Photographer: Tamara Uribe | ArchDaily

Inhabiting a Layered Past: How Contemporary Design Is Transforming Colonial Houses in Mérida, Mexico

Agustina Iñiguez — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 07:30:00 +0000

In the pursuit of connecting with the architectural traditions of cities and integrating their natural environments into design projects, the contemporary reinterpretation of colonial homes in Mexico faces the challenge of enhancing the contrast between the old and the new. Through the conservation of historical elements, the reuse of materials, and the fusion with contemporary design, the architecture of Mérida recognizes in its original colonial configuration new opportunities to create spaces in line with today’s demands. From achieving a direct connection with nature to naturally lighting and ventilating interior spaces, numerous ancient constructions, whether in ruins or not, choose to highlight their architecture by giving them a new life.

Crossing Hemispheres: Thatched Roofs from America to Asia

Susanna Moreira — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Thatching is a traditional building technique that has been reinterpreted in different ways in contemporary projects, allowing its value to continue to endure over time. As well as being a culturally and historically valuable technique, given its presence in humanity for centuries, it also has a number of other constructive advantages, such as its great environmental value, as it is an accessible renewable material.

Tulum 21 House / As Arquitectura + Diseño

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Tulum 21 is a summer house located on San Benito beach in Yucatán. Our work was developed in three stages: architectural design, interior design, and subsequently the expansion of a palapa in the area closest to the sea.

Integrating the Past: Contemporary Projects that Preserve Preexisting Façades

Belén Maiztegui — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Operating in urban environments often requires us to make decisions regarding pre-existing structures. The increase in city density has directly impacted the availability of space for developing new and independent constructions, sparking debates about what stance to take toward built heritage that has become obsolete—either due to deterioration or because it no longer meets the functional needs of the contemporary population. In cases where buildings have seriously deteriorated or new projects differ greatly from the spatial possibilities an old building can offer, preserving only the façade—as an exterior envelope, almost like a superficial element—can be seen as a partial solution that allows for the preservation, in part, of the urban character of a structure if it holds some public or cultural value. The controversy arises, certainly, from the lack of relationship or connection between the transformed interior and the preserved exterior.

Architecture in Mexico: Projects Using Stone

Mónica Arellano — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000

Due to their aesthetic, sustainable, durable, and resistant qualities, stone materials have accompanied the disciplines of architecture and engineering since their origins. As is known, in Mexico, stone has been a fundamental element in pre-Hispanic constructions where experimentation was done with vaults, ashlars, masonry, etc.

Hotel Eterna / Arista Cero

Benjamin Zapico — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 02:00:00 +0000

ETERNA is a 25-suite hotel located in the center of La Veleta, Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Pulpo House / Workshop, Diseño y Construcción

Andreas Luco — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 16:00:00 +0000

Casa Pulpo is a Yucatecan house from the beginning of the last century that is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods of the city. The first spaces house a bedroom and the living room, both preserving their original high ceilings with the traditional white metal beams and their wooden joints, whose treatment was based on leaving the wood exposed with reminiscences of the colors it has had throughout the years.

Architecture and Collective Living: 50 of Mexico's Most Cutting Edge Apartment Complexes

Mónica Arellano — Sun, 16 Oct 2022 07:30:00 +0000

Climate is one of the key factors to take into consideration when designing a space. Of course, this can present a challenge, especially when dealing with extreme climates and the need for insulating materials that are able to adapt to a wide range of conditions. Luckily, for architects operating in Mexico, the country's privileged climate facilitates the creation of microclimates and spaces that blur the line between interior and exterior.

Studiolo / Workshop, Diseño y Construcción

Valeria Silva — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 15:00:00 +0000

The Italian ‘studiolo’, during the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, was a room or chamber of a palace where the owner could retire to a private environment, often lavishly decorated, dedicated to reading, studying, and writing. Located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Mérida, this space was conceived as a home studio for the Mexican artists David Serrano and Robert Willson. Here they can work on their pieces, relax and use it as a meeting point for collectors, gallery owners, artists, colleagues, and friends.

Mexican Interiors: 16 Bedrooms with Terraces

Mónica Arellano — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Over the years, interior design has evolved according to the needs that arise, but above all according to the experiences it seeks to evoke in the user. In the last two years we have witnessed a radical change and a special interest in this subject because the pandemic forced us to pay specific attention to the configuration of the places we inhabit. This brought about much more holistic designs that seek to address the wellbeing of the user, combining colours, sensory experiences, technology and natural elements that promote health.

Cocol House / Workshop, Diseño y Construcción + Taller Estilo Arquitectura

Andreas Luco — Thu, 26 May 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Casa Cocol was part of an old house from the Porfiriato era and that over time was subdivided until it had its currents dimensions with 165 square meters of surface. With the exception of the eclectic style façade in pastel blue, the color palette used in the rest of the house are neutral and raw tones as in the pasta tile floors, the walls, the beams and the white cement and chukum exteriors. It was intended to create a fresh and tropical space through the house by the use of vegetation, and wooden furniture in natural tones, where art and handcrafts would play a leading role in the space.

Casa Maca / Workshop, Diseño y Construcción

Andreas Luco — Fri, 25 Mar 2022 16:00:00 +0000

Located a few steps from one of the most emblematic avenues of the city of Mérida, Casa Maca is a historic former residence from the Porfiriato era. Visitors are transported to the past, where they are easily captivated by the vitality of the structure’s colors and textures. After removing any damaged finishings during restoration, the excellent quality of workmanship with which the original walls were built is easy to appreciate. The original, freshly exposed stone masonry was preserved and framed by lightly colored moldings, as though they are their own works of art.

Casa Reticular / Taller Estilo Arquitectura

Valeria Silva — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:00:00 +0000

This project seeks a connection between architecture and the natural world, a connection where the building embraces the landscape and vice versa, a connection where architecture submits to the natural environment and where the natural environment is interwoven in a grid that generates open and closed spaces, allowing the existing vegetation to be integrated and to become an essential part of the new building.

Culinary Architecture: 16 Projects that Explore Different Kitchen Layouts

Dima Stouhi — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Whether it's by sharing a meal at a restaurant or preparing a home-cooked meal together, food does in fact, bring people together. With that in mind, architects placed kitchens at the heart of homes, giving residents a space to cook, dine, and spend quality time with their families and friends. However, not all homes can fit spacious kitchens, some are too small and others don't have the proper spatial configuration for it. In this interior focus, we will explore how architects and designers opted for different kitchen layouts based on different spatial and user needs.

Chapel of the Earth / Cabrera Arqs

Pilar Caballero — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 15:00:00 +0000

The Chapel of the Earth is located on the border between a rural housing development and a small town in the interior of Yucatán. Without wanting to impose a religious landmark that was part of the housing development, but a meeting point for all the residents of the area. It blends in, disappearing from the immediate landscape and acting as a border element between the two territorial systems.

Canela House / Workshop, Diseño y Construcción

Andreas Luco — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 14:00:00 +0000

In the heart of Merida’s historic downtown, just a few steps away from the Canton Palace in Paseo de Montejo, we find Casa Canela, a colonial house from the beginning of last century, that holds behind its sober façade, a contemporary 2-bedroom residence. Walking through the green doors, a spectacular sculpture by Javier Marin welcomes you. Located right in the middle of the room, under a simple hanging lamp and the original green beams, surrounded by the stone walls and antique white pasta tiles. Following to the kitchen, we can see the old green frames around the doors and a painting by Isabel Garfias.

Best Houses of 2021

Clara Ott — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Residential architecture is one of the most popular categories among our readers. In 2021 we published more than 3,800 projects, featuring houses from different regions of the world and offering a variety of solutions, materials, contexts, environments, scales, and typologies. Providing a broad source of inspiration for those seeking references for their own residential project.

Huolpoch House / Workshop, Diseño y Construcción

Valeria Silva — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Casa Houlpoch is an old Yucatecan house from the end of the last century that gets its name from a snake from the region that regularly “visited” the property's ruins. The room, in pastel tones, has modern and casual furniture, integrating greenery and works of art, such as a playful Timoteo on the center table and a painting by Pedro Friedeberg on the sofa, crowning the space. The kitchen, with coatings in paste and quartz, has a reinterpretation of the old Yucatecan bells on the stove. The hanging lamps harmonize the space and are integrated into the wooden furniture such as the tzalam benches and the dining room, which was brought from Mozambique, a country where the Dutch owners lived before settling in the Yucatan peninsula.