Adolfo Prieto 1113
The project is situated at Colonia Del Valle, a traditional neighborhood in Mexico City that has transitioned over de past two decades from mid/high class family houses to lowrise, mid dense apartment buildings and it is a direct reflection of the urban potential of the land plot. Norm allows for six apartments spread in four levels which result in two typologies: The first one of 200 m2 big whole level apartments (penthouse and pentgarden) with three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. The second typology consists of small apartments spanning half a level of about 100 m2 located in levels 2 and 3 with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The intention from the beginning was to avoid a central patio (used by most commercial developers in the area) thus cancelling the possibility of any units looking at each other and breaching their privacy. Containing the whole building at the front of the plot allowed for a big private patio on the back for the pentgarden unit.
Both facades, front, and posterior, reflect the order of the structure by exalting the slabs and columns that constitute the building. On a second plane the facades present a combination of vane and solid through glass and concrete depending on the needs for privacy that the internal program requires. The latter are treated with a hammering technique which gives them a rougher finish that contrasts with the smooth finish of the grid formed by the slabs and columns. This hammered concrete and the proportions of the façade gesture towards the postmodern Mexican architecture. On the inside, hardwood Tzalam floors and carpentry combined with Carrara marble and smooth tones create soft, calming, timeless interiors.
