Articles by Daniel Tapia

Located five kilometres from the town of Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, our proposal arises from the collaboration between different architects, developers and above all the inhabitants, in a project of designing the homes of thirty-eight families in a community dedicated to agriculture. This group of homes is a clear example of participatory and community architecture, where residents were interviewed to represent their ideal home in a drawing, collecting different points of view on their lifestyle and traditions.

This house was born with the aim of being a place to be outdoors. The fundamental characteristic of the neighborhood was its flood condition, being part of the Paraná river delta, this meant the need to raise it. With these conditions and being a land bounded in dimensions, the challenge was to have the largest amount of space on the ground floor for social areas. The existence of a waterway in the background generated the premise of guiding the main visuals in that regard.

The gently sloping plot is located near the sea and bordered to the north by the street. The surrounding buildings represent the architecture of single-family houses of different eras. The challenge was to solve two detached houses in place of one demolished house so that the buildings would naturally sit on the plot, providing both houses with privacy and the best views. At the same time, comfortable outdoor areas should be created. Old stone fences, rocks, and pines gave the site a temporal perspective. The commissioners gave free rein to the architecture but wished for a beautiful and durable whole.

The house in Mishref is home to two brothers and their families with their varying lifestyles and needs for privacy and open spaces. An introverted composition of two separate living units grouped around an internal courtyard, the house is an interpretation of the traditional courtyard house. Presenting a clean and serene façade to the street, the resulting massing manifests as a white monolithic volume poised elegantly on top of a stone cladded podium. The rhythmic arrangement of louvered windows across the façade softens the volume by lending it a sense of lightness.