The complex at Antonio Maceo 8 shows us how Taller Héctor Barroso has designed the one- and two-story homes as pieces that fit together in a balanced way. Both the entrance to the homes and the stairs to the second floors, lead to or emerge from a large living-dining room, that is separated from the rest of the rooms by the distribution corridors.
Using exposed concrete made in light browns, metal carpentry and details, both on the roof and terraces, an aesthetic and visual connection is achieved with the colours of the Escandón neighbourhood. On the roof, crowning the building, the green vegetation becomes one of the distinctive features of the project.
Antonio Maceo 8 by Taller Héctor Barroso. Photograph by César Béjar.
Project description by Taller Héctor Barroso
Mexico City is continually growing, and the popular neighborhoods are gradually being redensified to house more inhabitants. The Antonio Maceo 8 (AM8) residential building is part of this process –a response to the growth of the Escandón neighborhood.
Four concrete volumes stand behind a heritage-listed façade, containing 13 apartments on five levels to make the most of the site conditions.
This architecture seeks to humanize the compositional pattern, centralizing the services to generate an open-plan layout adaptable to the users’ needs. The serene spaces created in this way respond to their orientation and provide cross-lighting and ventilation through balconies and intermediate levels, which are also useful for extending the boundaries of the interior.
In section, the project seems complex. Its circulation elements –the stairways– resemble indecipherable labyrinths, although their form expresses the diverse inhabitation modes. The façades follow a rigid system, corresponding to the program they host inside, in a rhythm that eventually composes a cheerful harmony.
