This Cabin Uses Clever Design and Local Materials to Let your Life Merge with the Earth Smoothly reaching out of a hillside in San Antonio Teitipac, Oaxaca, Teitipac Cabin’s dynamic design came from the minds of the LAMZ Arquitectura team. The structure’s two volumes converge with the land, engaging in dialogue with the surrounding natural spaces. With a glass hallway and rooms which often seem to open right into the open air, Teitipac Cabin embraces its host landscape. Aiming to create a timeless space, the LAMZ team incorporated many local materials into the interior of this structure. With a combination of wood, stone, and steel, the Teitipac Cabin develops a warm, functional and engaging private space. We chatted with the LAMZ team to learn more about their design process. THE PLUS: Tell us about the location in which Teitipac Cabin is built. How does that environment impact its design? LAMZ Architecture: The project of the cabin consisted of being able to observe in what point of the hill which is covered with trees of oak, pines and copales; we could alter as little as possible the land, between these spaces we observed some points that were eroded in which we understood that the spaces were small, so the project would have to be generated in two volumes to impact the least possible surface, with the intention to integrate nature in a respectful way. TP: Teitipac Cabin blends right into the land in some ways. Why is this closeness important to you? LA: The core point of the project is that the volumes merge with the hill. In this way the dissociation of the spaces generated a surprise to be in the interior, getting framed landscapes making an indoor – outdoor correlation according to the rugged topography. TP: Building on the last question, there are many spaces in this cabin which open seamlessly to the outdoors. What is the significance of the relationship between indoors and outdoors? LA: The intention of the project was always to have the experience of living the mountain, not necessarily from an exterior, in such a way that we made different types of openings in order to link the space to a different atmosphere, for which the user had the choice to live a distant landscape or to understand the shelter of the mountain. TP: Tell us a bit about the materials you chose to give the interior such a warm feeling. LA: The first choice was to respond to the context using the stone of the place. However, we wanted to create a counterpoint with the wood inside, in order to understand a shelter atmosphere that could escape you through the large openings, this allowed a metallic structure system that enable you to live those large terraces floating in the treetops; these materials will achieve a timelessness. TP: Which challenges did you face in this project? LA: We had great challenges from generating our own electric power through solar panels that will supply us during work and even the same station will generate electric power for the cabin, the supply of the materials without hurting the vegetation and the services supplies respecting nature. TP: Tell us about the materials chosen for the exterior of the cabin. How do they balance aesthetic with functionality? LA: Each project responds to three important points. The first is to generate a logical and at the same time bold structure that allows us to have a flexible space. Second, the understanding of the material; treat it in an apparent and natural way, in such a way that it gets a patina with the course of the time. Third create a relation with the open space. Linking these points, we think that the projects correspond to the site in a natural way as if they had always existed there. TP: How would you describe your overall approach in design? LA: Our focus on design always starts generating a different intention in each project which can amalgamate, dissociate, generate ruptures, open or close a vacuum, reinterpret pre-established typologies that respond directly to the user and the time in which we live, always looking clarity in the process from the drawing, model, to the finished work. Ground Floor Plan ▼ Upper Level Plan ▼ Sections ▼
