22 DIGS.NET | 9.23.2022
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P R O F I L E | N AT U R A L H O U S E
A cenote or "White Cave," as the practice imagined this project,
ical manifestation of a tenet to which
Cotaparedes Arquitectos is tied: "We
believe that privacy is not a luxury but
a necessity of human beings," says
architect Abraham Cota Paredes. In his
mind, the project speaks to the broader
evolution by humanity to "discover who
we are and what our place in the world
is." And, crucially, what that place should
be. "People need a place where they can
be away from others to think clearly" and
"develop that individuality that separates
us from other living beings."
This is introspective architecture, and
Natura House its remarkable result. A
disciplined, intentional building and a
spectacle from the street. Not for its flash.
But for its absence, and for its architect's
understanding of how to create an archi-
tecture that articulates the transforma-
tional power of a void.
"We understand white architecture as a
canvas where the inhabitants will paint
the spaces with their colors, their furniture,
paintings and personal objects," Cota
Paredes says. "In this architecture, the
natural elements become focal points
since what predominates is emptiness.
It feels poetic to look at the trees in that
courtyard, as if they were your only
companion in the solitude of the cave." A
cenote or "White Cave," as the practice
imagined this project, "carved by light
and time to be kind to the inhabitant." A
fundamental difference between a good
house and an actual home.
While an embrace of nature, the house is
also stubbornly self-contained. Achieving
that meant employing "what we call the
screen wall," Cota Paredes explains, "a
wall that divides two voids and plays with
the sou fujimoto concept of nested or
layered architecture." The use of uniform
white, meanwhile, helps extend the inte-
rior space outward, melding separate
spheres into one.
That it does, this project is less a build-
ing than it is a mood. "Our architecture
always seeks to be atmospheric," says
Cota Paredes. The olive tree at the heart
of the house is a particularly spiritual over-
ture that connects the space to nature.
