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This small house sits on the northern edge of the Basin of Mexico on a ranch outside Singuilucan, Hidalgo. Inspired by the imagined architecture of the region that inhabits José María Velasco's landscape paintings, the house replicates the formal qualities of those distant and miniaturized buildings. In that way, this house is a physicalization of a fictional vernacular. 

Formally, the house takes the development of the facade as a medium to replicate the informal aggregation of volumes and horizontality characteristic of the architectural elements in Velasco's paintings. This irregular silhouette organizes the program linearly in a plan that mirrors the outline of the facade. In an attempt to further emphasize the flatness of the building, the wall extends beyond the limits of the rooms containing the program, creating a linear datum in the plan drawing. The limited programmatic requirements of the house are stretched out in a 100-foot-long irregular enfilade, incorporating a storage room at one end of the house and two outdoor spaces adjacent to each of the bedrooms.

Built of locally-produced brick in its entirety, the aesthetic expression of this building is a direct consequence of the material and technical constraints surrounding this project. The design responds by deploying a simple but visually striking continuous brick surface, making the house disappear in two dimensions, flattened again onto a digital-esque texture pattern. Toward the interior, the house reveals its structural reality, exposing all the concrete beams and columns that support the seemingly weightless brick surface. 

The limited budget and the property's remote location limited access to specialized labor and materials. The design addresses these constraints through the simplicity of its detailing, construction processes, and limited material palette. The design, therefore, emphasizes scale, proportions, and the material expressivity of brick.

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Erich Mendelsohn Preis 2023 - Special Mention

Architizer A+ Awards 2024 - Architecture +Low Cost Design Special Mention