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Project Details:

Location: Marquesa, Mexico

Architect: Ludwig Godefroy / @ludwiggodefroy

Footprint: 1,615 square feet

Photographer: Rory Gardiner / @arorygardiner

From the Architect: “The concept for Alferez House came from the idea of a cabin in the woods and the romantic feeling of a protective shelter in the middle of the forest. I wanted the house to look like a cube which would have crashed on the floor, among the trees.

“The project responds to the idea of an isolated house in the forest, without ever losing sight of the need for a strong feeling of security; it is a house like a vault, made of concrete that protects and cares for its inhabitants. The result is a mix of languages: on one hand the cabin as the romantic part of the project, and on the other, the fortress as brutalist and protective. The ground floor has windows placed very high where you can’t reach them from the outside, opening views toward the sky and the pine trees.

“The footprint is compact in order to avoid a complex and expensive foundation due to the topography of the land. The rooftop is the morning area, meanwhile the natural ground floor is the afternoon area. The house appears to be dropped like an unstable box on top of the natural slope of the land, cantilevered on its south corner and sunken on the opposite north corner. The structure contrasts the feeling of lightness of a cabin and the weight of the concrete and the fortress personality of the house.

“The house is designed in relationship to the light and trees. Following the logic of its compact footprint, the purpose of the project was to grow vertically, instead of horizontally, to allow people to touch the branches of the tall pine trees. The configuration of the house was developed in half levels organized around a double height space, giving the house a cathedral-like feeling and proportion from within, with light entering everywhere from the top through the very high windows and skylights in the ceiling. Then the double-height diffuses the light through the entire inner space, compensating for the lack of windows on the ground floor.”