As a result of the earthquake in central Mexico, the country was destroyed and efforts were made to rebuild the affected areas with vulnerable families. The architecture studio Palma was responsible for designing one of these houses. 

The single-family house is not more than a surface of 45 m², since all the houses had to have the same dimensions by the number of bricks that were donated for this cause.
The Palma studio contacted the family to which they were going to build the house, to know their needs. The house had to have an area on the outside that communicated with the kitchen, since the lady was dedicated to cleaning the thorns of the nopales, and as a last requirement add one more stay to the house. 

The floor of the house is simple, as it is a square of 7x7 meters plus a central patio. The rooms are arranged at the rear while the patio and kitchen are located at the front of the house providing these spaces with privileged views.
 

Description of project by Palma

Since the 2017 earthquake that struck central Mexico, initiatives such as Reconstruir México emerged, the objective was to achieve a conscious and effective reconstruction of the affected areas. For this, 50 architectural firms were summoned, which would be in charge of working with families in vulnerable situations. The project funded by #LoveArmyMéxico and with the support of different institutions such as Fundación Origen, ¡Échale! a tu Casa, Fideicomiso Fuerza México and PienZa Sostenible would deliver a house to each of the affected families.

At the beggining of the process, the teams visited the assigned families to get to know them and find out the specific needs of each of the family members. In our case, the project would be for Axel, an 8-year-old boy who lived with his grandparents.

The site is a plot owned by Axel’s grandparents, where not only they lived, but also the entire families of his other two daughters. The house for Axel would be built at the rear of the lot, which has a considerable height difference from the front, where the 3 families currently live.

Axel’s grandmother, whose daily work consists of cleaning cactus spines, asked us to have some outdoor space that was directly related to the kitchen. Another requirement was to incorporate a third bedroom to accommodate another family member in case of need.

Seeking to maintain a reduced budget, the houses had to be built with the same block donated by the organizations with a 45m² footage. To give a feeling of spaciousness to the reduced space, the project is configured by a series of independent walls that, by framing certain visuals along the daily route, provide a depth that goes beyond the built limits. Although the floor plan of the house is simple, a square of 7 meters per side with a small central patio, the use of the aforementioned walls helps avoiding a simple and direct reading of the interior space, giving a surprise character to the proposal. The 3 bedrooms are arranged at the back of the house and face the lusher side of the plot, while the kitchen and the small central patio, which serves as a workspace for Axel’s grandmother, are placed in front of the project and get privileged views.

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Architects
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Project team
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Tonatiuh Armenta, Pablo Peréz Alonso.
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Area
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Each house 45 sqm.
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Dates
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2020.
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Location
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Estado de México, México.
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Photography
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Palma is an architectural studio founded in 2016, with offices in Mexico City and Sayulita, and with offices in Europe thanks to its digital multi-location approach. Through a design process open to experimentation and exploration, Palma operates fluidly across diverse scales and typologies: from pavilions to urban infrastructure, including residential architecture and ephemeral installations.

Led by Ilse Cárdenas, Regina de Hoyos, and Diego Escamilla, Palma was recently honored in Vienna with the Brick Award 2024 in the Out of the Box category. The firm has received other accolades, including the COAM Emergente Award, given by the Official College of Architects of Madrid to architects under 35, and the League Prize from The Architectural League of New York, which since 1981 has celebrated the exemplary and provocative work of young practitioners in North America. Considered by Wallpaper* as one of the 20 most relevant emerging practices in the world, Palma was also named one of the "Best New Practices" by ArchDaily, one of the world's leading architecture platforms. Additionally, they were selected by The University of Virginia School of Architecture as the Michael Owen Jones Memorial Lecturer.

Palma's work has been published in national and international media. They have been invited to give workshops and lectures at various venues in Mexico, at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China, and at the Higher Technical School of Architecture in Madrid.

Ilse Cárdenas, an architect from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, completed an exchange program at the Technical University of Lisbon in Portugal. In 2020, she was awarded a Young Creators Program scholarship by the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA) for her project "Exclusivo | Excluyente, el lujo del encierro." She recently completed a master's degree in Political Architecture Critical Sustainability at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Recipient of the 2021 CONACYT-FONCA scholarships to study abroad and the Jumex Contemporary Art Foundation Scholarship.

Regina de Hoyos, an architect from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, completed an exchange program at the Polytechnic of Turin.

Diego Escamilla, an architect from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, completed an exchange program at the Technical University of Lisbon in Portugal. In 2019, he was awarded a Young Creators Program scholarship from the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA) for his project "Awakening the Void, Pneumatic Breaths After the Earthquake." He recently completed the MPAA Master's Degree in Advanced Architectural Projects at the ETSAM School of Architecture in Madrid. Recipient of the 2020 CONACYT-FONCA scholarship to study abroad. He currently serves as a tutor in the architecture discipline of the PECDA 2023 program.

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Published on: July 23, 2021
Cite:
metalocus, MICHELLE ÁLVAREZ
"Minimum housing. Ocuilán by Palma" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/minimum-housing-ocuilan-palma> ISSN 1139-6415
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