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Architects: P11 Arquitectos
- Area: 5780 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Eduardo Calvo Santisbón
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Manufacturers: AutoCAD, Boxito, Elemetic
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Lead Architect: Arturo Carrillo Ponce
Text description provided by the architects. Corazón de Tierra is a multi-family complex consisting of 54 housing units. The project originates due to the great demand and current need for housing in the state. The site is located north of the city of Mérida in the state of Yucatán, on a rectangular-shaped corner lot facing south-north, with a surface of 4,700 m2.
The idea was born from the fragmentation of a large volume into smaller pieces, resulting in four different elements in which the housing program is developed. The access, the central circulation and the social area of the complex are generated in the "cracks" created between these volumes. In this way, two compositional axes emerge, the transversal one that frames the access, which leads to the central space and ends with the social area. The longitudinal is delimited by a wall built with local stone, running through the central space in its entirety, allowing a visual connection with the exterior facades as a linking element.
Through the cracks that emerge between the volumes, we capture the breezes coming from the north and east, with the intention of taking advantage of the prevailing winds of the region. All spaces are oriented north-south for greater climatic comfort, necessary in places as hot as the city of Mérida.
The voids and masses of the facades offer an effect of lights and shadows that change throughout the day, giving the building rhythm, movement and character.
We use materials from the region such as chukum and stone, to give the complex its own identity, and due to its high durability and low maintenance properties. For the residential buildings, a mixture of chukum with red clay (kancab) is proposed and in the public spaces, natural chukum. Similarly, slab stone (a product of the excavation of the site) is used to emphasize the volume that spatially joins the main circulation area of the complex.
