An open-sky fortress. Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture
06/10/2022.
[Puerto Escondido] Mexico
metalocus, ANNA CLARA BARROS
metalocus, ANNA CLARA BARROS
Ludwig Godefroy Architecture studio was commissioned to design Casa Zicatela, located in Puerto Escondido, a Mexican city and port belonging to the state of Oaxaca. The house emerges as a place of disconnection and breaks with the habits of big cities, where the owner can enjoy the heat of the Mexican coast.
Located on top of a hill in front of Zicatela beach, the project responds to a double landscape, on one side the sea and on the other the mountains and agave fields. The house is presented as an open-air concrete fortress, organized around a garden to which each of the rooms opens.
Located on top of a hill in front of Zicatela beach, the project responds to a double landscape, on one side the sea and on the other the mountains and agave fields. The house is presented as an open-air concrete fortress, organized around a garden to which each of the rooms opens.
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Floor plan. Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture
First floor. Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture
Sections. Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture
Sections. Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture
Ludwig Godefroy Architecture's proposal is inspired by traditional Mexican architecture, with its staggered interior volumes and enormous concrete structures. Its open and permeable character allows the longitudinal central strip to be understood as a concatenation of patios and outdoor spaces.
Built on a small plot of 300 m2, Casa Zicatela uses a defensive architecture typology, where a wall completely surrounds the plot. In the center of the plot are the common spaces of the house —living room, dining room and kitchen— completely facing the patio. The steps that surround the garden allow access to a second level, where it is possible to enjoy the view of the surrounding landscape.
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner.
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner.
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner.
Built on a small plot of 300 m2, Casa Zicatela uses a defensive architecture typology, where a wall completely surrounds the plot. In the center of the plot are the common spaces of the house —living room, dining room and kitchen— completely facing the patio. The steps that surround the garden allow access to a second level, where it is possible to enjoy the view of the surrounding landscape.
Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner.Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner.Casa Zicatela by Ludwig Godefroy Architecture. Photograph by Rory Gardiner.
Descripción del proyecto por Ludwig Godefroy Architecture
Zicatela house is a small weekend house located on top of a hill in front of Zicatela beach, next to Puerto Escondido in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.
The house was designed with one main purpose : to give the owner the oportunity to leave Mexico City to make a break with the megalopolis and urban habits, by coming to get some rest and relax while enjoying the heat of the Mexican coast and the peaceful light of Oaxaca.
This house responds to a double landscape, on one side in the background the beach and the sea, on the other side the mountains and agave fields, the plant from which is made mezcal and tequila. This project has a very interesting personality of being a countryside house next to the sea, instead of a beach house.
The house is based on this duality, the duality of its surroundings and it´s able to repond to the mountains and be protective as a fortress as well as a widely open space; giving you the feeling to live outside in a garden, making the border between in and out dissapear.
Zicatela house is built on a small 300 m2 plot, using a tipology of defensive architecture, where a wall surrounds the terrain completely, helping create an 100% controlled area on the inside, turning it into an open-sky fortress, with only one main view towards the sky, the only permanent element in time.
The house is a bunker on the outside, one of those massive concrete structures i used to see in Normandy -where i was born- , protecting a mexican pyramid on the inside, one of those i use to see when i travel around in Mexico, the country where it´s been 10 years now i live and work.
More information
Architects
Area
200 sqm.
Dates
2015.
Localización
Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Photography
Ludwig Godefroy Architecture
Ludwig Godefroy. He is a Mexican architect founded Ludwig Godefroy Architecture in 2011. He graduated from the Marne-la-Vallee School of Architecture in Paris, France, and then worked as an intern at Laeser, Rem Koolhaas/Oma, Miralles, Tatiana Bilbao, and other architectural firms. After setting up his studio, he began to undertake various projects, seeking similarity, correspondence, and synchronization between architecture and nature to achieve design harmony. He believes that harmony is intuition and makes "consistency" a personal symbol.
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