Located on Mexico’s north-eastern Yucatán Peninsula, The Village is a new development by architect Sordo Madaleno, part of a development masterplan that aims to combine apartments with respect for the existing cultural and natural environment.
The Village: elevating the grid through nature
The Village is the first residential structure on the site, a gridded composition that rises out of the dense vegetation. Comprising a number of different buildings, the tallest five-storeys high, the entire complex is unified by a rigorous 4x4m grid that shapes the structural elements and frames the external terraces and balconies.
The grid also creates a stepped-back form language that makes an explicit reference to the ancient Mayan history of the surrounding region, in particular the stepped pyramids that date back some three millennia. The Village’s structure is more pragmatic than ceremonial; the building form allows for terraces at every level, offering far-reaching views across the site to the Caribbean Sea beyond.
Every terrace has been equipped with planters, giving residents the choice of establishing their own vegetable gardens or simply adding to the verdant setting with hanging plants. The architects stress that 80 per cent of the new planting is native species, helping the complex bed into the landscape and become an extension of the surrounding habitat.
Nearly half of the site is given over to shared public spaces, whether at ground level or above. ‘The Village delves into themes that have been integral to our body of work over many years,’ says Fernando Sordo Madaleno de Haro, who is the director of architecture for Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos.
‘Our ultimate goal is to achieve a singular, fully adapted project harmoniously integrated into its unique surroundings,’ Sordo Madaleno de Haro continues. ‘[The terraces and setbacks] enhance the permeability of the essentially rectilinear structure, allowing it to be seamlessly integrated into the surrounding nature. The studied informality of this approach invokes the concept of an overgrown ruin, further emphasised by the thoughtful planting of terraces, introducing a timeless quality to the architecture.’
The 4x4 grid also carries through to the interior design, with apartments planned on a modular basis, ranging in size from 80 to 160 sqm. This allows for different floorplans and relationships with the external spaces, creating a diverse number of layouts without excessive complication for the designers. ‘We are continually fascinated by the interconnection of systems and adaptability,’ Sordo Madaleno de Haro says. ‘A basic module, such as a 4x4 cube, has the potential to generate quality spaces. The overall design engages in a balance between an intimate scale, akin to a small village, and the complexities of a dense project.’
The Village comprises about 13 per cent of the overall development in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, with the next stage well underway.
Sordo Madaleno is based in Mexico City, with a studio in London. The studio's newest monograph, Shaping Transformation, has just been published by Turner.
-
At Design Miami Paris, an artful menagerie tells a story of scent and natureVikram Goyal and Sissel Tolaas present ‘The Soul Garden’ at Design Miami Paris (until 26 October 2025), ‘a contemporary fable where the animals take new forms, reimagined for the world we live in today’
-
Check in at Aman Rosa Alpina, a modern Alpine cocoonSan Cassiano’s historic hotel has been reborn as a pared-back Aman refuge in the heart of the Dolomites
-
‘It’s really the workplace of the future’: inside JPMorganChase’s new Foster + Partners-designed HQThe bronze-clad skyscraper at 270 Park Avenue is filled with imaginative engineering and amenities alike. Here’s a look inside
-
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’
-
Pretty in cactus-inspired pink, this Mexican desert house responds to its arid contextCasa Cardona, a pink house by architects Sensacional Dinamica Mexicana, is a multigenerational home that celebrates colour and changing light
-
As climate disasters increase, can architecture respond? Kon-tigo, a post-hurricane Acapulco house design, shows us howKon-tigo is a housing project by Manuel Cervantes Estudio, which creates bioclimatic homes that address climate disasters and inequalities in Acapulco, Mexico
