Tag Archives: mexico

This Mexican Hotel Is A Family Of Treehouses Designed To Improve Its Guests’ Mental Heath

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Nestled in the easternmost state of Mexico, Quintana Roo is the stunning hotel Boca de Agua. Designed by Mexico City architect Frida Escobedo, who is the winner of the 2024 Charlotte Perriand Award, the hotel is located next to the Bacalar Lagoon which is defined by clean blue waters that instantly invite you in. The crystal clear waters of the lagoon seem like an instant relief from the heat of the Mexican environment! The Boca de Agua is a family of minimal wooden treehouses that are surrounded by lush greenery and foliage.

Designer: Frida Escobeda

The holiday destination is brimming to the top with greenery in an effort to have a positive and calming impact on the guests’ mental health, while also positively affecting the natural environment. “Since my early twenties, I started suffering from crippling anxiety,” said Boca de Agua’s founder Rodrigo Juarez. “The only times I was able to get out of this frustrating loop was when I would spend extended periods of time in nature. Since this realization, I began a long journey to try to develop a project in the intersection of natural conservation and mental health – and Boca de Agua was born.” Juarez wanted to extend that calming sensation he experienced in nature to others, providing them with a peaceful haven of sorts.

The hotel includes 22 raised structures, some of which are one-bedroom, while others are two bedrooms and two restaurants. One of the restaurants features a stargazing platform on top. The property also includes a lagoon deck, a petanque court, and a spa with four mature chaká trees surrounding it.

Besides being a lush and relaxing location, the Boca de Agua hotel also aims to engage local small businesses and provide employment to emerging professionals from underrepresented groups. The design of the hotel is also sustainable and is highlighted by an Escobedo staple, which is latticework. The latticework ensures natural ventilation and shade while providing the space with an artisanal and charming vibe. At the same time, it ensures that the site utilizes timber, and employs local labor and construction techniques, irrespective of its modern design.

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Massive basalt-clad home in Mexico is topped with a rooftop pool

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Mexico-based studio Reims 502 designed a massive residence in Querétaro, Mexico accentuated with warm walnut and dark basalt finishes. The expansive home features a rooftop pool and a lovely garden area. Designers Eduardo Reims and Andrea Maldonado work under the name Reims 502 and finished the 1000 square feet residence on a quarter-acre plot in 2023. The rather intriguing-looking home is called Casa Basaltica.

Designer: Reims 502

The residence has been placed on a bike path that subtly surrounds a lake. A major challenge faced by the architects was to create a private interior space for the residents, without compromising on the stunning view. “The answer was simple. Reverse the planting of the program compared to the neighboring houses,” said the team. The ground floor of the home accommodates the private, family, and recreational spaces which form the foundation of the building. One side of the property is marked by four suites, which create a layered sawtooth transition amped with a screened porch. The porch is surrounded by movable shutters built out of thin basalt stone bars which function as blinds, and a thermal buffer to curb the need for air conditioning.

The top floor holds all the public spaces such as the living room, dining room, kitchen, and terrace. These spaces have been arranged around a massive garden and a pool. The rooms on the upper floor have been placed behind the perimeter of the home on the park side, to introduce another layer of privacy. The service areas have been positioned underground, with a side courtyard for natural lighting and ventilation.

The exterior of the home is quite interesting as well, as it has been clad in bands of durable and resilient basalt stone which has been arranged in an interesting vertical panel pattern. However, the material changes and swaps into multi-toned walnut planks at the garage and the rounded corner entryway. The walnut stave is included in the interiors as well, “creating an atmosphere of warmth and timelessness inside.” Solar panels have been integrated into the home for water heating, energy ventilation, and water recycling to “contribute to its overall sustainable performance,” the studio concluded.

The post Massive basalt-clad home in Mexico is topped with a rooftop pool first appeared on Yanko Design.

This prefab house is an energy-efficient & modular dwelling made entirely from aluminum!

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Prefab architecture is the future of the home construction industry – they reduce the impact on the environment, have a much faster turnaround time, and are relatively cost-effective. A shining example of what the future will look like is the Pi House that was assembled in 45 days on a wooded hillside in the Mexico City Colonia of Bosques de las Lomas. The highly energy-efficient home was built with an ingenious, fully customizable modular construction system, and only aluminum was used for the frame.

The prefab dwelling comes flat-packed in multiple boxes and can be assembled in 45 days without the help of heavy machinery. It uses extrusion-die aluminum framing that’s anchored with rebar to the ground or a poured concrete foundation. Just like a Lego set, there is a network of steel doughnuts that spans lengths of up to 30 feet to support the structure.

The aluminum studs link seamlessly to joists and the exterior cladding is clipped onto the frame. It’s a method that could be extended to 45 feet which makes it modular and easier to expand in case the home belongs to a growing family. Pi House can be shipped anywhere, the system allows it to be the perfect structure for single-family homes as well as larger projects like social housing.

Pi Home can be fully customized right from the interior to furniture selection and even the fabrics to the veneer of the wall panels. The walls and floors are composed of MDF with the wood veneer clipped to the aluminum structure. Insulation between the exterior cladding and interior walls gives the home an energy-efficiency rating as high as R30 depending on its thickness.

The rear curtain wall system opens to an outdoor patio raised above the wooded landscape. Retractable screens allow for shade and privacy in the living area. The main bedroom on the second floor takes advantage of the curtain wall’s openness. The first prototype is a luxurious version that is furnished with state-of-the-art appliances and high-quality materials.

The Pi Home is adaptable to different site conditions and has been engineered to withstand the earthquakes that are common to Mexico City. Double-glazed windows facing south provide both insulation and adequate heat gain for the cooler climate of the city’s higher altitude in Bosques de las Lomas. “You have all of this midcentury inheritance, but truly, when you visit these houses in California, it was all very aesthetic, but it was unlivable on a hot or cold day. We have to take the step and accomplish having efficient thermal living inside the house,” elaborates Aragonés.

Personally, I love the wraparound veranda the most. It is bordered with glass which creates additional outdoor space. The walls and joists have thermal and waffle insulation packages that meet California’s high R22 sustainability standards. This achieves a complete thermal break to prevent leakage of heat through the structure.

The sweeping windows are all double-glazed and using aluminum for the construction makes it a far more sustainable structure compared to traditional homes. Aluminum is one of the most easily and widely recycled materials giving the house an especially circular life cycle while those made with concrete are the biggest global contributors of carbon emissions for the construction industry.

“It’s important to emphasize this being not only a modular system, but a construction system, so it can transform according to the site’s topography and dimensions. If you need to adapt it for a particular project or landscape, you’re easily able to adjust the construction system,” adds Rafael Aragonés who is the son of architect Miguel Aragonés and an associate in the studio.

The Pi House has received an international patent in Switzerland for being the first-of-its-kind structure for aluminum houses and once the International Code Council building certified the process, Taller Aragonés will expand the market to California, New York, and Texas. The aluminum frame, speed of assembly, and cheaper shipping make it about a third of the cost of a typical construction — which is why I called it the modern home affordable of the future that will help more people become homeowners faster while reducing the carbon footprint at a family level.

Designer: Taller Aragonés

These volcanic stone cabins merge with the pre-existing trees to minimize the home’s footprint!

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In response to the world’s climate crisis, architects have been designing homes and cabins that leave a small footprint on the area where it’s built. Tiny mobile homes that don’t require an in-ground foundation have surged in popularity, as well as homes with an architectural layout that weaves the building’s frame through the natural paths created by the area’s pre-existing vegetation and trees. Inspired by the forest’s natural canopy and crisscrossing natural sunlight, Mexico City’s architecture studio Weber Arquitectos built a holiday cabin from volcanic stone that integrates the land’s trees into the cabin’s living spaces.

Comprising a total of 5,000 m2 of forested land, Rancho San Simón makes up a cluster of five cabins located deep in the forests of Mexico’s Valle de Bravo, a coastal town popularized as a weekend getaway. Drawn and built to cause as little disruption to the pre-existing landscape as possible, the five cabins of Rancho San Simón weave between the forest’s scattered trees and actually incorporate their trunks and canopies into Rancho San Simón’s layout. Stationed beneath the trees’ cavernous canopies overhead, the builders of Rancho San Simón punctuated the cabins’ patios and terraces with tree trunks, offering the illusion that the cabins somehow emerged from the ground below.

The cabins’ semi-outdoor pitched roofs tilt with the forest’s sloped terrain and create deep terraces with high roofs that morph them into forest caverns. Oriented in a way that provides viewpoints for every window, each cabin of Rancho San Simón comes with its own terrace that merges with the trees. The expansive windows rise from the cabin’s floor to its high ceilings, formed from geometric angles and framed with treated wood lattices that strain the natural sunlight pouring in from outside.

Primarily constructed from volcanic stone, Rancho San Simón carries an internal structure derived from local pine trees that warms up the cabin’s grey exterior with hearty wooden beams and pillars. Inside and out, Rancho San Simón exudes warmth with a white oak interior and presents as a wooded haven in the dark of the forest.

Designer: Weber Arquitectos

Fully integrated into Valle de Bravo’s forests, Rancho San Simón follows a layout that weaves between the trees to not disrupt the pre-existing landscape.

The patios of Rancho San Simón merge with the trees, allowing their trunks to bloom through the patio’s floor.

Inside, warm wooden beams fortify the different levels of Rancho San Simón.

Fireplaces and white oak walls also help to warm up Rancho San Simón’s interior.

Warm wood accents glow alongside the building’s volcanic stone structure.

Pitched roofs tilt with the forest’s terrain.

The cabin’s patio levels the buildings against the sloped forest landscape.

Latticed wooden overhangs create crisscrossed displays of natural sunlight.

Skylights pour sunlight from the home’s ceiling, drenching each cabin in natural light.

Downstairs, the darker interior design elements solidify Rancho San Simón as a cavern in the deep forest.

Muted white walls brighten interior living spaces like the kitchen, using natural resources like sunlight to open up the room.

This sustainable mirrored cabin has a special ultraviolet coating that helps avoid bird accidents!

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Mirrored cabins look beautiful because they blend into the landscape naturally. However, the biggest problem mirrored cabins have is that they confuse birds and cause many accidents resulting in bird deaths. A mirror can be psychologically damaging to a bird because it cannot perceive reflection and confuses it with reality so it might try to fly through the mirror or attack its own reflection thinking it’s another bird.  Keeping this in mind,  Prashant Ashoka who designed Casa Etérea’s made sure that this modern cabin will not be detrimental to birds that live in areas surrounding the dormant Palo Huérfano volcano in central Mexico. Apart from birds, the reflective structure is also self-sustaining and environmentally friendly!

Nestled just 20 minutes from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (a UNESCO World Heritage Site),  Casa Etérea provides breathtaking views of the volcanic and starry landscape. “The vision was to create a theatre to nature, so sustainability was crucial in achieving a truly complete integration with the environment,” explains Ashoka. Not only does the glass and mirror exterior reflect the hillsides and mesquite trees, but a special patterned, ultraviolet coating allows birds to see it as a structure that eliminates the risk of impact. The off-the-grid cabin can host two people comfortably within the 75-square-meter space. It is 100% powered by solar panels and includes all amenities for a comfortable stay like a king-sized bed, a luxurious living space, a kitchen and laundry facilities. Casa Etérea includes a water harvesting system that collects and reuses rainwater for daily activities and is enough to fill the striking copper bathtub perched next to the bed. Ashoka chose natural materials like jute, leather, wood, and stone to align the interior aesthetic with the scenic setting of the cabin while keeping sustainability at its core.

To ensure minimal site impact, the entire foundation was formed from rocks collected from the surrounding mountain. Casa Etérea is positioned in a way that allows for effective ventilation and the insulating glass regulates temperature control – it is highly energy-efficient without sacrificing the panoramic views from the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors. You can open the cabin to the outdoors and step directly onto the patio or enjoy the pool area olive and pomegranate trees provide natural shade. Ashoka also wanted to engage the local community meaningfully so guests at the cabin will be connected with local providers for activities like horseback riding, guided hikes, and ATV tours. The name Etérea translates from Spanish to ethereal, and the cabin’s design embodies the art, beauty and connection to the natural environment in every element that holds it up.

Designer: Prashant Ashoka

Amazon workers plan Black Friday strikes and protests in 15 countries

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Amazon warehouse workers in several countries are planning to carry out strikes and protests on Black Friday, one of the biggest sales events of the year for the company. Among other things, they'll call on Amazon to improve pay and safety conditions...

Microsoft will start testing xCloud in four more countries on November 18th

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Microsoft will bring Xbox cloud gaming (aka Project xCloud) to Android phones and tablets in four more countries next week. An invite-only preview will go live in Japan, Australia, Brazil and Mexico on November 18th. You can register today for a shot...

Uber will test an audio recording safety feature in Brazil and Mexico

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A couple months ago, we learned that Uber was testing a feature that would allow riders to record audio through the app if they felt unsafe during a trip. Now, Uber is launching a pilot of that audio-recording feature in select cities in Brazil and M...

Fox Sports is creating exclusive, interactive shows for Facebook Watch

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ESPN isn't the only big broadcaster committing to exclusive sports shows on Facebook Watch. Fox Sports is teaming up with Facebook to create unique interactive shows for Watch viewers, including a marquee Fox Football Sunday program. The Monday mor...

Hacker posts over 4,000 sensitive documents from Mexican embassy

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Thousands of documents containing sensitive information belonging to Mexico's embassy in Guatemala were leaked online this week by a hacker. The stolen cache contained more than 4,800 files related to the embassy's activities including its dealings w...