Located beneath a house built half a century ago by architect Manuel Rocha Díaz —in collaboration with sculptor Ernesto Paulsen— the Photocatalytic Cave is a 70 m² space transformed into a multisensory and playful refuge. It sits on the western hillside of Mexico City, in an area where caves were commonly dug decades ago to extract sand for constru...
Project name
Photocatalytic Cave MM
Architecture firm
AMEZCUA
Location
Mexico City, Mexico
Photography
Jaime Navarro
Design team
Gabriela Mosqueda, Aarón Rivera, Rodrigo Lugo, Miguel González, Saraí Cházaro, Víctor Cruz, María García, Mauricio Miranda, Julio Amezcua
Collaborators
Interior Surface Cladding: Krion K-Life® by Porcelanosa®; Krion K-Life® Fabrication and Installation: Embodied by Gabriela Díaz; Lighting: Interior Lighting Design: Luz en Arquitectura. Exterior Lighting and Fixtures: Light Moxion; Concrete Pedestal and Washbasin: Taller Tornel; Concrete Furniture: JM Construcciones; Wood Flooring (Listone Giordano) and Mafi Table: Forte / Solesdi; Entertainment System: Stylus Audio & Video
Lighting
Interior Lighting Design: Luz en Arquitectura. Exterior Lighting and Fixtures: Light Moxion
Typology
Residential › House
A house built for a garden. On a quiet street next to Chapultepec forest, a discrete volcanic rock wall reveals an entrance that when entering a young Jacaranda is spotted at the end of the plot bathed in sunlight. Bamboo disguises the boundaries of the plot, and in it, a concrete core is born in the foundations and rises three levels up.
Architecture firm
Vertebral
Location
Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico City
Photography
Studio Chirika, Ricardo De La Concha
Principal architect
Elías Kalach, Teddy Nanes
Design team
Armando Merida Ramos
Structural engineer
Armando Merida Ramos
Environmental & MEP
Enrique Robelo (Electric) + Ernesto Placencia (Hydraulic/Sewage/Rainwater)
Lighting
Luz en Arquitectura
Tools used
AutoCAD, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Construction
Miserachi + Vertebral
Material
Concrete, Steel, Tzalam Wood for interiors, Teka wood for exteriors, Glass, Tikal Marble
Typology
Residential › House
