The Cave in Pilares

Into the Pilares ecological reserve, Mexico, Kenji López Rivera, founder of the Greenfield architectural practice, conceived a building that responds to the site with basic volumes that rise with materials from the region, gaining color and texture right from the landscape.

In Mexico’s northern border, inside the National Park Maderas del Carmen, there’s a natural reserve that fuses the passion of fauna conservation and the pleasure of enjoying nature through architecture.

In this context emerges The Cave, an architectural project that materializes the idea of creating a neutral space, one for socialization and contemplation, with a strong relation to the wild of a zone where the deer, the black bear, the bighorn sheep and the antelope transit freely like if time follows it’s own rules there.

Like in vernacular architecture, the building responds directly to the site where it’s emplaced, with basic and even primitive volumes that rise with materials from the region, gaining color and texture right from the landscape. The feeling while visiting the project resembles to that of a cave, partially buried into the ground, providing a shelter from the exterior and allowing the user enjoy it from the warming interior.

The orientation of the building provides natural light from the north and directs its main views, through exterior terraces towards the highest peaks of the Sierra Madre Oriental. In the interior, the program includes a large dining room/boardroom, a living room, a breakfast area, bathroom, a wine cellar, a small kitchen and a partially covered space for grills.

To fully know this project, it is precise to understand the history of its materials and processes of development. Because of the nature and isolation of the place, it was important to use and reuse the resources of the area, achieving that 90% in weight of all materials was collected from ranches and sandbanks located within a radio smaller than 10 km.

The metallic corrugated sheets and hardwood from abandoned rail tracks were found in the area. The walls are made of local materials: earth and stone are worked in vertical planes, after being extracted from their horizontal position. The constructive system combines river rocks, pine wood, rammed earth and concrete, which are elements rich in textures that mimic the multicolor landscape that can be perceived during sunset.

Considering that the design firm is based in Monterrey, the entire construction process had to be envisioned with an efficient logic in order to be able to keep a successful remote supervision. This can be seen throughout the honest language, apparent and simplistic architecture elements.