Under the foothills of Tepozteco rises the Casa LL, designed by RA! which with its monoliths sits as if the unwashed stones of the hill had been sculpted to inhabit them.

We received this attractive project from Mexico with a poetic text from its authors, the architects of the RA! studio, which we reproduce below. There is nothing better to bring us closer to the soul of these exciting spaces.

“Under the slopes of Tepozteco rises Casa LL, which with its monoliths sits as if the unwashed stones of the hill had been sculpted to inhabit them.
The geometric composition of the house responds to a fragmentation of prisms that join and separate to form the spaces. They are added to generate amplitude and disintegrated to withdraw into solitude.

Each of the volumes refuses access, thus generating the volumetric gesture through which the house begins to be discovered. Towards the hill, the house opens its windows and expands its spaces to bow to the beauty of the mountains. Once we cross the access alleys between the large blocks that compress and guide us into the interior, a transition takes place where a brutal expansion is generated towards the generous garden and the view of the mountains.

The extensive garden is surrounded by the rest areas of the house, four bedrooms and the living room; the remaining fragments are detached from the garden to appropriate the residual spaces, generating new courtyards and open views that allow natural light to enter in the afternoon. The construction of the house uses a system of expanded polystyrene panels covered in a three-dimensional wire structure with which the concrete is inked with the hues that abstract the nuances of the mountain.

The construction of the house uses a system of expanded polystyrene panels covered with a three-dimensional wire structure with which the concrete, tinted with shades that abstract the hues of the mountain, is poured outwards”.

Architecture: RA!
Architects: Cristóbal Ramírez de Aguilar, Pedro Ramírez de Aguilar, Santiago Sierra, Daniel Martínez, Lourdes Gámez.
Area: 481m² interior + 719m² exterior.
Location: Tepoztlán, Morelos, México.
Completed: 2024.
Photography: Mariana Achach.
Text: RA!
Translation: Exágono.
Suppliers: Covintec, Cemex.
Installations: Antonio Villarreal.
Structure: Daniel Manzanares.

RA!

RA! is an architecture studio founded by Cristóbal Ramírez de Aguilar, Pedro Ramírez de Aguilar and Santiago Sierra in 2017 and based in Mexico City. RA! understands architecture as the study and production of spaces to excite and protect human beings, which is why, through this line of thinking, projects are classified according to human relationships. That is to say, personal, interpersonal and social relationships.

Their practice is in a constant evolutionary search for design, so experimentation is an inherent process of their vision. It is thanks to this search that new design possibilities and unknown tools are explored to keep thinking current. The studio seeks to propose architecture through questioning, researching the environment and using various tools ranging from drawing to the production of videos and models and coordination with specialists that allow it to express, explore and communicate every detail, with the aim of moving those who inhabit it.

RA! focuses on projects and works related to architecture, urban planning and interventions in space. Some of its experimental projects have been exhibited in galleries and museums such as the Archive of Design and Architecture, the National Numismatic Museum, Harvard GSD Kirkland Gallery, La Laguna, and the Museum of the Americas in Madrid, among others. The workshop has won various awards through competitions such as the Felix Candela Prize in 2019, as well as: ‘Hacienda Wabi’, ‘Casa LL’, ‘CDSJ’ and ‘Mirador Brisas del Marqués’. Their works have also been nominated for best building of the year by Archdaily and published by various media such as: Architectural digest and the newspaper Reforma.

RA! is an expression of encouragement, enthusiasm and support.

Project by RA!