Caracol House

SIJIL MX

Short description

*CASA CARACOL* It is an intervention project IN a pyramid replica of the castle of Tulum. The intention was to turn this place into a living space. Build nostalgia with a forceful present.

The strong burden of identity gives us the possibility of abandoning ourselves to the stimulation of materials, with the sole purpose of transmitting the spirit of our culture. Formal decisions belong to our inheritance. The plan of the main volume consists of a board with 9 bays arranged as a game of cat X and O. It is a perfect symmetry that frees all the interior space, achieving an open plan, where the only dividing walls are those that make up the bedrooms of rest located in the upper corners.

We want to justify each creative-constructive act in a strong concept of our culture, design belongs to Mexico and to being Mexican.

The main access is oriented to the Northwest, a jaguar carved in wood receives you naturally illuminated by a circular window of exposed concrete where you can lie down and read or just rest.

Behind is the Room inspired by a serpent now feathered in stone and coiled, its eyes look to both sides taking care of whoever is sitting in it but also whoever enters the room for the first time. The steps represent his language, all in a simple geometric composition. Finished off with a large format, material work by the artist *Rigoberto Orozco* inspired by the Sky of Sian Ka'an; in the center there is a concrete sculpture, raw and sincere, by the same artist. The idea was to make an emptying (of the negative space) of the *Cha'ac Mo'ol* as if it were part of the mold and the falsework. From his hands the base was born and the intention was to reinterpret the past with respect and turning it into a Table, which ends when sharing, when the heads of the diners appear. Opposites of weight and lightness, heavy so they don't take it anywhere. Anchored to the floor and cantilever. The crockery is the work of *Luciano Matus*, Ihiotica, which means “with breath”. Homage to our Mexico and the Conquest, The Pyramid and the Dome. In a single moment.

To the left is the heavy steel-lined kitchen. imperfect. From it comes a plank for breakfast near the twin left door of the house. Where there is another circular window that perforates the pyramid. Something like earrings, or like two ears, that observe nature.

Under the steps of the pyramid, a cellar, built with metal rods, a gravel floor, and some collections of the client's personal belongings.

Between the private bedrooms and the table there is a double-height space where, seated, a thankful man raises his hands, with a container that generates tension towards the installation of the sculpture by Luciano Matus, a *bronze metate* hand, by so to call it, with a beautiful patina that is guarded by three metal orbits, suspended in turn by a steel cable anchored to a third oculus on the top floor; in memory of the gesture of hanging a piñata. A subtle gesture like the work of the artist, who manages to invert the shape of the pyramid with a line. Being this space the connection between the private and the public. The divine and the mundane.

Behind the guest toilet, which is flanked by two parallel mirrors and an outdoor patio, which is discovered when looking for the sink. A small outdoor patio with a rough concave stone and with all the copper plumbing without much pretense.

The bedrooms have simple stone finishes, the floors touch the walls trying to respect the main structure. Each rest space has a bathroom and an outdoor shower.

The master bedroom enjoys a monolithic onyx tub and a sauna. On the other hand, the guest bedroom has a pool inside a Spanish patio, where the limits of the water merge into puddles, a trompe l'oeil that makes the infinity of emptiness and stone appear in its reflection.