Recently selected to participate in the upcoming 2025 edition of the Latin American Architecture Biennial in Pamplona, Práctica Arquitectura has established itself as a young and promising firm in the region, specifically in Mexico. Their architectural work focuses on materializing projects that achieve a high level of sensitivity, both for those who inhabit them and for their immediate surroundings, whatever they may be. In close connection with landscapes and terrains, their projects come to life through a design that carefully considers materials, structures, and details, while ensuring a sensory and emotional experience in the spaces they create.
Founded in 2017, Práctica Arquitectura is led by its founder and director, David Martínez Ramos, an architect who graduated from ITESM Monterrey Campus in 2012. Before establishing his own studio, Martínez Ramos built his professional career by collaborating on projects with renowned architects such as Dominique Perrault and Alberto Kalach, among others. His most recent works have received recognition at various awards and biennials, including first place in the Residential category for projects over 350 m² with La Hacienda Jardín at the XXII Nuevo León Biennial in 2023.
Práctica Arquitectura's work demonstrates a clear interest in history, memory, and the influence of the passage of time, through a design process aimed at creating spaces that complement and transcend in harmony with their surroundings.
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In conversation with architect David Martínez Ramos, we delved into specific aspects of his studio's operations, the development of their projects, their working methods, and future projections, through an exploration of their work.
Avocado House
ArchDaily (Paula Pintos): How did the idea for the studio come about, and what was the key moment that led to its founding in 2017? How many people currently make up the team, and what is the work dynamic like within the studio?
David Martínez Ramos: Like everything, this life project began before I even realized it. By the end of my studies, I was certain I wanted to have my own studio, but not before working for someone I admired and could learn from. After a few years, an opportunity came up to design a weekend house in Tepoztlán—what initially seemed like just an idea started construction in less than four months. At the same time, we had just won an open competition to design and build a park in downtown Monterrey. During that period, in mid-2017, we felt a clear sense of purpose in the philosophy and work we were starting to build, and that’s when we decided to establish Práctica Arquitectura.
We are currently a team of six people. There is an administrative side and a communications side, and each project has a lead architect. We believe communication is essential for the team to work in an organized and efficient way, so we hold meetings at the beginning of each project to gather input and perspectives from everyone involved.
Ederlezi House
AD: How do history and memory influence your design process? What references or recurring resources are present in your way of designing?
DMR: We are made of what we have lived through and what we have learned. Each project in the studio has a family tree, a set of ideas with which we start discussing the intentions we are aiming for, and which, in one way or another, are intertwined with projects that have left a mark on us. During trips, I try to empty my mind into my notebook, through quick sketches, notes, or scribbled diagrams. Without a doubt, it is essential to have a mental and physical library of things that provoke and move us emotionally. This library is also built from contexts outside of architecture—learning from art, music, literature, cinema, landscape, and more. I believe that if we want to create things with substance and value over time, it's important to know and visit spaces made in this way, consistent with that way of thinking.
El Gallo House
AD: What is your work methodology in terms of the design process? Are there processes or strategies you apply systematically to all your projects?
DMR: For me, it is important to seek a constant evolution in the way we work, and in the process through which the idea develops. At first, I moved forward very naively, without a particular methodology. Over the past year, I’ve tried to work in "waves," moving away from that "single idea" and taking advantage of the stages in the chronology with clients to build the idea better each time. I give myself plenty of opportunities to make mistakes, and to draw things that may not work, but that can help me discover new paths forward. This entire process unfolds in iterations to refine the idea—"paper cushions and elbow grease." Without overwhelming progress, always moving from general to specific at each scale of the project.
El Encino House
AD: Relationship with the environment and materiality: How do you integrate preexisting elements and construction traditions into your work? What role do materiality and technologies play in your approach to the natural and built context?
DMR: There has always been something before arriving at the site. A blank page does not exist when it comes to reading the place; the answer is always in it. For the studio, it is extremely important to make the project belong to its surroundings, metaphorically not knowing which came first, the preexistence of the project. Within this game, there must be well-established rules that allow us to belong in an atemporal way, but also respond to the needs and typologies of our time, and be transformable. The tool that most help in reading and understanding the site is intuition—no technology can surpass that. The challenge with this tool is that it must be exercised and developed over many years, and one must never stop learning and questioning it for it to yield results.
Citizen Garden Park
AD: What are the upcoming challenges for Práctica Arquitectura? What lines of research or exploration would you be interested in delving into over the next few years?
DMR: I aim to grow sustainably over time; for me, the size of the team is crucial to maintaining a personal touch in the projects and with the clients. Behind every project, there is a line of thought, a mind behind every decision made—it’s not a production line or an email chain. We are always looking for construction methods that challenge us and can complement the atmosphere of the spaces we design. There is a long journey of exposure and research into materiality that motivates us to keep learning. That hunger should never be lost.
