2024
MCHAP.emerge
Galopina
TACO Taller de Arquitectura Contextual
Seyé, Yucatan, Mexico
August 2022
PRIMARY AUTHOR
Carlos Patrón Ibarra (Lead Architect), Ana Patrón Ibarra (Interior Designer)
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR
Carlos Patrón Ibarra (Lead architect), Alejandro Patrón Sansor (Builder), Ana Patrón Ibarra (Designer), Karla Gómez Luna (Builder), Blanca Cruz (Junior Architect
CLIENT
Elisa Navarrete Manzanarez
PHOTOGRAPHER
Fabián Martínez
OBJECTIVE
The objective was always to offer a warm, unique, and unpretentious accommodation where guests could encounter nature, and experience the local culture through architecture.
The main house was located in the southern area, from which access to the property is given. In it, social areas such as kitchen, dining room, living room and terrace were considered; The main bedroom and the support and service area. The pool was embedded in the slopes of the south side of the hill, defined by a retaining wall from which you also climb to cross a bridge that connects to the north side, where the guest rooms were located, two of the which were embedded in the slopes of the hill, which have an evident relationship with the earth in the form of caves, and two at the top of the hill, from which there is a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. All the rooms have the proportion of the Mayan House, but with distributions adapted to the particularity of their orientations.
The volumetry consists in strong geometric shapes with the intention of making clear that it is a human intervention, providing a feeling of shelter within the wild landscape. The materials, and finishes were chosen for their ability to reinforce the sense of belonging to the place, and their capacity of aging with dignity. All this was landed with local techniques, and materials such as concrete floors, lime paint, burnished stucco, and stone masonry (among others).
Description provided by the authors.
CONTEXT
The location was chosen due to its accessibility to different consolidated points of interest and its connectivity with Mérida. Having defined the area, we visited the available land and in the end a 7 hectares one was chosen, which we walked in its entirety to discover its particularities. On this tour, we identified that it was an old Henequén crop field, which belonged to Hacienda Yabucú. Despite being a wild lot, we discovered the stone landmarks that formed a 20x20 meter grid, which indicated the work areas that corresponded to each laborer of the hacienda. In the same way, we detected the path along where the “truc” circulated, was in charge of collecting the henequen leaves. This trail crosses along the exact middle of the terrain from east to west, dividing it into a north and a south zone. Exactly in the center of what corresponded to us of that path, we found a “sascab” hill, which we decided to use for the location of the project, due to the spatial possibilities that it could offer us and that they represented a distinctive element to what it was offered at other lodgings in the area. In this land, 32 “mecates” of the aforementioned grid were chosen, giving a 40x80 meter shape, which were cleared of weeds, leaving only the trees, whose locations were raised to help in the process of defining the location of the buildings that would make up the program. The rest of the land was left in the wild.
Description provided by the authors.
PERFORMANCE
From the beginning, we were looking to have coherence between the house and the environment, where the house adapts to nature, and vice versa. This was achieved in an original way by dividing the house into two parts, where a walk-in nature is necessary to move from the Main House to the Guest Rooms.
In Galopina you live and admire nature and design in an unexpected and surprising way according to the words of our guests; which has exceeded our expectations, since our guests experience the concept of traveling slowly enjoying days of rest where design, architecture, and comfort come together in a consistent way with nature. It has been a great surprise to host people who love architecture and design. Galopina has become a destination, a reference point for architecture which attracts respectful guests who come to “live” and enjoy Mexican architecture during their vacations. Our guests have chosen Galopina as a destination, not just a stop, and that is gratifying.
The original design of the house and our concept have generated a very good impact on the community, as our closest towns have benefited from the visit of our guests, a natural and organic influx of responsible tourism has been generated in the surrounding area.
Galopina offers a space to enjoy ecotourism without leaving behind the pleasure of traveling beautifully. We manage to intertwine the aesthetics of architecture, with the natural landscape in a organic way, respecting the surroundings.
Description provided by the clients.
