Shelter in an eroded landscape. Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos
05/05/2022.
[Chihuahua] Mexico
metalocus, ÁNGELA MARTÍNEZ
metalocus, ÁNGELA MARTÍNEZ
Immersed in a privileged rocky landscape is Casa Majalca, designed by OAX Arquitectos. It is a single-family home located inside the Cumbres de Majalca National Park, a protected natural area in the north of the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
Its essential idea of sustainable housing, together with its excellent views of the eroded landscape of the area, generate the uniqueness that characterises this project.
Its essential idea of sustainable housing, together with its excellent views of the eroded landscape of the area, generate the uniqueness that characterises this project.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos. Photograph by The Raws | Paco Álvarez.
Ground floor plan. Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos.
First floor plan. Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos.
Sections. Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos
Elevations. Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos.
Material detail. Casa Majalca by OAX Arquitectos.
The dwelling by OAX Arquitectos was designed as a house for temporary use, its orientation is strategically designed to adapt perfectly to any time of the year with low energy consumption. In addition, it has solar panels that support its own consumption.
Perceptively, we highlight its irregularities and imperfections, a premeditated idea with the aim of evoking a primitive and rustic character. Thanks to the unskilled workmanship, this sensation of a shelter or rudimentary cave is achieved. Its earthy materiality refers to the cultural legacy of the Paquimé and Casas Grandes areas.
The formal conception is submerged and perfectly integrated into its context. It consists of zigzagging volumes that seem to emerge from the existing trees.
Perceptively, we highlight its irregularities and imperfections, a premeditated idea with the aim of evoking a primitive and rustic character. Thanks to the unskilled workmanship, this sensation of a shelter or rudimentary cave is achieved. Its earthy materiality refers to the cultural legacy of the Paquimé and Casas Grandes areas.
The formal conception is submerged and perfectly integrated into its context. It consists of zigzagging volumes that seem to emerge from the existing trees.
Description of project by OAX Arquitectos
Casa Majalca is a sustainable housing projected in a privileged location with excellent views of rock formations characteristic of the area.
It is located in a lot with a 1: 4 ratio proportion, with a very narrow front, lacking public services (water, electricity, drainage, etc.) and with the preexistence of a couple of endemic trees that provide shade and refreshment to the ground, ending at the back with a natural ravine.
Casa Majalca is conceptualized as a sustainable vacation house equipped for temporal stays (summer and winter) that encourages outdoor activities and allows socializing with the community in the area.
The architectural program proposes bedrooms with the capacity to receive a complete family in each one of them, using bunk beds and with a full bathroom, the rest of the house is composed with a large social area with terraces, a large storage area and a covered space for motorcycles.
The complex is a series of staggered volumes ascending towards the center of the property, which open towards the predominant front view, configured in a zigzag manner to preserve the pre-existing trees and ending in a final isolated volume with slope to achieve the optimal orientation of the nine solar panels necessary for the energy consumption of the building.
These volumes are integrated into the landscape as characteristic stone monoliths of the Majalca National Park, with a color that blends in with the land, making reference to the cultural past of the archaeological sites of Paquimé and Casas Grandes.
With the use of not specialized local labor, we bet on a concept of imperfection that gives it a rustic and brutalist character similar to that of a primary refuge or cavern, trying to emulate what it would mean to inhabit these large rocks from the inside.
The orientation of the house helps considerably to adapt to the conditions of the seasons in which it is inhabited. In winter reducing the demand for heating. And in summer, protecting it from the sun's rays with an efficient thermal inertia from: the use of natural cross ventilation resolved with different heights, a construction system based on insulated block walls and without thermal bridges, with a 7.5 concrete finish. cm thick on both sides. A rolled sheet roof was considered, with a slope greater than 5% for recurrent snowfalls, composed of a metallic structure, thermal insulation and inside a reused wood ceiling, obtained from crates used to transport construction materials. For water consumption, an elevated tank is feed with well water and a biodigester was considered. To reduce water consumption, no landscaped area other than the endemic vegetation of the site was designed.
More information
Architects
OAX Arquitectos. Lead architect.- José García Toledo.
Design team
José García Toledo, Fernanda Roiz Silva, Luis Carlos Rodríguez González.
Collaborators
Structural engineering.- Manuel Jezzini.
Energy efficiency.- Carlos Estrada Zubía.
Interior design.- Aileen García.
Energy efficiency.- Carlos Estrada Zubía.
Interior design.- Aileen García.
Area
300 sqm.
Dates
9 June 2017 - 12 July 2021.
Location
Majalca National Park, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Photography
The Raws. Paco Álvarez.
José García Toledo. OAX Arquitectos
OAX Arquitectos is an architecture studio founded in 2017 by José García Toledo. Its headquarters is located in San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico.
José García Toledo is an architect graduated from ITESM Campus Monterrey in 1992, he worked in different studios focused on housing, obtaining with Grupo Corporativo Javer an honorable mention in the category of social housing in the CEMEX award (1996).
He is co-founder of the firm Planeta Diseño + Construcción (2000) together with Eduardo Vásquez Velásquez and founder of OAX arquitectos (2017). He has developed several housing, services, commercial and urban planning projects. He is a finalist for the XI CEMEX Building Award (2003) with Casa Ortiz, and has designed the Casa Sorteo Tec 199 (2015) with which he won the XIX Biennial of Architecture of the CANL (2017) in the category of residential housing of more than 450 m², as well as an honourable mention with the work Parvada CoWork in the category of public and private workspaces in the same competition. With the same work, he received an honourable mention in the category of private workspaces at the XV National and International Biennial of Mexican Architecture of the FCARM (2018).
In 2019 he won the Calli de cristal at the XX Biennial of Architecture in the category of health and hospital spaces, as well as an honourable mention in the category of single-family housing over 450 m² for the work Casa Portal.
He has been a professor at the School of Architecture, Art and Design at ITESM Monterrey from 2011 to date, teaching various architecture workshops.
José García Toledo is an architect graduated from ITESM Campus Monterrey in 1992, he worked in different studios focused on housing, obtaining with Grupo Corporativo Javer an honorable mention in the category of social housing in the CEMEX award (1996).
He is co-founder of the firm Planeta Diseño + Construcción (2000) together with Eduardo Vásquez Velásquez and founder of OAX arquitectos (2017). He has developed several housing, services, commercial and urban planning projects. He is a finalist for the XI CEMEX Building Award (2003) with Casa Ortiz, and has designed the Casa Sorteo Tec 199 (2015) with which he won the XIX Biennial of Architecture of the CANL (2017) in the category of residential housing of more than 450 m², as well as an honourable mention with the work Parvada CoWork in the category of public and private workspaces in the same competition. With the same work, he received an honourable mention in the category of private workspaces at the XV National and International Biennial of Mexican Architecture of the FCARM (2018).
In 2019 he won the Calli de cristal at the XX Biennial of Architecture in the category of health and hospital spaces, as well as an honourable mention in the category of single-family housing over 450 m² for the work Casa Portal.
He has been a professor at the School of Architecture, Art and Design at ITESM Monterrey from 2011 to date, teaching various architecture workshops.
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