Yucatán at Home
TEXT LEE STEELE PHOTOS CARLOS ROSADO VAN DER GRACHT
T
he starting point at Casa Desnuda, or Naked House in English, is a bare rectangular block. There are lots of them, exposed throughout the private home of architects Victor Cruz and Atahualpa Hernández Salazar of Taller Estilo. Big decisions were made based on the proportion of that 20-by-40-centimeter block. But first things first. From the street, the Santiago property that has been Victor and Ata’s home since 2015 stands out for its giant climbing vines on the second floor. This hangs over a garage whose facade comprises various pieces of recycled wood, of various colors, from past projects. The home started with its challenges. After setting aside one area to build an income property, Victor and Ata were left with a 6.5-by-27.5 meter property that faces west, toward the punishing afternoon sun. Pockets of shaded garden space between the garage and the main house cool the property immediately. Walking through the garage, visitors are bathed in a cooling blue glow from the skylights. Once inside, the airflow is refreshing because the house goes vertical. On one side is a wall of windows that, when slid open, create a cooling breeze so strong that the gas stove is unusable because the flame flickers out. The architects sacrificed a meter of space to accommodate the air shaft.
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Casa Desnuda
2 Taller Estilo architects find the formula for their own private quarters
Atahualpa Hernandez Salazar, left, and Victor Cruz, well-known architects in Mérida, relax after work in their own home in the Santiago neighborhood.
ISSUE 5 | YUCATÁN MAGAZINE
