juan pablo guerra presents 'burial': an exploration of underground space in mexico

twelve walls in querétaro

In an exploration of underground architecture, Juan Pablo Guerra creates this austere pavilion dubbed ‘Burial.’ The envisioned work is designed to be viewed from afar as a distinctive monument punctuating an empty landscape, taking shape above ground as an array of twelve concrete ‘walls.’ The landscape of its site in Querétaro, Mexico is characterized by its mountains to the north and its rolling plains to the south and west.

The architect explains the spirit of the design: ‘Burial’ is a sober and megalithic, concrete pavilion, where intimacy hides in plain sight, giving poetic form to practical needs.’

creating burial, the pavilion by juan pablo guerra

While Juan Pablo Guerra embeds his Burial pavilion into the earth, its twelve walls stand in contrast to the flat, grassy landscape. The designer tells designboom: ‘The project does not seem to contain a space, at first sight, it is until one approach and discovers the great subtraction on the ground that allows housing a multipurpose pavilion, accompanied by a sleek waterbody.

‘The completely underground space is contained by large solid concrete slopes, which in turn function to anchor and overlap the concrete vertical planes that can be seen from the outside. These are tall enough to trap the sun’s rays inside them without reaching the living space. Thus, generating a fresh, intimate, and quiet atmosphere, which is partially protected from the outdoors.‘

designing without architecture

Juan Pablo Guerra explores a new design strategy, aiming to design the Burial pavilion ‘without architecture.’ The process seeks to demonstrate that the most vital architectural quality is the condition which results after the project has first ‘solved its practical needs.’ 

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floor plan

sections

project info:

project title: Burial

architecture: Juan Pablo Guerra of Memoria de Arquitectura | @memoria.arq

location: Querétaro, Mexico

status: concept