Hill House Facing the Glen
Location: Morelia, Mexico
Year: 2021
Architects: HW STUDIO Arquitectos
The idea that originated this project arose from the subtle murmurs that an environment like this whispered and suggested, as well as from the client's search for protection and refuge. How can one feel protected? And in any case, what is the first thing one does when faced with vulnerability? This question was accompanied by an image or perhaps a memory: that of a frightened child covering himself with a light sheet while peeking out to make sure he sees what is happening around him. Pulling a sheet to cover himself is a very elemental act that alludes to the most basic of being; the sheet covers, protects, envelops, and beneath it occurs a space so safe and intimate that it is capable of driving away any spirit, ghost, or demon that may be surrounding the room. At the same time, it generates continuity in the beautiful living surface that surrounds the land, forming a new hill in a place surrounded by them.
In this case, architecture should be the accent on the words of the poem, the comma, or in any case some question mark, but it should never be the poem itself. The poem was already given by the pines, oaks, huizaches, fireflies, the road, the fence, the neighbor's pool, the earth, the orchard and the nightingale. The accents in the poem were four concrete walls that emerged unexpectedly from the landscape; two of them contain the earth of this new hill that was created when the sheet was lifted and two others that frame the access and escort the guest during his way to the interior of the house. This path is wide enough to walk comfortably alone, but narrow enough so that it cannot be done accompanied. It urges a pilgrimage in solitude that leads to the encounter with an old tree whose presence is so significant that it was necessary to distort the linearity of one of the walls with a gentle curve in order to be able to pass next to it; it is so close that it is even possible to touch it. After crossing the tree's threshold, going down some steep solid stone steps, and opening a heavy steel door, one discovers a concrete vault that supports the loads of the green sheet resting on it; it gives the sensation of being inside a cold, dark, but strangely welcoming cave.
Concrete was chosen as the main material because of the dream of this new rock melting as it inevitably interacted with the forest, changing from chalky colors to green, black, and yellow, and gradually becoming incorporated into the surroundings. The floor would emphasize the woody aroma that is perceived when surrounded by pine trees, which balances the cold temperature of the concrete, and finally steel because with time and rain it takes on an appearance similar to the bark of a tree. As for the spatial organization, on the left side of the house are the public areas completely exposed to the wooded ravine, and on the right side are the private areas that open more timidly to a patio, which allows you to see the sky and the tops of some trees but which closes off a little towards the outside. It was necessary to have very few references to elements that recalled a specific moment in time, so the refrigerator and appliances were hidden, the lights were arranged very discreetly, and only four main materials were included: stone, wood, concrete, and steel. It was very important for the client to retain the rough and primitive atmosphere of being in the mountains. Text description by the architects.
