Cárpatos
Rafael Gamo

Cárpatos | IUA Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos + Vieyra Estudio

IUA Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos como Arquitetos

The project is located in a low-density residential area in Mexico City, where zoning rules currently permit one house to be built per each 1,000 m2 of land. In this area, there are a number of lots that were subdivided before this norm came into force, but they are few and they tend to have specific characteristics. In this case we worked with a 400 m2 site that has a 10-meter frontage and is 40 meters in depth.

photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta

The narrow, elongated site—combined with the strict norms in force—were the first external factors determining the form of the house. The restrictions to the front and the rear, both of 5 meters, combined with the lateral setback of 3 meters, decide the exact perimeter of the construction.

photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta

The design strategy pointed towards creating the largest possible interior space, while seeking a sensation of openness and a continuous relationship with the exterior. As a result, a perimeter garden—designed to be like a cloud forest—surrounds three sides of the steel and glass structure. At the center of the project, adjacent to the vertical circulations, another garden is inserted in a void that multiplies this interior-exterior relationship and the breadth, while also functioning as a nucleus regulating the ambient temperature.

photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta

The rigidity of the volume is softened with specific gestures and interventions; the strict modulation is adapted to the use and the program it contains, while the perimeter of the exterior space is continually interrupted by vegetation. The basement voids suggest an interior and exterior circulation of the volume; the reflective façade endows it with a shifting appearance that makes it different and new over the course of the day and with new weather conditions.

photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta

The interior of the volume is dynamic, with double-height spaces, bridges and roofed external terraces that interweave with the structure to generate a spatial sensation that flows with the exterior and the habitation of the box.

photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta

The program is grouped and distributed by floor; a basement contains the services and additional uses such as gym, games room, office and wine cellar. The first floor distributes the social areas of the house and establishes them in direct relation to the perimeter garden. The second floors comprises three bedrooms, while the roof terrace, between adjacent gardens and clay roofs, is an extension of the house’s social space, wholly given over to a children’s play area. These four levels are articulated by the vertical circulations and the different voids that break up the uniformity of the box.

photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta

The color of the structure is borrowed from the Pantone of Le Corbusier, and chosen to blend perfectly with the green hues of the vegetation and the landscape.

The blue/green tinted windows act as mirrors on the outside, reflecting the skies, landscape and adjacent constructions. The intention is to camouflage the house with the immediate surroundings; the windows, together with the light gray stucco calms the light in the interior and gives the cold and rigid volume a feeling of unexpected warmth.

photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
photo_credit Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta
Rafael Gamo, Estudio Urquiza (Ignacio Urquiza), Arturo Arrieta

The Lorena Vieyra furnishings and the different layers and textures of the curtains selected for the home interiors establish an interplay with the transparencies and dress the whole. Together with the existing vegetation and landscaping by Thalia Davidoff, all these elements reinforce the sensation of inhabiting a cloud forest where the clarity that marks a division between the interior, the exterior and the physical limits of the property is blurred.

photo_credit IUA Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos + Vieyra Estudio
IUA Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos + Vieyra Estudio
photo_credit IUA Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos + Vieyra Estudio
IUA Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos + Vieyra Estudio
photo_credit IUA Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos + Vieyra Estudio
IUA Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos + Vieyra Estudio
Products Behind Projects
Product Spotlight
Notícias
Sports Hall by Grido architekti references functionalism of 1930s Czech architecture
17 fev. 2025 Notícia
Pavilhão desportivo da Grido architekti faz referência ao funcionalismo da arquitetura checa dos anos 30

O estúdio de arquitetura checo Grido architekti concebeu um pavilhão desportivo para o... Mais

UNStudio’s new Chongqing development balances demand for high-rise living with health and well-being of residents
11 fev. 2025 Notícia
O novo projeto do UNStudio em Chongqing equilibra a procura de edifícios altos com a saúde e o bem-estar dos residentes

O gabinete internacional de arquitetura e design UNStudio concluiu o 18T Mansion, um empreendimento... Mais

Archello houses of the month - January 2025
6 fev. 2025 Notícia
Casas Archello do mês - janeiro de 2025

A Archello selecionou as suas casas do mês para janeiro de 2025. Esta lista apresenta 20 das c... Mais

Polish Embassy in Berlin by JEMS Architekci is a “testament to architectural diplomacy”
6 fev. 2025 Notícia
A Embaixada da Polónia em Berlim, da autoria de JEMS Architekci, é um "testemunho da diplomacia arquitetónica"

A nova Embaixada da Polónia em Berlim foi inaugurada oficialmente a 17 de janeiro de 2025, um... Mais

Ika.architekti builds fun and functional DIY sauna in Brno
3 fev. 2025 Notícia
Ika.architekti constrói uma sauna DIY divertida e funcional em Brno

A empresa ika.architekti, sediada em Brno, construiu uma sauna reciclada utilizando uma série... Mais

HGAA expands restaurant in Bãi Cháy with a building that embraces nature
29 jan. 2025 Notícia
HGAA amplia restaurante em Bãi Cháy com um edifício que abraça a natureza

O estúdio de arquitetura vietnamita HGAA foi incluído na lista da Archello dos 25 melh... Mais

Mole Architects elevates “mundane” 1960s English bungalow with new extension
29 jan. 2025 Notícia
Mole Architects eleva o "mundano" bungalow inglês dos anos 60 com uma nova extensão

O estúdio de arquitetura Mole Architects, sediado em Cambridge, concluiu a modernizaç&... Mais