Photography: CÉSAR BÉJAR STUDIO + DANE ALONSO / Text: PATRÍCIA RAMOS
06 / 05 / 2022
When architecture responds in an exemplary way to an idea as poetic as that of a startled child pulling up and covering themselves with their bedsheet. This “hill over the valley” embodies that feeling of protection and cosiness.
Feeling more secure and through small gaps, one can see what is going on outside.
This is how Rogelio Bores, founder of HW Studio, expressed the intended vision for this house, located at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres in El Vaquerito, in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. And if the concept alone was not already enough, the surrounding landscape, distinguished by extensive mountainous surfaces, provided continuity and impetus to the project, which was fully supported by the client.
The new hill, which emerges like a rising bed sheet, is supported by two concrete walls. Two other walls define the access route for guests entering the house. On this path, the building reveals a thoughtful approach to nature, deviating from its straight course so that a gentle bend can accommodate the large, age-old tree. The narrow path imposes a solitary and contemplative route, allowing you to touch that rough, woody trunk. We descend some steps of solid and pearl-like stone and then, beyond a heavy steel door, we encounter the beauty of a concrete dome, covered on the outside by a green mantle.
This is how Rogelio Bores, founder of HW Studio, expressed the intended vision for this house, located at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres in El Vaquerito, in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. And if the concept alone was not already enough, the surrounding landscape, distinguished by extensive mountainous surfaces, provided continuity and impetus to the project, which was fully supported by the client.
The new hill, which emerges like a rising bed sheet, is supported by two concrete walls. Two other walls define the access route for guests entering the house. On this path, the building reveals a thoughtful approach to nature, deviating from its straight course so that a gentle bend can accommodate the large, age-old tree. The narrow path imposes a solitary and contemplative route, allowing you to touch that rough, woody trunk. We descend some steps of solid and pearl-like stone and then, beyond a heavy steel door, we encounter the beauty of a concrete dome, covered on the outside by a green mantle.
Despite being located underground – cool and dark – the interior environment is altogether cosy. This balance is achieved through the materials chosen. The concrete used will endure the test of time and absorb the colours of the hills, the steel will eventually take on the tones of bark, while the wooden floors and furniture evoke the warm scents and textures of the forest. For this reason, the left side of the house is composed of the home’s social areas, opening up to the wooded ravine, full of pines, oaks and acacias. The right side of the home is made up of two bedrooms and a suite that, in a more circumspect way, have their own patio to admire the sky and the taller, more verdant treetops.
For more information, visit HW Studio Arquitectos website.
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