Architecture Wednesday: Narigua House

Narigua House is located in El Jonuco, a neighborhood of tall mountains and slender valleys where the inhabitants live surrounded by typical Mexican vegetation and wildlife.

Oh, and they live in luxury, too.

The site is densely populated by local trees that posed a serious design challenge, but the home was designed to enjoy the views while respecting the existing ecosystem. Since the growth of the cedar trees would block the views, it was decided to lift the house and make it fly above the trees and add a mildly sloping driveway to reach the ground floor.

The floor plan is divided into zones that gather around a group of old cedar trees and because each level responds to different conditions, each plan, in itself simple, is different to the others.

The building is also divided in three different volumes. The first contains the garage and storage spaces while the entrance hall, master bedroom and staircase to the lower level are located in the second volume; the third contains the kitchen, service and social areas. Life in the house moves outdoors along the west side with a group of terraces that overlook the focal point of the residence: two spectacular mountains that almost touch.

The lower level serves as a plinth for the ground floor and contains a number of what the architect calls “recyclable” chambers: room with furniture that allows them to transform into the guest bedrooms. This floor also contains two half-buried technical rooms that free the rooftop to be enjoyed as another vista to the mountains.

Contrary to its massive exterior image, inside the house the use of glass makes the exterior views part of everyday life. The material palette gives the project a rustic, timeless appearance that serves as background for antiques and contemporary furniture, paintings, masks and sculptures; these “treasures” keep the eyes inside before allowing them to escape toward to the natural beauty beyond the glass.

It seems like an area that might almost be uninhabitable, but if this is an indication of how one lives in El Jonuco then sign me up!

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