Design firm: Anonimous + G3 + Jesús Vassallo
Project name: Casa Selva
Location: Tulum, Mexico
Dimensions: 6,503 sqm

On the outskirts of Tulum, one of Mexico’s most sought-after tourist destinations, the architects have designed a housing development that balances expressive intensity with spatial quality. The stark, rigorously composed volumes in dark concrete evoke the romanticism of an ancestral landscape immersed in the forest, alongside the restrained monumentality of early Brutalism. The project comprises 200 affordable housing units for workers in the local tourism and hospitality sectors. Its compact and highly ordered layout hybridizes the courtyard block with a linear scheme. Four-story buildings interlock in a comb-like configuration, interspersed with a network of courtyards punctuated by tropical vegetation and linked by pedestrian paths and shared public spaces. Along the circulation corridors, sun-shading screens—reminiscent of traditional South American cobogó—render the built mass more porous, enriching it with dramatic chiaroscuro effects. The apartments, simple and functional, are dual-aspect, ensuring generous natural light, cross-ventilation, and a constant visual and spatial connection with the surrounding greenery.