Casa Zicatela is a weekend retreat on the beach in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Architects Ludwig Godefroy and Emmanuel Picault made no concessions and conceived the home as a fully-fledged shelter, entirely of concrete and without any reference to the prototypical vacation homes. This is not the first time we talk about modern Mexican architecture. Click here, here, and here to find out about other amazing projects.
From the outside, the building looks like a perfectly solid mass of concrete, crossed on one side by a pair of openings that hold the sturdy wooden doors. This concrete enclosure protects an interior with a gardened courtyard flanked on both sides by stairs leading up to the roof of the house, agglutinating the day zone interconnected through a water canal. The particular distribution of the space generates a fascinating spatial sequence, alternating the full and the void, from the public area outside to the interior of the dwelling.
The house has a sophisticated elegance. Hints that recall the superb style of Carlo Scarpa. A brutal atmosphere with vernacular reminiscences that celebrates the idea of “joie de vivre”, a perfect example of modern Mexican architecture.
Photo Rory Gardiner
