Perched on a steep hillside in rural Mexico, Casa Martha matches geometric rigour with a raw, favela functionality. The house is the work of Naso, a practice founded by José Ignacio Vargas in 2018. It was built on the site of a house destroyed by an earthquake in 2017 and is one of 50 houses built as part of the ReConstruir México project.
Casa Martha was constructed on the footprint of the damaged house and is designed to accommodate the family who lived there, an elderly couple with mobility problems and their two chilidren. And Vargas was determined that both generations could support each other but also live as independently as possible.
MORE FROM WALLPAPER* ARCHITECTS DIRECTORY 2020
The layout and circulation of the house are clear and unobstructed with the kitchen, dining room, bathroom and two bedrooms all on the ground floor. Sliding doors open much of the space to the outdoors and a large porch. A third bedroom is housed on smaller second level, topped with a barrel-vaulted concrete roof, which has its own entrance via an outside staircase. The house is close to the towns Malinalco and Chalma, major draws for pilgrims and tourists, and the second floor could be rented out to provide extra income for the family.
Much of the house was built using compacted earth blocks produced on site which were left exposed. And Vargas, who studied in Mexico, Glasgow and London, says Casa Martha’s raw essentialism is at the heart of its appeal; but that it is the result of complex considerations. ‘To design a house requires fully understanding the social, political, economic and physical context in which the house is placed.'
INFORMATION
-
Usher opens up about breakfast playlists, banana pudding and why a glass tumbler is always on his riderOn the heels of a collaboration with Baccarat, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter breaks down his entertaining tips. 'Hosting is an expression of how you feel about your guests and also who you are.'
-
The beauty trends that will define 2026, from ultra-niche fragrances to anti-ageing dental careAs we enter the new year, we speak to experts in fragrance, skincare, aesthetics, wellness and more about the trends that will be shaping the way we look
-
The most stylish hotel debuts of 2025A Wallpaper* edit of this year’s defining hotel openings. Design-led stays to shape your next escape
-
For Rodríguez + De Mitri, a budding Cuernavaca architecture practice, design is 'conversation’Rodríguez + De Mitri stands for architecture that should be measured, intentional and attentive – allowing both the environment and its inhabitants to breathe
-
Mexico's Office of Urban Resilience creates projects that cities can learn fromAt Office of Urban Resilience, the team believes that ‘architecture should be more than designing objects. It can be a tool for generating knowledge’
-
These Guadalajara architects mix modernism with traditional local materials and craftGuadalajara architects Laura Barba and Luis Aurelio of Barbapiña Arquitectos design drawing on the past to imagine the future
-
This Mexican architecture studio has a surprising creative processThe architects at young practice Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados (PPAA) often begin each design by writing out their intentions, ideas and the emotions they want the architecture to evoke
-
The architecture of Mexico's RA! draws on cinematic qualities and emotionRA! was founded by Cristóbal Ramírez de Aguilar, Pedro Ramírez de Aguilar and Santiago Sierra, as a multifaceted architecture practice in Mexico City, mixing a cross-disciplinary approach and a constant exchange of ideas
-
A cubist house rises in Mexico City, its concrete volumes providing a bold urban refugeCasa Ailes, a cubist house by Jaime Guzmán Creative Group, is rich in architectural expression that mimics the dramatic and inviting nature of a museum
-
Serenity radiates through this Mexican home, set between two ravinesOn the cusp of a lakeside town, Mexican home Casa el Espino is a single-storey residence by Soler Orozco Arquitectos (SOA)
-
Mexican landscape architect Mario Schjetnan's Grupo de Diseño wins 2025 Oberlander PrizeThe 2025 Oberlander Prize goes to Mexican landscape architect Mario Schjetnan and his studio, Grupo de Diseño, highlighting the creative's motto: 'We have a human right to open space'
