The house arises and is designed taking into account the environment in which it is located, both to respect the landscape and to be sustainable with its surroundings. The main construction material is a material that is as basic as it is old and abundant in the area, the earth used to create the compacted earth walls, the landscape itself being the raw material for Alfredo Navarro Tiznado's project.
Casa Martha by Alfredo Navarro Tiznado. Photograph by Oscar Hernández Rodríguez.
Casa Martha by Alfredo Navarro Tiznado. Photograph by Oscar Hernández Rodríguez.
Casa Martha by Alfredo Navarro Tiznado. Photograph by Oscar Hernández Rodríguez.
Description of project by Alfredo Navarro Tiznado
Casa Martha is the home of an archaeologist, so it is designed with rudimental and artisanal techniques, conceived with the aim of unifying time, form and context through its composition and materiality of ancestral origin.
Located between the municipalities of Ensenada and Rosarito, in the urban area of La Misión, where the landscape is densified with architectural typologies for tourism. The lot has dimensions of 15 x 40 meters, on a terrain of rugged topography.
The architectural program contemplated the retirement home for a couple, Martha and Bill, as well as a space for the plastic arts. A simple development was proposed, blend in with the site and with minimal intervention. A dialogue between three volumes embedded in the site and oriented towards the Pacific Ocean from a clear axis.
The first level is divided into two areas, the visitor area made up of two rooms and the study area that can function as a painting and carpentry workshop or as a garage. On the second level, the core of the house is found: the entertainment room, dining room and kitchen make up the access threshold with large windows and porches woven with salt pine. This lattice generates, in turn, a protection from the prevailing winds, as well as a component of privacy towards the interior, generating a play of light and shadows. At the back of the social area there is a staircase that leads to the third level where the main chamber is located, which has a view of the context's landscape, in this space the interior is blurred with the exterior.
Casa Martha arises and is modeled with deep sensitivity and respect for its surroundings. The main construction element is compacted earth, in this way the site and its topography are consolidated as the raw materials of the project.
