Articles by Valentina Díaz

Traces is a new collective space in Jackson Park, constructed from 10,000 dry-stacked bricks.  

The commission consisted of a house that would function as a second home in a secluded area in the hills of Papudo, municipality of La Ligua. The landscape of gentle hills and shrub vegetation with views towards the northern mountains was to be a key element in the conception of the project.

Located in a lush forest of San Simón el Alto, just 2.5 hours from Mexico City, this house redefines the concept of a family retreat in nature. On a 10,000 m² plot surrounded by trees reaching 30 meters in height, the project emerges as a reinterpretation of the traditional cabin, designed to disconnect from urban routines and create a deep connection with the natural environment and family.

As the nearby trees age, in no hurry, this scaleless piece will become even smaller. Cornered against a dark forest of Coihues (Nothofagus dombeyi), the concentrated and directionless footprint acquires an axial sense, explicitly asymmetrical, with one high side, perhaps completing an imaginary cube, and with its opposite side with no elevation at all.

We are at the foot of the majestic Volcán el Altar, at an altitude of 2,800 meters above sea level, in the Inguisay Sector (the Bocatoma of the Río Blanco). The Zoila Martínez Workers’ Association promotes community tourism and environmental responsibility. With new initiatives aimed at finding a balance between modernity and the traditional vernacular architecture of the area, it has created four mountain lodging shelters designed to offer panoramic views of the Andean moors.

On the outskirts of San Cristóbal de las Casas, in the misty forest of Huitepec, the house emerges from the landscape as another natural element. Its presence implies a convergence with the essence of the site, becoming a symbol and language of protection, a gesture of safeguarding the identity of the place. It is not a foreign object, but a fragment of the mountain, a inhabited sculpture that breathes with the same cadence as the forest. Its shape does not seek to impose itself, but to coexist; following the slope as one draws a dialogue with the earth. It only cements what is necessary, allowing the mountain to maintain its pulse.

The commission arises from a client who, emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, decides to sell their central apartment and move to a gated community in the northern area of Greater Buenos Aires. 

Located in the wooded landscape of Valle de Bravo, Mexico, Ananda is a vacation home designed for a family, redefining the concept of space by blurring the boundaries between public and private areas. The terrace, which becomes the central axis of the project, acts as an architectural element that not only divides but also connects the different spaces.