The Casa Dez Pés / Studio Font project is a solution for construction on challenging landscapes, based on the use of a repeating module that shifts by 50 cm in plan and 50 cm in cross-section. This allows the entire structure to harmonize with the existing vegetation and topography.
The building is located on rocky terrain with a slope of about 45°, at an altitude of 50 meters above Rinconcito beach in Mazunte, near Punta Cometa. Punta Cometa is a prominent rocky peninsula west of Mazunte, known for its open views of the Pacific Ocean. This site is the southernmost point of Oaxaca state and serves as a natural viewpoint with a 180-degree panorama combining the open sea, cliffs, and endless horizon, defining the project's territorial orientation.
The conceptual starting point for the house was to imitate the logic of Punta Cometa as a viewpoint meeting the sea. The architecture was reduced to the essentials: elevated roofs and slabs that function as living terraces, providing breeze passage and shade, as well as open spaces establishing a direct connection with the surrounding landscape.
The building's elevation allows for a design in direct contact with tree canopies, birds, ancient cacti, the sea, and the constant presence of Punta Cometa. The upper terraces accommodate the main life of the house, including an elevated pool overlooking both the ocean and the peninsula, as well as two pergolas and two sunbathing areas situated on different levels.
The central question was not what to build, but how to support these platforms on the cliff while avoiding invasive earthworks and large-scale excavation. Since the terrain is entirely rocky, heavy machinery is inapplicable, and all work is done manually. Consequently, the project uses a series of structural 'legs' that lift the slabs and rest point-wise on the ground, acting as isolated foundations.
These ten supports serve not only a load-bearing function. They also provide space for cabinets, showers, bathrooms, machinery, and storage, and help structure and divide various zones. In the tallest module, the supports are extended to accommodate two bedrooms and the main entrance, which is solved using floating stairs that seem to wrap around the existing rocks on the site.
Thanks to this strategy, the bedrooms are elevated, and the bed rests on a kind of pedestal, while the slab opens up, following the natural slope of the hillside. The project opens up to distant views as well as immediate vegetation, where the slope transforms into a vertical garden framing the architecture from the front and back.
As a result, the intervention minimally alters the landscape, preserving natural drainage and protecting the maximum possible number of existing trees. In three instances where trees could not be bypassed, they pass through the building, integrating directly into its spatial configuration.
Where the winding ridge of Punta Cometa meets the sea, the rock mass breaks down into rounded edges, eroded protrusions, and dense supports resistant to constant wave action. The project's structural columns replicate this formal state at the point where the architecture separates from the ground. Instead of solving these supports with straight sections and standard solutions, the project embraces the constructive complexity of curvature to match how the terrain meets the sea: without breaks, through forms capable of transmitting weight and stability via more organic geometries.
Unlike concrete walls and supports painted in the color of the terrain, wood plays a noticeable structural role in the large cantilevered roofs and pergolas. The roofs are made of a composite structure of lumber connected to a reinforced slab, allowing for large spans and creating deep shade on the living terraces. Compared to the mass and durability of concrete, wood in the pergolas lends a lighter and warmer feeling without losing structural capability.
Wood is also used in fixed furniture and blinds made of macuila—a dense and durable material suitable for local conditions of wind, salinity, and humidity. The builders' craftsmanship was critical to realizing these solutions. Walls are formed using hand-curved frames and ribbed formwork, allowing for enclosed curved corners with a continuous covering of resinous plywood. Instead of obvious textures or planks, the project chooses softness as a constructive and spatial criterion.
The development of the building was constantly adjusted according to local conditions. The working design was adapted in real-time as construction progressed, encountering stationary rocks, discrepancies in topographic surveys, cyclones, and storms, adjusting to the rhythms dictated by the place, climate, and local community.
Mazunte has an organized community that actively participates in caring for and managing its territory. The project was developed in close coordination with neighbors during both the approval stage and when determining infrastructure, layout, and execution of works. Construction relied on local networks for material supply and labor hiring, as well as direct purchases from residents of the immediate vicinity, integrating the house into the region's existing social and production processes.
The hydraulic infrastructure was solved by reusing an existing reservoir on the site and supplementing it with a biodigester for treating black and grey water. This system ensures biological waste decomposition and reduces the load on the immediate surroundings, avoiding traditional high-impact solutions. The strategy prioritizes adaptation and the use of what already exists over implementing additional systems.
The client summarizes the project experience, noting that what he likes most about the house is that he never remembers what it looks like. It is architecture that completely adapts to the terrain, supported by ten pillars and inhabited across multiple levels, until it dissolves into the natural complexity of the place.
The Nereidas Homes architectural project is situated in the arid landscape of Baja California, near Todos Santos. This development occupies an area of six hundred square meters, distinguished by the presence of sculptural cacti and expansive views encompassing both the Sierra de la Laguna and the Pacific Ocean.
The design of the house is based on the idea of being fragmented into several architectural pieces. This arrangement aims to ensure privacy for each living unit while establishing an intentional and specific visual connection with the natural surroundings. This approach distributes domestic life across the entire terrain, avoiding the creation of a single closed block.
The structure is organized through private rooms and a shared common area, seeking a balance between the feeling of enclosure and openness within the lot. Individual spaces are designed to focus on carefully framed views, while collective areas extend longitudinally, utilizing the vastness of the landscape for shared use.
There are three private units spread across the terrain. Each one functions as a continuous space, where activities such as sleeping, resting, and bathing occur without internal divisions. The curved internal walls open up to three distinct windows, each framing a different section of the landscape and creating varied atmospheres within the same environment. Essential furniture, such as beds, seating, wardrobes, and bathrooms, is integrated into the architectural shell, ensuring that each function maintains its own visual focus, even while being in a unified spatial volume. Access to the roof enhances this vertical experience, strengthening the direct link between the private space, the sky, and the horizon.
The main shared area is defined by two intersecting roofs. This space houses an outdoor fireplace with a double height and a circular cascading pool, offering various settings for socializing, dining, and relaxation. Being completely open, this structure maintains a constant visual and spatial alignment with the desert. The overlapping planes create deep shadows, and the changes in height guide movement without relying on traditional partitions.
The entire building was constructed using pigmented concrete, which serves as both a structural element and a cladding. The rosy tone applied to the material lends warmth to the building, allowing it to reflect changes in luminosity throughout the day and accentuating the contrast with the surrounding vegetation, especially after rain when the landscape takes on a greener hue. Environmental systems were incorporated into the design, making the house completely autonomous (off-grid). Energy is supplied by photovoltaic solar panels, and a thermal solar heater provides hot water. Furthermore, water reuse systems reduce pressure on local resources, and all flora removed during construction was replanted on site, preserving the existing desert ecosystem.
Nereidas Homes presents a way of living in the desert that considers architecture as a built condition intended for permanence. In this sense, the residence approaches the notion of a contemporary ruin: a durable structure that supports life while allowing the climate, time, and landscape to act upon it.
The Casa CCE / ONA project, conceived as a mobile architecture office, was implemented in the Chacras de Coria region, located in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza. This location features a semi-urban environment characterized by single-story houses, vineyards, and alders, elements that compose the cultural landscape of the Gran Mendoza base.
The residence has a total area of 170 square meters, distributed entirely on the ground floor. Its emergence was motivated by the desire to establish an introspective nature refuge that simultaneously established a dialogue with its surroundings through an approach based on containment and managed openness.
