Located on Avenida Veracruz in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, this group of five buildings began with a specific intervention into one building, which gradually expanded to involve five projects closely related both one to another and to the surrounding context. The work has permitted a redefinition of the urban texture, establishing a dialogue between façades and offering the possibility of creating a series of open spaces and connecting landscapes within the interior of the block.
Veracruz I (79)
The first building of the group is located at the intersection of three streets - Veracruz, Cuernavaca and Acapulco. The project is resolved by means of a curved section of exposed concrete that accentuates the outline of the street. The interiors of the three single-floor apartments and the double-height duplex penthouse are reflected through the façade.
Veracruz II (81)
The second building on Veracruz, which neighbors the first construction, is on an irregular L-shaped lot with eight meters of frontage. The design continues the interior patio of the first building and matches it in height, establishing a dialogue between the two constructions.
The building is composed of two volumes: an exterior one giving onto the street and an interior one at the back part of the patio. The domestic spaces are contained in the former volume, while the latter houses an independent studio-workshop for each apartment. Glazed footbridges and an external stairway connect the two volumes.
Veracruz III (85) - Veracruz IV (91)
The third project of the series consists of an intervention into an old tenement house catalogued by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. The façade along Veracruz and the first bay of the volume were salvaged to create four small two-level houses, with direct access from the street. A new, lighter structure was integrated atop the original volume, with two apartments set back from the façade to create a terrace area overlooking the jacaranda trees of the avenue.
At the back of the lot there rises a new building with ten apartments: five duplexes on the ground floor and first level, each with its own private patio, and above them five triplexes with private terraces. The interior configures an open patio aligned with those of the former projects.
The development is terminated by a seven-story building at the far end. A single triple-height entrance to the entire group was opened up, leaving the façade of the catalogued building intact and entering into a dialogue with the second project.
This last building consists of two blocks of dwellings, one looking street-ward and the other with a view of the interior patio. The ground floor houses a café along the street side and the security services of the complex.
Veracruz V (83)
The last piece in the series is erected on a lot situated between the second and third project, on the same scale as these two. It synthesizes the spatial configuration of the other buildings of the series: double heights reflected on the façade, terraces open to the street, and continuity of scale. The volume contains three apartments and a multi-purpose space on the ground floor. The first two apartments were designed to serve either as expansions of the first two duplexes of Veracruz 81 or as independent dwellings. The third apartment is a three-level penthouse contained in a recessed volume that opens onto a terrace overlooking the avenue.
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This project appeared on europaconcorsi home page slideshow dedicated to mexican architecture. The series was realized in cooperation with Derek Dellekamp. We thank him for his help, kindness and professional advice.