Five weekend houses are built from a red-coloured terra-cotta in the middle of the forest in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, to blend into their natural surrounding. Called Entre Pinos, the two-storey houses are entirely built from the region's local materials: brick, wood and earth. 

Designed by Mexico City-based architecture firm Taller Hector Barroso, the five weekend houses have the same building height and typology by only being differentiated with their sculpted forms and earthy-looking skin among tall pine trees.

Situated in a long line in a vast forest surrounding the town of Valle de Bravo, the houses occupies the 1,700-square-metre area in total. The Entre Pinos, dispersed elegantly and freely in the land, is comprised of 6 volumes positioned around a central patio. Marking themselves as a successfully-arranged solid-void relationship, all patios, in addition to views, create silence, privacy and intimacy. 

"These volumes are closed to the north being this the access to the houses opening with great voids to the south through the views of the garden and the forest, taking full advantage of natural light," said Taller Hector Barroso in a project statement.

Living room, dining room, kitchen and one of the bedrooms are placed on the ground floor to expand their limits to the exteriors to join terraces, patios and the garden. The architects place three bedrooms on the upper floor to frame the views overlooking the magnificent pines.

For the materials of the housing, the architects used local sources and materials from the region. The soil was taken and reused from the buildings' excavations to bury the foundations, which was used as the main material. All the walls are covered with that soil to give the impression that the building is out of the ground.

Masterplan in black

Initial sketch

Initial sketch-2

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

Sketch elevation

Elevation

Model view

All images © Rory Gardiner

All drawings © Taller Hector Barroso

> via Taller Hector Barroso