky fortress, with only one main view towards the sky, the only permanent element in time. The house is a bunker on the outside, one of those massive concrete structures I used to see in Normandy — where I was born — protecting a Mexican pyramid on the inside, one of those I see when I travel around Mexico, the country where I’ve been living and working for 10 years now.”

The post This Concrete Bunker House Hides a Secret Central Oasis first appeared on Dornob.

Grandiose plans for smart cities are being unveiled all over the world as more and more people realize the need for a better, cleaner vision for the future if we’re to secure our survival. All the proposals include environmentally advanced infrastructure, a wealth of emerging AI technologies, and thousands of other sophisticated systems to help their inhabitants live and thrive. What makes Stefano Boeri Architects’ vision unique is the concentration on incorporating a a sprawling vertical forest into its “Smart Forest City.”

Overview

Smart Forest City, still in its conceptual phases, would cover 1,376 acres of land originally earmarked for a conventional shopping mall. But instead of weaving together a mega-cluster of retail endeavors, the Stefano Boeri enterprise has almost 1,000 of those acres devoted to green space, with the rest of the land going to architecture and environmentally advanced support systems to house and serve some 130,000 residents.

Green Details

The green space of Smart Forest City would be populated with a whopping 7.5 million plants, spanning over 400 unique species and meticulously evaluated and chosen by botanist and landscape architect Laura Gatti. Not only is all that plant life visually appealing to the city’s residents, it’s also physically good for them. The assortment of bushes, shrubs, flowers, and trees (2.3 trees for every inhabitant) will not only occupy personal gardens and public parks, but also be incorporated into energy-boosting structural facades and green roofs. The firm projects that the city will annually absorb 116,000 tons of carbon dioxide and supply 5,800 tons of oxygen.

A Learning Experience

Beyond the aesthetic appeal of endless greenery, Smart Forest City is also planned to be a knowledge hub where researchers develop and implement solutions to ecological crises. The research center planned by Stefano Boeri is already set to include university researchers and visionary international research organizations, all of whom will focus on six fundamental issues: astrophysics and planetary science, bio-healthcare, coral reef restoration, mobility and robotics, precision farming and regenerative technology, and smart city innovations.

Self-Sufficiency

No Shangri-La would be complete without total self-sufficiency. Smart Forest City is designed to be powered by a circle of solar panels around its perimeter and receive its water supply through an intricate conduit of channels connected to a cistern at the city’s entrance that constantly gathers water from the atmosphere. Transsolar, a German company that leads the industry of built environments, collaborated with the Stefano Boeri team on all these designs.

To streamline public transit and keep congestion and pollution at a minimum within the city, residents will park their cars just outside the city limits and make their way around using only semi-automatic and electric modes of transportation.

Boeri unveiled his project to Mexican land and planning authorities in March 2019 and still anxiously awaits their feedback. In the meantime, he’s focused on his visualization of an idyllic urban environment becoming a reality.

He adds that “Smart Forest City Cancun is a Botanical Garden within a contemporary city based on Mayan heritage and its relationship with the natural and sacred world. An urban ecosystem where nature and city are intertwined and act as one organism.”

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Felton’s goal of creating furniture that feels like its from 5,000 B.C. is evident at first glance. He’s said that he was struck by the gentle welcoming lines of that era’s furniture, all of which were inspired by Pre-Colombian views of creation and rebirth. From the sofas and chairs to the sculptural pedestal tables, the warm colors of autumn, bulky bolsters, and chubby forms abound here. Each piece seems to reach out with a warm hug, drawing you in to feel a soothing embrace from every angle. Even the coverings on them are inviting (we’re especially fond of the alpaca covering on the lounge chair).

The Path to the Kosa Collection

Felton grew up in Washington, DC, a student at Montessori schools with creative parents who encouraged international exploration. He went on vacations to Central and South America as a child and was routinely exposed to international religions and cultures. As a young adult, he pursued a career in industrial design.

Soon after realizing that industrial design wasn’t so much about instilling meaning and emotion into objects, Felton started to realize that it actually wasn’t his calling. He moved to New York and, as he put it in one recent interview, “…the veil was kind of lifted. I realized that industrial design wasn’t quite so magical, and that it was more about things like consumer electronics, which weren’t very alluring to me. I kind of lost interest in industrial design almost altogether.”

From there, Felton started exploring ultra-high-end custom furniture design. “It was one of the only areas of design that was about creating objects that have an emotional connection with the end user,” he explains.

After designing furniture for others for several years, his real breakthrough came when he discovered a pamphlet called Are We Human by Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley. He was so taken by the content’s anthropological take on design that he began researching pre-Colombian cultures. He “found himself realizing how much animism and worldview and emotion and whimsy was infused into everything they did.”

With no specific goal in mind, Felton’s research got deeper and deeper into Mayan and Valdivian cultures, examining their unique symbologies and structural designs. Felton recalls that “At that point I decided to regroup my thoughts a bit, to distill and center on the things that were really speaking to me and put them into physical form — to take all these points of inspiration, [filter] them through my context today in New York City, and reimagin[e] these concepts as they might be introduced today.”

The Results

In addition to perfectly capturing the essence of his inspiration, Felton also wanted to finish each piece of his collection with unique textures and coverings. He worked with expert stone carvers and woodworkers outside of Mexico City and discovered cantera while doing so, which he then used for the basis of his side chair and table. He also used Mexican lava rock, the aforementioned alpaca, and stacks of laminated medium-density fiberboard (MDF) for the other pieces. A calcified lime plaster, a take on Tadelakt, is used for many of the hard finishes, polished with soap and stones to seal it all up and add depth.

Felton seems to only just be getting started on the design collection part of his career, and we’re already anxiously awaiting his next release.

The post Ancient Mesoamerican Cultures Inspired Ian Felton’s Debut Furniture Collection first appeared on Dornob.

Imagine a structure that’s still got great bones but is looking a little dated or worse for wear. Developers often find it easier to just demolish the whole thing and start over again, but that process produces an outrageous amount of construction waste. Renovation is a far more sustainable approach, especially when the changes are minimal but high impact.

A new project called VITR from Archetonic offers one example of how this can be done. A pre-existing building in Mexico City showed lots of promise but needed some key modifications to be turned into a home and office space that felt integrated with its natural environment.

Walled gardens are common in this part of the city, and while they do offer privacy, they can also make houses feel closed off from the world outside. The architects say they wanted to “shatter the hegemony of the high walls behind which the neighboring houses hide in order to establish a dialogue that transcend[ed] the physical limitations of the project.”

To achieve that, they had to make sure every level of the house had opportunities to view and interact with nature. On the ground level, they created new access points to the yard and expanded views with large expanses of glass. On the second floor, they created new terraces that shade the lower levels from the harsh summer sun.

But by far the coolest (and most impactful) change Archetonic made was the addition of a permeable system of green cables echoing the colors found in the vegetation outside. These plastic cables reference the Acapulco chair: a midcentury modern design inspired by the open string construction of traditional Mayan hammocks.

The cables are attached to the pre-existing steel structure of the building, creating a “living” facade that shimmers in the sunlight, enhances the feeling of being surrounded by nature, and offers a little bit of shade to the interiors without closing them off. On top of that, a new rooftop garden adds yet another way to experience the setting.

All of the steel, stone, and glass of the building come together to produce a feeling that can be a little bit hard and cold, so Archetonic also introduced new timber elements to the interiors to soften them up a bit.

They explain: “The variations in the depths of different planes offer the environment a living facade, where the interior activity is guessed from the visual filters that concede intimacy to the interior spaces. The interior-exterior duality breaks its context’s routine, offering a canvas of textures where the concrete and granite give way to the mildness of the metal and the lightness of plastic fabrics. To the exterior the housing peeks out without invading, whilst opening in the interior [and] subtlety exposing itself, balancing the volumes that are inserted in the territory.”

“An interplay of planes occurs inside allowing the versatility of spaces by the movement of long-distance sliding screens and wainscots formed by timber that contrast in warmth and complexity with the sobriety of the stone coatings and apparent concrete of the enclosures. A new stairway, based on steel strips, reactivates the space where the old one stood, which gave an opportunity to re-signify the ambiance of the circulations as an experience of sculptural character.”

The best part of this architectural makeover is that it doesn’t have to be permanent. In twenty years, if it feels dated or is no longer desired, it can easily be removed and some other facade solution can be implemented in its place.

The post A Permeable Facade Made of Green Cables Makes This Mexico City Office Pop first appeared on Dornob.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Christian says he can hardly recall a time when he wasn’t fascinated with the water. He says: “I dreamt about what lay beneath the waves, and how it would look if suddenly all the water vanished leaving in stasis all the animals and living creatures. In this way I could walk inside the ocean and see them all, suspended for a moment in time and space.”

“I have devoted my life to explor[ing] and contemplat[ing] the amazing beauty of the ocean, and it’s been an incredible journey that’s brought me a deep feeling of connection with nature, but sadly during my lifetime I have witness[ed] the ever-increasing devastation that we humans are creating in this planet. Today the world’s ocean is in grave danger: overfishing, pollution, plastics, radiation, climate change, acidification, and other human pressures threaten the fundamental nature of the ocean, and its animals are being push[ed] to near extinction. The time to act and reverse our negative impact is now, before it’s too late [and we risk] losing everything.”

The poignancy of this potential loss flows through each and every one of Christian’s reverent photographs, as if he’s willing the oceans and all the life within them to be frozen in one perfect moment in time so it can never be destroyed altogether. The artist says he hopes his images will be “a voice of the ocean and for the ocean,” helping people feel more empathy for these creatures and take action to protect them.

Christian travels all over the world to capture his images, and his favorite places are remote, wild areas near oceans. One of those spots is the southernmost tip of Mexico, very close to the border of Belize, with the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Chetumal Bay on the other, all surrounded by dense jungles. In such places, he’s able to observe and photograph such amazing sights as hundreds of gigantic tarpon fish.

There’s a sense of tranquility in each of his images, particularly those in which humans interact with aquatic life, allowing viewers to place themselves inside the shots and imagine what it would be like to float alongside an enormous whale, or to follow a dense unified school of fish as it evades a hungry predator.

Fans of Vizl’s work can purchase prints in black and white, color, and sepia tones on his website, or flip through them all in the book Silent Kingdom: A World Beneath the Waves.

“Peaceful, still, calm, and excited — this is how I feel when I’m in the ocean, surrounded by its immensity and mysteries. I am in awe of it and grateful for its infinite beauty and abundance of life. The ocean is a world that has so many things to say, so many stories to tell, so many lessons to teach, but its voice can only be heard by our hearts. The images in this book are a reflection of what I hear beneath the waves.”

The post Explore the Kingdoms of the Deep in Christian Vizl’s Vivid Underwater Photography first appeared on Dornob.