An Absent Architecture
In architecture, clients often look for the best view from a hill, but what happens when the desired location is inside the ground… Discover the hidden retreat by HW Studio.
When the client approached HW Studio, the brief was to build a home to protect and offer a shelter. In Morelia (Mexico), the architects listened carefully to the subtle murmurs and whispers of the environment before picking up the right spot.
They found this piece of land punctuated by pines, oaks and sweet acacia, perfectly fit for this absent architecture that illuminates the mystery.
To access the home, a path is wide enough to walk comfortably alone, yet narrow enough to discourage accompaniment. Visitors are cast into a pilgrimage of solitude that leads to an old tree with such a significant presence that it was necessary to distort the linearity of one of the walls with a gentle curve to be able to pass next to it... so close that it is even possible to graze it.
After crossing the tree threshold, going down a few solid pearled stone steps, and opening a heavy steel door, a concrete vault stands, supporting the loads of the green bed sheet that rests upon it; providing a sensation of being inside a cold, dark, but strangely cozy cave.
Concrete was chosen as the main material due to a dream about this new rock melting while inevitably interacting with the forest, changing colours... grays that turned to greens, blacks, and yellows that were gradually incorporated into the environment.
The flooring emphasises an aroma of wood that is perceived when surrounded by pine trees, providing balance to the cold temperature of the concrete; and finally, steel that, with time and rainfall, acquires an appearance like tree bark.
As for the spatial organisation, 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.
It was important to have very few references of elements that would connect to a specific moment in time, so the refrigerator and appliances were hidden, the lighting was arranged very discreetly, and only the four main materials were included: stone, wood, concrete, and steel. The client wanted to preserve the rough and primitive atmosphere of being in the mountains.
When I discovered this project, it reminded me a quote by Frank Lloyd Wright: “No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.”
Rainy Mood Pictures: Cesar Bejar. Sunny Mood Pictures: Dane Alonso. Video: Mavix. Hugo Tirso Dominguez
