Casa Sexta by All Arquitectura is an exemplar of urban minimalism
Casa Sexta by All Arquitectura brings together domestic warmth and minimalist architecture in the outskirts of Mexico City
The disarmingly minimalist architecture of Casa Sexta offers refreshing simplicity to the bustle of Mexico City. Set in the Mexico capital's outskirts, in the Lomas Verdes district, and designed by local practice All Arquitectura, the family home bears all the hallmarks of a refined, pared-down, contemporary interior. Muted, light colours and soft, hazy light? Check. Geometric volumes, clean shapes and coordinated materials? Also check.
Casa Sexta and its minimalist architecture
As sleek and effortless as this house might seem, it was created in a challenging, narrow plot and the architects also had to navigate the local climate – as the region often suffers from hot and windy conditions. At the same time, the home was conceived as an urban haven, a retreat for its clients – a family of four. ‘The geometry of Casa Sexta evolves inward, granting privacy to its spaces while seeking as much natural light as possible,’ the architects write.
The structure spans three levels and a 350 sq m plot. Each floor was moulded according to its use, so each has a distinct character, with the ground floor containing communal living areas, as well as a study; bedrooms are on the first floor; and a basement houses service quarters, a guest room, a gym, a video game room, the garage, and a spare, multifunctional room. A black acacia tree serves as the heart of the project, connecting rooms and levels, placed in a courtyard at the centre of the plot.
‘The architecture speaks for itself,' the architects explain. 'The juxtaposed white surfaces generate patios that allow natural lightning into every space and interaction between form, light, and shadows, postulating volume as the main character.’
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
This cult Los Angeles pop-up restaurant now has a permanent addressChef Brian Baik’s Corridor 109 makes its permanent debut in Melrose Hill. No surprise, it's now one of the hardest tables in town to book
-
French bistro restaurant Maset channels the ease of the Mediterranean in LondonThis Marylebone restaurant is shaped by the coastal flavours, materials and rhythms of southern France
-
How ethical is Google Street View, asks Jon Rafman in CopenhagenIn 'Report a Concern - the Nine Eyes Archives' at Louisiana Museum of Art, Copenhagen, Jon Rafman considers technology's existential implications
-
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'
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthThis September, Wallpaper highlighted a striking mix of architecture – from iconic modernist homes newly up for sale to the dramatic transformation of a crumbling Scottish cottage. These are the projects that caught our eye
-
A Mexican clifftop retreat offers both drama, and a sense of placeCasa Piscina del cielo, a clifftop retreat by Zozaya Arquitectos, creates the perfect blend of drama and cosiness on Mexico's Pacific Coast
-
Broken up into six pavilions, this brutalist Mexican house is embedded in the landscapeSordo Madaleno’s brutalist Mexican house, Rancho del Bosque, is divided up into a series of pavilions to preserve the character of its hillside site, combining concrete, curves and far-reaching views
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthWallpaper* has spotlighted an array of remarkable architecture in the past month – from a pink desert home to structures that appears to float above the ground. These are the houses and buildings that most captured our attention in August 2025
-
Estudio Ome on how the goal of its landscapes ‘is to provoke, even through a subtle detail, an experience’The Mexico City-based practice explores landscape architecture in Mexico, France and beyond, seeking to unite ‘art and ecology’