30 DIGS.NET | 1.13.23
S W E E T D I G S | C O N C R E T E J U N G L E
I
N PEACEFUL La Punta Zicatela, located
in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, Casa TO
bathes not only in the golden sunsets of a
surfer's paradise, but also in the glow of its
standing as the most architecturally inter-
esting boutique hotel in town. This cleverly
abstracted concrete oasis by architect Ludwig
Godefroy is a bold reinterpretation of an ancient
Oaxacan temple, fusing tradition and modernity
with seclusion and exposure for something not
as much built as sculpted. Casa TO is hardly
the country's first flirtation with concrete; Mexi-
co's fidelity to the raw material calls to mind the
work of beloved son Luis Barragán and Japan's
Tadao Ando, whose concrete art campus Casa
Wabi, another Oaxacan retreat, is a much-In-
stagrammed sensation. It is, however, plenty
worthy of following—all the way to southern-
most point of Puerto Escondido.
In designing the two-story boutique hotel—a
hybrid of tradition and the avant-garde—one
presumes that the French-born, Mexico-based
Godefroy was at least partially motivated by what
many of us have long considered: Does Mexico
really need another discotheque-to-death mega-
hotel? Manifestly no. Of modest scale, the
architect's elegantly simple concept is a striking
rethink for the by-the-beach hospitality scene:
private and musing, with a pretty unforgettable
pool and a bent toward eco-consciousness and
A
R
C
H
I
T
E
C
T
U
R
E
+
D
E
S
I
G
N
