Hasta La Ideas

Mexican architects Fernanda Canales and Arquitectura 911sc have wrapped a concrete and glass frame around the front of an old house near Mexico City to convert the building into a public library (+ slideshow).

The Elena Garro Cultural Centre is a two-storey library in Coyoacán, south of the city.

The rectangular concrete volume extends from the brick and plaster facade of the early twentieth-century house, doubling the floorspace inside the property and creating a new entrance.

The front elevation is fully glazed and integrates a system of vertical louvres, which rotate to allow ventilation through the building during its opening hours.

A double-height foyer sits behind the new facade, which Fernanda Canales and Saidee Springall of Arquitectura 911sc imagined as an indoor courtyard overlooked by the balconies and windows of the original building.

Trees continue to grow up through the centre of the room and one emerges through a large skylight.

“The project is the idea of highlighting the existing house and making an ‘open’ library space,” explains Arquitectura 911sc. “Thus, a transparent block ‘draws’ books forward into the street and at the same time incorporates trees inside.”

The first floor of the old building is replaced, creating a mezzanine of reading rooms and balconies.

A multi-purpose room and storerooms are also contained within the old building, while parking areas are located in the basement.

Doors at the back of the building lead out to a courtyard and cafe.

Another recent project by Fernanda Canales is a concrete house in Mexico City. See more architecture in Mexico.

See more libraries on Dezeen, including one controlled by robots and one lined with walnut.

Photography is by Sandra Pereznieto.

Here’s a little more information from the architects:

Elena Garro Cultural Centre

The project, located in Coyoacán, is an adaptation of an existing house, a listed building from early-20th century, which was transformed into a cultural centre on Fernández Leal Street.

The need to preserve the existing property led to the decision that the project would highlight the new uses and, at the same time, respect the original shell.

Thus, the project consists of several elements that define the intervention: a first part which marks the entrance, a kind of frame, linking the building with the street and highlighting the existing house; secondly, a series of gardens and courtyards surrounding the project and inserted inside; and, finally, a rectangular volume at the back of the site, developed on three levels, consisting of a multi-purpose room, storerooms, and parking lots on ground floor. These pieces mark the different paths and manage to bind all the parts of the project.

The first element, which extends from the street by means of the pavement, frames the existing house, highlighting the central access porch and leading into the library, composed of double heights and perforations for natural light to enter.

The old house becomes the central space, dedicated to the library, which is visible from the street, as a large and public space.

By means of a ladder which resembles the original one, the visitor is taken to the top floor of the library.

All three volumes are connected together on the first level through the library, with a ladder to the bottom of the rear volume that connects the different levels and also gives access from the parking lot. This staircase also leads to a terrace on the roof plant.

By means of the aisle inside the library, the project is connected to the new volume to the back of the property. The connection of the two bodies is built around a sequence of full and empty, with a courtyard and an elevator handled as transparent box, as the centerpiece of the joint. This small courtyard, a small cafeteria, evidences the “bridge” connecting the two volumes.

The entire project is seen as a separate part of the existing house and can allow at all times a reversible intervention if necessary. Using materials such as volcanic stone on the exteriors, as well as tzalam wood and gray granite on the indoors, the whole complex is integrated.

Architectural project: Fernanda Canales + Saidee Springall + arquitectura911sc
Location: Coyoacán, Ciudad de México
Year: 2013

Artistic collaboration: Paloma Torres
Landscape: Entorno – Tonatiuh, Martínez y Hugo Sánchez
Surface: 1,500 m2

The post Elena Garro Cultural Centre by
Fernanda Canales and Arquitectura 911sc appeared first on Dezeen.

A high-walled courtyard runs parallel to this long black house in Mexico City by DCPP Arquitectos.

The plot is divided into two narrow rectangles, with the house on one side and the courtyard on the other.

Inside the courtyard is a wooden screen which stands out against the surrounding black walls.

Glazing on the courtyard side of the house provides views to the outdoor space from the kitchen, living area and upstairs bedroom.

Stairs at the far end of the house lead up to a bedroom and extra living area on the middle floor.

Another set of stairs in the centre of the house lead to a further two bedrooms and an outdoor terrace on the top floor.

We’ve also recently featured proposals by DCPP Arquitectos for a tower block with protruding swimming pools – see it here alongside a few more of their projects.

See all our stories from Mexico »

Photographs are by Onnis Luque.

Here’s some more information from DCPP Arquitectos:

Cerrada Reforma 108 is a residential project located in San Ángel, in the south of Mexico City. The plot is rectangular and its dimensions are 10 x 20 metres.

The concept of the house parted from the idea of positive and negative space, seeking to create a game of counterparts to define and virtually contain the exterior space.

We decided to construct only half of the plot with a longitudinal block of 5 x 20 metres that corresponds to the house.

The negative space is conceived as the open space or public area, which is contained but not occupied, it has exactly the same dimensions but is not built, creating a dialogue between this counterparts.

Ground floor plan – click above for larger image

The built block dialogues with its open counterpart through a transparent façade all along the side, leaving open one of its faces.

First floor plan – click above for larger image

In this way, the only closed elements are the private areas such as bathrooms and kitchen.

Second floor plan – click above for larger image

The counterpart of the transparent façade is a solid wall with the same height that contains the open space. This helps close the visibility towards the neighbours, giving privacy to the house.

The post Casa Cerrada Reforma 108
by DCPP Arquitectos appeared first on Dezeen.

Rectilinear blocks of glass and concrete overlap one another at this house in Mexico City by architect Fernanda Canales (+ slideshow).

Glazed walls have been positioned on the longer side elevations rather than at the front and back to screen the interior spaces from neighbouring properties and the adjacent street.

Concrete walls behind the glazed parts of the exterior conceal the kitchen on the ground floor, as well as bathrooms and dressing rooms on the two storeys above.

A three and half storey-high bookshelf stretches down though each of the floors and into the basement, where it is used for storing wine.

Exposed concrete has been popular in a few Mexican houses we’ve featured, including one with a twisted upper floor and one with wonky windows and a glass bridge.

See all our stories about Mexico »

Photography is by Sandra Pereznieto, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some extra information from Canales:

Maruma House

In a city with almost 20 million inhabitants, the project became a way to explore the fiction of individuality as well as to deal with disguised luxury.

Above: photograph is by Luis Gordoa

Located in a residential area in the central part of Mexico City, the house becomes an exercise to achieve simultaneously openness and privacy.

Above: photograph is by Luis Gordoa

Between a strong urban and social complexity and searching for the essence of primitive dwelling, the house deals with spatial continuity alongside with a bold presence.

How is it possible to accomplish spaciousness while surrounded by massive houses on adjacent sites?

Above: photograph is by Luis Gordoa

How is it possible to achieve spatial flexibility under a program based on divided and isolates spaces?

With a system of overlapping boxes the project takes shape allowing fluid space by adding up and connecting different areas, and in other cases, leaving the boxes as independent and closed elements.

Considering the project as an occasion to test unconventional layouts, the house plus garden logic is rejected, allowing dwelling spaces, roof terraces and natural landscape to blen seamlessly together.

Above: photograph is by Luis Gordoa

By continuing the linear condition of the plot, the project takes shape as an elongated and elevated body sitting over a transparent volume opened up onto the garden on the ground level that separates the house from the limits of the site thus emphasizing the independency in relation to the adjacent houses.

Another rectangular volume is placed on the second level and continues the play of overlapped boxes, opening up to a series of terraces.

The house, characterized by the use of natural light, is aligned slightly to its northern limit in order to generate a garden and greater openings that take advantage of daylight.

On the shortest sides of the site, the front and the back of the house are solid faces, while the house opens to both of its longitudinal sides.

Above: photograph is by Luis Gordoa

With the idea to create wide-open spaces and take advantage of the orientations, the ground floor is designed as the most public space, made up by a rectangular volume, with gardens to both of its sides, allowing a flexible space opened entirely to the exterior.

A smaller box –which houses the access, a small living room, the kitchen and a roofed terrace- intersects the transparent volume and holds the rest of the house which seems to float above.

Click above for larger image

The service areas are placed in the basement trying to free as much space for the garden as possible.

Click above for larger image

The volume that contains the living room and main entrance is a compact box that holds a green terrace on top which, along with a series of balconies for each bedroom, tries to set apart the house from the neighbour.

Click above for larger image

The first level, destined to bedrooms and a family room, is designed as an elongated and transparent body at both of its long facades, interrupted only by three small solid boxes which house bathrooms and closets.

By alternating the balconies of the bedrooms with these concrete boxes, the play between solids and voids that characterises the project is accentuated.

The piece that connects the different spaces is a large wooden bookshelf that holds the central staircase and goes all the way from the basement to the top floor.

The stairs, with the bookshelf on one of its sides, generate a wall-furniture which starts at the access door and goes through the living room until it bends and elevates to the next level converted as a bookshelf at the top floor of the house.

This three-story tall bookshelf unfolds into the basement as a wine cellar, generating a wooden body on every level has varying openings depending on the privacy and program of each area.

Towards the street, the house is seen as an anonymous volume. This external solidity is interrupted at the interior with a small patio in the area near the main access that connects with the living room and garden.

By means of the overlapping of solids and void the house is perceived to have larger spaces allowing the landscape to blend into its interior as well as extending the house outwards.

Location: Mexico City
Area: 450m2
Year: 2011

American architects Richard Meier & Partners have unveiled designs for a 34-storey tower in Mexico City.

Glazed curtain walls will cloak each elevation of the Mitikah Office Tower and will be subtly faceted on the south and east faces.

A rooftop restaurant and bar are to occupy the top floor of the tower, while a domed conference room and surrounding garden will be located on floor number 19.

The building was designed as part of a wider masterplan by American firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and is scheduled to complete in 2014.

Other projects by Richard Meier that we’ve featured on Dezeen include an extension to a California gallery and a Jewish candle-holder – see them all here.

Here’s the full press release from Richard Meier & Partners:

Richard Meier & Partners Designs New Tower in Mexico City

New York, January 16, 2012 – The third project designed by Richard Meier & Partners in Mexico – is revealed today. The new Mitikah Office Tower will be a state-of-the-art building in the Delegacion Benito Juarez in Mexico City.

Mitikah Office Tower will be part of a mixed use master plan designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and developed by IDEURBAN/IDCity from Mexico. The scheme consists of commercial space, low-rise residential buildings, and a hotel and residential tower. Located at the southwest corner of the master plan, the tower offers an extraordinary opportunity to develop an architecture that mediates between the commercial core and the nearby residential community. Mitikah Office Tower will be the visual transition between the Av. Rio Churubusco, an elevated highway, and the pedestrian boulevard of the retail plaza.

Design Partner-in-charge Bernhard Karpf comments: “Mexico City has always been among the most important cultural and commercial centers in Latin America. The new tower will undoubtly contribute visual significance to the skyline of the city and to the neighborhood. The design is inspired by a modern interpretation of Aztec forms.”

The architectural massing of the new building combines a slender and elegant 34-story tower that rises above a transparent and translucent building base. The building lobby has been carefully positioned to be visible from all approaches to the site, and it anchors the building to the exposed retail plaza and to the adjacent commercial space.

A six-story underground garage provides joint parking not only for the building but for the other components of the master plan. The design of the office tower with its refined formal vocabulary reflects the distinct orientation of the site while addressing requirements of sustainability, maximum efficiency and flexibility. The South and East facades of the tower are composed of a continuous high-performance curtain wall modulated by subtle folds and reveals that create a memorable sculptural expression.

The North and West elevations are composed by a curtain wall system with modular and orthogonal expressions that reference the proportions of the surrounding context. A sky garden with an integrated conference pavilion on the 19th floor, and a restaurant and sky-bar on the 34th floor provide unique destinations for the mix-use development.

All facades of the building boast floor-to-ceiling glass walls with unparalleled views of downtown Mexico City, the surrounding mountains and the central valley. The selection of an efficient curtain wall system with clear and fritted Low-E glass maximizes the use of natural daylight throughout the office building while reducing the solar energy intake. The interplay of natural light and shadow animates the interior office space giving its occupants a quality that changes throughout the day. Mitikah Office Tower is expected to be LEED-certified and to be completed in 2014.

Following our recent feature about projects that intentionally look as though the builders haven’t left yet, here’s a restaurant in Mexico City with lumps of plaster and holes on its ceiling.

The Mexican food canteen was designed by architects Taller Tiliche, who laid a polished concrete floor but purposefully left the ceiling unfinished.

Sanded wooden tables and stools furnish the restaurant and slatted panels screen the doors and windows.

Bottle-filled shelves stretch between the walls of a bar at the back of the dining room, while a kitchen is located in a room next door.

Other unfinished-looking projects we’ve featured include an apartment with cement smeared over its concrete walls and a cafe lined with timber offcuts.

Photography is by Luis Gallardo.

Here’s some more text from Taller Tiliche:

Surtidora Abarrotera Mercantil Julio Gabriel Verne de Polanco, S.A. de C.V.

The project combines the retail space with space to eat, generating a combination between the displays, production areas, and consumption, also the bars of attention and shelves create enclosed spaces, organize the flows and create different environments for customers.

The result is such a shop, what you see is what you get, and you can buy to take away or eat there.

The space was designed with very basic materials.

The floor was made of polished concrete and it has a direct relationship with the outside, getting pedestrians invited to the site, there are no divisions between public-private conditions of space.

All existing walls were made with a first basement made ​​of concrete tiles from 0.0 to 1.2 meter, then was generated a second basement of white walls, ending with the existing roof as enclosure.

It was important to use materials in their natural conditions (concrete, wood, galvanized sheet, etc..), in order to get low-cost, low maintenance and to show their construction process.

For doors and windows designed a system of fixed and folding shutters of wood that can interact with the outside weather conditions and to adapt the space.

This same solution was replicated at all doors and windows to filter light inside the room.

See also:

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Slowpoke Cafe by Sasufi	Café Coutume by Cut Architectures	Grand Cafe Usine by Bearandbunny