On the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a low-slung holiday home makes a virtue of keeping out of sight. Set among the shifting dunes of Sisal, an old fishing port on the Gulf of Mexico, visitors approach the house along a straight narrow path flanked by dense vegetation that rises high on both sides. Beyond the house, there is no garden; the beach, the ocean, and the untamed surrounding jungle providing the alternative.
Created by architects Nutum Estudio, the design opted against a single large building that would have interrupted the delicate setting, instead breaking the house into a collection of simple volumes, their varying heights giving the pale, chukum-coated exterior a sculptural quality. Raised above the sand on a series of platforms and ramps, the home is better equipped to deal with coastal storms and the ever-changing ground beneath it. At its center, a taller volume provides the main entrance and connects the different rooms. Oversized, tapered arches draw air through the house, framing views of the dunes while helping to temper the intense Yucatecan sun. The sea may not always be in sight, but the salty breeze that flows through the house is a constant reminder of it. Taking cues from both modernist simplicity and traditional Mayan forms, the architecture is a blend of styles, showing familiar geometric softened with distinctly local character.
A building with a defined interior identity whose exterior recedes into the landscape, the Katnap House was designed to tread lightly, its most cherished luxury its close connection to its wild, beautiful surroundings. Discover more projects by Nutum Estudio.
Photography © Rodrigo Hermida