Casa Metepec emerged from a desire to rethink the possibilities of domestic life through a distinct spatial proposition, while working within a program that, on the surface, appeared conventional. The family that the house homes was not looking for an extraordinary house in appearance, but rather a specific way of inhabiting—one that would challenge the limits of enclosure, privacy, and openness.
We decided to place most of the house underground, concealing architecture and revealing landscape. This gesture allowed us to transform the garden into the true protagonist. Above ground, a horizontal structure remains visible—an open-plan space that hovers above the terrain and opens to the gardens. At ground level it holds no fixed program, allowing for multiple uses and encounters.
Below, the architecture unfolds through a series of differentiated rooms, each responding to the specific activity it was designed for. Instead of labeling spaces with predetermined functions, we imagined each one as an autonomous response to its use and to the relationships between them. They are connected through small sunken courtyards that bring light, air, and a sense of time passing underground.
The result is a house that operates with duality: compact and tailored below; open and fluid above. The gardens serve as boundaries, habitat, and space of encounter—not only for the family, but for local flora and fauna. Casa Metepec reflects a to shape space without claiming it entirely.
