GRAPHĒ: This Brick House Melds Mexican and Nordic Traditions

Built for a retired Finnish woman in Mineral de Paz, the home focuses in on "simplicity, intimacy, and material authenticity."

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Project Details:

Location: Mineral de Pozos, Mexico

Architect: Escobedo Soliz

Footprint: 1,076 square feet

Builder: Alma Hernández Covarruvias

Structural Engineer: Adalberto Estrada

Civil Engineer: Sergia Ayala

Interior Design: Christel Blomqvist

Cabinetry Design: Origen Madera

Photographer: Ariadna Polo / @ariadnapolo.foto

From the Architect: "This project comprises a residence for a retired Finnish woman, situated in a former mining settlement within the Sierra Gorda of Guanajuato. Conceived as a discreet and contemplative refuge, the house occupies an irregularly shaped plot, densely populated with pirul trees, organ cacti, mesquite, prickly pears, and marked by the presence of an 18th-century mining shaft. The site, narrow and uneven, is defined on the eastern edge by a preexisting adobe and stone wall, and on the west by a natural barrier of organ cacti. The program, articulated by the client, Mrs. Christel, required a principal dwelling on a single level and, above it, a two-bedroom apartment with independent access for rental purposes.

"The architectural strategy incorporated the adobe wall as the guiding axis for access to the principal residence, entered through a courtyard that is simultaneously contained by both the wall and the house. This courtyard functions as an organizing element, linking all domestic spaces through a semi-open portico. On the upper level, the apartment is structured around its own central patio. To the west, the dwelling is articulated into three staggered volumes, a gesture that negotiates the irregular trace of the cactus boundary while avoiding the remains of the mining shaft. Importantly, the project was conceived to allow construction in distinct phases, ensuring adaptability over time.

"The decision to employ locally produced red fired brick responded to a desire to work with a traditional material whose thermal and economic properties supported the use of a double-wall system known as enhuacalado. This constructive technique enabled the formation of robust, hollow walls capable of accommodating both structure and services, while also facilitating phased construction with greater efficiency. Carefully framed square apertures establish precise visual connections to the garden, while in the central patio, tall masonry surfaces modulate light, intensify silence, and cultivate an atmosphere of seclusion—an ambience particularly suited to reading and contemplation.

"From the outset, the project aspired to qualities of simplicity, intimacy, and material authenticity—values that resonate across both Mexican and Nordic architectural traditions. Its pursuit was oriented toward the essential and the poetic dimensions of dwelling, deliberately eschewing the superficial or ostentatious."