Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico

The Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza designed this pavilion using natural materials intended to encourage the production and use of clay as part of the artist retreat Casa Wabi in Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

Founded by artist Bosco Sodi, the main center of Casa Wabi Foundation, designed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, is located along Mexico’s Oaxaca coast.

Part of the Foundation’s mission is to help local children develop confidence, knowledge, and new skills of the local clay’s techniques of Oaxaca.

The Foundation believes that teaching them the clay working techniques that have been practiced in this part of Mexico for generations is integral to this, while also being a useful way to build community.

The Foundation’s initiative is based on the wabi-sabi concept, a worldview focused on accepting the ephemeral and imperfect.

The Foundation also hosts artists among Casa Wabi’s residency programs.

This project for the Clay Pavilion involved the construction of the main palapa – a traditional Mexican shelter roofed with palm leaves – both as a teaching space and for exhibiting the pieces made at the workshops.

The center also has storage facilities, a kiln, and adjoining bathrooms.

Close to a 22-meter-tall brick chimney designed by Mexican artist Alberto Kalach, a semicircular brick wall surrounds the space, while also enclosing a paved area by the kiln.

The main palapa is 23 feet (7 m) high and comprises a 20.0×6.5 foot (6×2 m) concrete table, where students sit when working with the clay.

The curved brick wall is 26 feet (8 m) in diameter and, together with another L-shaped wall, creates two rooms for storing pottery and tools.

The wall was made using red annealed bricks, specially sized to fulfill their structural function.

The shape of the main palapa brings to mind the wooden structures of medieval Europe.

Project: Álvaro Siza Casa Wabi Foundation Clay Pavilion
Architects: Álvaro Siza
Client: Casa Wabi
Photographers: João Morgado