The project developed by the Mexican team Estudio MMX for Casa CMR explores the architectural defragmentation of the single-family housing program, to insert it in an environment where the extraordinary landscape plays a fundamental role.

The design of the house consists of a series of volumes distributed throughout an extensive garden, where these are connected through transit spaces that frame the privileged views, resulting in a visual and spatial link between interior and exterior.
The 570 m² house designed by Estudio MMX provides the program with varying degrees of intimacy that go hand in hand with the level changes in the project. In this way, the most intimate spaces are found above the level of the wonderful garden, allowing their appreciation from a different and private perspective.

The range of colors and materials used to follow a sober and simple will, where the prominence and vivacity of the garden are the main actors. It is in this way that the house emerges and contrasts with an organic environment thanks to its formal design of solid geometries and simple and neutral materials.

 

Description of project by Estudio MMX

The plot features the extraordinary garden of an old house, the project explores a defragmentation of the program by placing it along the strength of the immediate natural environment. The total volume demanded by program requirements was disturbed, fragmented and then distributed alongside the garden. The volumes are connected through transitional spaces that frame views of the garden, encouraging the user to make pauses while moving through the house. A subtle and constant link between exterior and interior spaces, blurs the perception of spatial borders.

While the public spaces of the program have direct relationship with the gardens, a sequence of spaces and level changes builds up varying degrees of intimacy. When it reaches the rooms above ground level, the inhabitants are able to contemplate the garden from another perspective while obtaining intimacy.

The selected materials, simple and of neutral colors, respond to the will for recognizing the garden as the main actor of the site. Willingly, the house makes itself present through contrast and well-defined geometries. However, the light, shadows and colors, are still those from the extraordinary landscape. 

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Architects
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Collaborators
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Gonzalo Álvarez Tostado, Pablo Goldin Marcovich.
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Area
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570 sqm.
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Dates
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2015.
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Location
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Mexico City, Mexico.
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Photography
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MMX was established in 2010 MMX Studio emerges as a collaborative team based in Mexico City focused on the design process at the various scales of the territory. Founded by Jorge Arvizu, Ignacio del Rio, Emmanuel Ramirez and Diego Ricalde.

The studio has been the recipient of various national and international awards such as the “Architectural League Prize” in New York, the “Design Vanguard” (Architectural Record), “The Cemex Award” for best national and international housing project 2013 and the Latinamerican Bienal presented in Pamplona, Spain. Their work has been presented in various renowned museums and galleries such as “Storefront for Art and Architecture” and the MOMA Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan New York as well as the MUDE Fashion Museum in Lisbon, Portugal.

Jorge Arvizu, is an architect and urban planner with honors from the IBERO and Master in Civil Engineering and Construction Management from the IBERO. He has worked in renowned architecture studios, among which TEN Arquitectos, Volvox Construcciones and the Alberto Kalach Architecture Workshop stand out, as well as a close collaboration with Architect Oscar Haggerman in the construction of shelters and schools in marginalized rural areas. Prior to Estudio MMX, Jorge worked independently consolidating his experience in the areas of architectural design, development, construction and administration. He was a professor of projects and construction at IBERO and has been invited by various institutions to offer lectures on topics related to this experience, as well as work and projects of MMX Study.

Ignacio del Rio is an architect with honors from the UNAM. He has worked in renowned architecture studio in Mexico, and Spain, among which Alberto Kalach's Workshop and Central Architecture in Mexico stand out, as well as DL + A and Molestina Architekten in Spain. Ignacio del Rio. He has a very solid experience in design and development of construction documents, as well as control of work teams. He has been invited by various national and international institutions to evaluate and offer lectures on topics related to this experience, as well as the work and projects of MMX Study.

Emmanuel Ramírez, is an architect with honors from the UNAM and Master in Urban Design from The University College of London (UCL). He has worked in various architecture studios including LBC and the Alberto Kalach Mexico Workshop, as well as SOM David Chipperfield Architects in England. He has developed his disciplinary interests in the fields of strategic urban design, master plans and architectural design. He was Professor at IBERO and at UTA Arlington and has been invited by multiple national and international institutions to judge, teach and give lectures on topics related to their interests, as well as work and MMX Study projects.

Diego Ricalde is an architect with honors from UNAM and Master in Architecture and Urbanism, with distinction, from the Architectural Association School of Architecture. He has worked in Mexico, Switzerland and Italy developing his disciplinary interests in different fields, including urban and strategic design, as well as architectural design and computational design. He has been invited by multiple national and international institutions to rate, teach and lecture on topics related to these interests as well as work and MMX Study projects.
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Published on: September 18, 2020
Cite: "Spatial unities and the open space. CMR house by Estudio MMX" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/spatial-unities-and-open-space-cmr-house-estudio-mmx> ISSN 1139-6415
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