After Asia, we are off to the Americas, where bricks are also used very often. Here is a project rewarded in 2018 by AZ Awards in the category Best in Architecture—Residential Single Family Residential Interiors.

Season One, Episode Four: Mexico.

In a vast forest area in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, Taller Héctor Barroso has built five weekend houses, which adapt to the site’s topography. They are surrounded by tall pine trees (hence the name… between pine trees) that echo the sound of the wind.

The alignment sees the properties descend gradually to follow the topography of the sloping forest floor.

Each house—identical in its typology—consists of six volumes positioned in a way that they generate a void, a central patio. The patio grants views, silence and intimacy.

To the north the volumes are solid and closed. To the south, they open up to the garden and the forest, supplying the interior with daylight.

On the ground floor, living, dining, the kitchen and one of the bedrooms expand to the exteriors to join terraces, patios and the garden. On the top floor, three bedrooms frame the views to the magnificent pines.

A recess between two walls connects the communal path with the front door. A staircase ascends along the side of one of the blocks. It is exposed on the underside and hovers over a small garden next to the entrance.

Full-height windows and glazed doors make the most of the natural light in these south-facing rooms, lending the private space at the rear of the residences a much more open feel.

The materials, such as brick, wood and soil are all regional. The soil from the excavations has been taken and reused as the main material to cover the walls. Thereby, the architecture literally emerges from the ground.

The rendered brick gives the building its earthy tone. It creates a feeling of warmth and consistency throughout the interior spaces, complemented by natural stone flooring and the exposed timber framework.

The outdoor space is planted to create a feeling of continuity with the surrounding nature, with stones scattered across the floor and trees emerging above the adjacent structures.