all-red casa ederlezi pairs bold volumetry with mediterranean tones

casa ederlezi by práctica arquitectura takes shape in mexico

Embraced by a 360° view of hills, mountains, and ridges, Casa Ederlezi by Práctica Arquitectura nestles in a narrow plot in the historic center of San Pedro Garza in Monterrey, Mexico. The reddish dwelling exemplifies Mexican architecture through mystical volumetrics and proportions, elevated with more abstract contemporary features. At the same time, its vibrant tones and flora allude to memories of the desert and Mediterranean landscapes.

‘Ederlezi is the name of the celebration that marks the beginning of spring in the Balkans and Turkey. As a break from the gray winter, it manifests itself with music, dance, and flowers. The contrast between the greenery of the vegetation with the red tones of the walls, the tezontle in the garden, and the doors seeks to perpetuate the warmth and movement of that season of awakening,‘ comments the studio. From the particularity of its volumetrics and the mysteries and surprises that define its paths, Casa Ederlezi boasts a character that is deeply similar to its context, all while holding a unique energy.

image © Dove Dope

a central courtyard hugged by reddish atmospheres

The Práctica Arquitectura team organized Casa Ederlezi using a structure of circulations and services along the boundaries and a central courtyard that divides the program into two volumes. The first, facing the street, contains the entrance hall, garage, double-height guest room with a mezzanine, and a rooftop terrace that connect residents with the Mexican horizon. Set at the rear, the second volume contains the living room, dining room, kitchen, a blue patio that marks the edge of the property, and the main bedroom that has access to a landscaped terrace. While the layout is born from a rational sequence of squares, the section is more dynamic, with steps, platforms, overlapping gates, and scrolls ending in a red zigzag that functions as a containment towards the street. Combining the interiors’ robust reddish atmospheres with the patios and landscaped spaces, the dwelling ultimately invites a calmer, more intimate, and unplugged life.

Lastly, the facade neatly resolves the current restrictions on heritage and conservation. Embracing the challenges and opportunities of housing in heritage areas in growing cities, Casa Ederlezi reconciles notions such as the fluidity of an ethereal and open space with the privacy that allows a separation of daily life from the streets by creating a boundary around what happens inside. ‘The project seeks to blur the routine from the diversity of experiences it offers and, in turn, rethink the cadastral condition of the long and narrow plots in this area as a fertile typology to explore with volumes that are perforated, carved, and excavated in a stereotomic dialogue between the personality of the user, the house, and the mountain,’ concludes Práctica Arquitectura.

image © Apertura Arquitectónica

image © César Béjar

image © Apertura Arquitectónica

image © César Béjar

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image © César Béjar

image © Apertura Arquitectónica

image © César Béjar

image © Dove Dope

image © Apertura Arquitectónica

drawing

section, plan, areas | © Práctica Arquitectura

project info:

name: Casa Ederlezi
location: San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, México
project period: 2019-2022
plot, built area: 120 sqm / 160 sqm
architecture studio: Práctica Arquitectura | @practica_arquitectura

team: David Martínez Ramos (lead architect), Alejandro Gutiérrez
construction: GC3
landscape architect: Oswaldo Zurita
photographers: César Béjar | @cesarbejarstudio, Apertura Arquitectónica | @apertura.arquitectonica
Dove Dope | @_dovedope