The specific interventions carried out at the Hacienda de San Juan Bautista Amalucan are embedded within the site’s recent history.
At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, the hacienda began hosting a wide range of social events and celebrations—cinema screenings, brand presentations, documentaries, graduations, and, for obvious reasons, religious celebrations associated with the Jesuit church, which houses a remarkable altarpiece dedicated to the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Within this mestizo, hybrid, and itinerant equation of events taking place throughout the year, one element was still missing to complete the experience: an accommodation program for guests, sponsors, and newlyweds. The family that acquired the hacienda in the 20th century, during a particularly productive period, initiated this commission, bringing with it the energy of those who inhabit the property during the week while, in some way, coexisting with its events toward the end of each week.
Gradually, a relationship developed with the owning family, who live the hacienda intensely and inhabit it with universal accessibility—something quite unusual for a building of this nature. At the same time, an academic relationship emerged. University design studios generated different scenarios and proposals, with members of the family participating as jurors in both midterm and final reviews.
The potential of the site was measured, while envisioning the possible direction the hacienda could take through different programs for future generations.
The project originated with the maintenance of several areas and the restoration of the façades. Bathrooms were renovated and several roofs repaired. As a way of concluding and consolidating these renovations for guest accommodation, new interventions were introduced along the first bay, the first line of the hacienda—the threshold separating the calpanerías (a remarkable architectural typology found throughout the territory of Puebla, historically used as workers’ housing) from the jagüey, the traditional water reservoir, and the courtyard of the Jesuit nave.
The proposal establishes a series of rooms that operate as guest accommodation within the Hacienda de Amalucan.
STRATEGIES AND CONCERNS
Operations and Actions
Image and Renewal
Maintenance and painting were carried out through traditional repair techniques and a color palette consistent with heritage regulations.
1. Façade and spatial image
The intervention addresses façades, walls, architectural details, vaults, and the transitions that define the circulation throughout the hacienda.
2. Pilot projects and architectural scenarios
The project generates pilot interventions and urban-architectural scenarios from within academia—thinking about architecture in the classroom while putting the practice and craft of the profession into action.
3. Reconfiguration of existing spaces
An old space within the family courtyard of the hacienda, formerly operating as an apartment, was reconfigured, together with a guest cabin overlooking the great nave of the church. This intervention gave rise to a new program: Gasthof Amalucan.
Design Criteria
Without a doubt, silence and truth operate as the coordinates of thought. These principles activate a series of urban-architectural acupuncture points throughout the hacienda complex.
The main façade of the property is renewed through the transformation of the zaguán—an ancestral threshold historically used for the passage of livestock. Today, it becomes a promenade for people moving between the church and the courtyards, culminating in a landscape of encounters, conversations, and laughter before arriving at the events platform.
ORIGIN
Layers of History
Ancestral Centrality
