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Floor Plan of Project01 by Instead

The couple named their company Konga after the young son, Vinca’s mispronunciation of the Lithuanian word for “socks” when he was learning to speak. “For us, it formed a symbolic association with the feeling of the earth under bare feet,” says Goda. “It encouraged us to leave our footprint, but with minimal impact on nature and meaningful value to humans.”

“None of this was part of my plan,” says architect Dani Serrano of creating a home out of the Pastime Camper he bought for $1,500 in 2019. A passionate surfer and traveler, Dani only knew one thing when he started out on the Pan-American Highway in Oregon: that he was taking four months off from work to drive down the Pacific Coast toward South America in search of the perfect wave. In Aposentillo, Nicaragua, he found a break that fit the bill, a legendary spot known as The Boom.

The condensed, double-height footprint fits a combination living/dining/kitchen area on the main floor and a bedroom on the mezzanine. A bathroom, storage closet, and exterior staircase are tucked under the mezzanine.

This compact vacation home by TACO—or, Taller de Arquitectura Contextual—is immersed in southeastern Mexico’s wild landscape. The home is designed for a pair of young adults, and the firm’s objective was to achieve a reflective and contemplative place that links the occupants with the surrounding environment. The result is an intuitive, functional, and simple living experience that offers great spatial warmth.

In accordance with the brief, the firm left the landscape largely in its natural state.