Brutalismo: A Concrete Cabin in the Woods of Cañada De Alferes, Mexico

The idea was a cabin in the woods, but the cabin is a cube-like Brutalist structure and the woods are Cañada De Alferes, an hour outside of Mexico City. “I wanted the house to look like a cube which would have crashed on the floor, among the trees,” explains Mexico City-based French architect Ludwig Godefroy. The two bedroom vacation house is 1,600 square feet with a compact 9-by-9 meter footprint (about 30 x 30 feet). Half-levels organized around a double-height space in poured-in-place concrete are designed with built-in concrete furniture and pine wood doors. Join us for a closer look.


Photography by Rory Gardiner courtesy of Ludwig Godefroy.
Above: The design is intended to grow vertically, not horizontally.
Above: The typography of the land dictates the design: cantilevered on the south corner and sunken on the north corner.
Above: A view of the exterior showcases both wide and narrow windows throughout the structure.
Above: Stone steps and a long concrete platform leads to a front door in solid pine.
Above: The first floor features a conversation pit, or sunken living room, and an exaggerated chimney on the wood burning stove. The house is boken up into two areas: the second floor is considered to be the morning area and the first floor is the afternoon area.
Above: Skylight windows are inaccessible from the outside “giving the house this cathedral feeling and proportion on the inside with light entering everywhere from the top” explains Godefroy.
Above: The kitchen/dining area sits mid-level in the house.
Above: A series of concrete cubbies make up the small kitchen and a built-in table is lined with oiled oak Hans Wegner Wishbone Chairs. A similar pendant light is the Barn Light Electric Original Cord Pendant Light in green.
Above: The kitchen sink is made from one continuous flow of concrete, fitted with a commercial-style faucet and an Ikea Ordning Dish Drainer.
Above: The upper bedroom is lofted off the kitchen with a built-in bed and a desk fitted with an Ikea Långfjäll Conference Chair and Verner Panton Flowerpot Table Lamp in grey beige. In the foreground sits a Coleman Vintage Steel Belted Cooler.
Above: The downstairs bedroom is more secluded with light that comes from above skylights flooding into the house and narrow windows.
Above: An ensuite bathroom made of concrete fixtures.
Above: The backside of the shower is an open closet area with shelving and a single clothes rail.
Above: A diagonal skylight extrudes from the façade of the structure.
Above: The rooftop is made up of skylights in various organic shapes and a brick surface.
Above: The building looks out above the trees.


For more projects located throughout Mexico see our posts:



* A Soulful Casita in Todos Santos, Mexico, for a French Aesthete

* An Artist at Home in Mexico

* The Artisanal Apartment: Laura Aviva Creates a Mexico City Pied-à-Terre/Showcase for Her Design Collection | BidBuddy.com


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