At the Threshold of Nature

At the Threshold of Nature

Tepoztlan Lounge

Man is a funny creature, full of ambivalent needs that must be kept in balance. Architecture is an excellent means to illustrate this.

Man unites groups of people under one roof and, doing so, excludes others, creates proximity and distance at the same time. He removes the dangerous nature by building cities, but then creates gardens, green areas, and parks, because he misses it. Or, tired of the city, he makes his way into nature where he, again, in his need of protection, erects a house nature must give way to.

The Tepoztlán Lounge is such a place, where contact to nature is possible without having to leave civilization. The town of Tepoztlán is located about 50 km in the south of Mexico City and is, since 2002, officially classified as a “Pueblo Mágico” (“magical place”), which is a tourist attraction. Besides a historically and culturally important Aztec pyramid, the environment of the town offers a magnificent natural landscape in the first place. Amidst this landscape, the Tepoztlán Lounge, designed by architectural office Cadaval & Sola-Morales (Barcelona and Mexico City), was completed in 2012.

Open Boomerang

The Tepoztlán Lounge is part of a larger project, in whose course a series of rentable bungalows shall be created. Within this project, the lounge is meant to be a central communal space for leisure in nature. The transition to nature is created by a carefully manicured lawn. The floor plan of the building reminds of a three-bladed boomerang, whereas one wing is a little shorter and thicker than the other two. The façade is open for the most part, which makes inside and outside merge together. Only the ends of the three wings are enclosed by outer walls. Two of these wing ends are individual rooms that can be separated from the rest of the interior by glazed sliding doors.

Just hang around

At the eastern end, there are two tables and chairs. One of the outer walls is entirely covered by a blackboard. At the southern end, a fireplace has been installed. Beside this, the room offers several facilities for lying down. The toilets located at the western end are accessed from the outside. At the large open central part of the building, two large living trees protrude through the floor and ceiling, emphasizing once more the connection between the building and nature. Beside them, there are hammocks fixed to the ceiling. Here, you can just hang around. Or you take a bath in the pool in front of the widely open northern façade of the building.

A youthful dream comes true

In our youth, my friends and I used to visit a place, some two kilometres outside the town, at the edge of a forest. It was a shelter and the small area around it. There, we used to sit under starry skies around a fire, playing guitar, singing songs, philosophizing over the important things of life, and cherishing some youthful nonsense. The one thing that would have made this place at the threshold of nature perfect, would have been a pool. Then, we would not have had to take the long way to the town's open-air swimming pool and break in. How fortunate that the architects of Cadaval & Solà-Morales thought of everything in the realization of our youthful dream. Also, the hammocks could not have been invented better by our youthful minds. Muchas gracias!

Project details

Status:

fertiggestellt 2012

Size:

250m2

Comments

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Dëvvrãt Röý 1. August 2013 - 14:32

AWESOME

jessymiller744's picture
jessymiller744 21. August 2014 - 13:20

This place is the perfect combination between modern architecture and nature. Such places are true oasis in a crowded city, places that some people try to recreate them in their back yard. The contemporary pools are their favorite choice, which definitely tells something about their unique design.

marcalec's picture
marcalec 10. October 2014 - 12:17

Both the landscape and the building are awesome, it's not wonder the kids liked it so much! It looks like everything is possible these days, if you have enough imagination you can transform the landscape according to your wishes. Even if you lack that imagination, it's no big deal because someone like the landscape architect in Jacksonville, FL could take care of that part for you, so there's no reason for you not to own an amazing garden.

preyasisaini's picture
preyasisaini 5. November 2014 - 11:11

The idea is to focus on facts and try and define a baseline problem to share.

anniepark1's picture
anniepark1 21. November 2014 - 16:05

That's just impressive. This innovative and natural design should give us few things to think about. The model could be applied in commercial landscaping as well since a lot of efforts are being made in promoting sustainable designs in commercial architecture. Do you have any other revolutionary designs to show us in this niche?

kompor456_1's picture
kompor456_1 18. December 2014 - 7:19

Man unites groups of people under one roof and, doing so, excludes others, creates proximity and distance at the same time. He removes the dangerous nature by building cities, but then creates gardens, green areas, and parks, because he misses it. Or, tired of the city, he makes his way into nature where he, again, in his need of protection, erects a house nature must give way to. Sbobet, Ibcbet, Agen Bola Sbobet, Agen Sbobet , P0ker Online , Idrpkr.com Agen Texas P0ker dan Domino Online Indonesia Terpercaya

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