Morelia, Mexico
Designed by HW Studio, House with No Name is a minimal home in Morelia, Mexico with no windows to the outside, creating a distinct space that emphasizes a religious spirit and a feeling of safety.
A strong religious calling and a robbery are the circumstances that gave rise to the guiding decisions of this project.
The future inhabitants of this house narrated during the design process how they had been victims of a robbery inside their home while they were away.
This situation made them feel exposed and very vulnerable, considering that the neighborhood is known for a constant increase in crime rates.
However, their roots are deep and strongly attached to the land, so they refused to leave the place where they had made their life.
For this reason, they were looking for a very discreet, austere project without ostentatious ornaments, with high walls, and without windows facing the outside.
It is understood then, that this would be the way in which architecture could restore their loss of sense of security.
These understandable requests were combined with the strong religious calling that was discovered during the design process.
When the designers opened the main door of the client’s house, it was a big surprise to discover the huge amount of Christ and Virgin figures, angels, religious objects, and baroque decorations that filled the space.
To the designers’ surprise, they were looking for the opposite: a cold and even sterile minimalism that was sometimes difficult to digest even for us.
In a way, they wanted to get rid of all that, but the designers felt that the house should evoke a certain religious spirit.
This would be done through shapes that reminded them of those sacred spaces that made them feel protected and safe both physically and spiritually.
Convent architecture gave us a good guide to solving this commission.
The house, like a convent, is organized around a sequence of courtyards.
Each courtyard is accompanied by a space covered by a barrel vault that blurs the boundaries of the roof, softens the light, and nods to the Cathedral of Morelia and the numerous baroque churches near the site of the house.
The house is reminiscent of the arcades under which pilgrims and travellers were covered around the courtyard of the San Agustin convent, sown with orange trees to feed and give drink.
Thus, the architecture, in this case, seeks to provide a solution to the unpleasant circumstance the residents experienced, helped by a deep-rooted faith that is reinforced by legible forms, light, and space.
Project: House with No Name
Architects: HW Studio
Client: Private
Photographer: Cesar Bejar
