70 DIGS.NET
| 12.16.22
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S W E E T D I G S | C O N C R E T E J U N G L E
environment—the most alluring expression
of a concrete jungle.
Having beauty at its back door liberates
the minimalist interior from superfluous
oversteps. The sparse, open-plan interior
design borrows—not extravagantly, and
most noticeably in the natural tones of the
materials and the nuanced use of yellow,
blue, and green hues—from its naturally
textured surround. A pattern of an existing
Madagascar Blue Bismarck palm tree on
the site, for example, informed the proj-
ect's stripped-down decorative scheme, if
"decorative" can be applied. A busier and
less-localized interior might not draw the
eye where it should be: on lamps by Natu-
ral Urbano studio, bamboo pieces by Tiago
Solís Van Beuren, and furniture built by
master carpenters from Puebla, Guadala-
jara, and Oaxaca.
Each element of Casa TO—from the
work of artisans and Mexican design studios,
to plant-infused products, to the setting
itself—root the structure firmly to its place.
Though the structure is soundly of its time,
as well, even as one traverses the temple-in-
spired terrace steps and thoughts turn to
Mexico's sky-high archaeological ruins. This
is a temple, too—to honest, unambiguous
contemporary architecture. A new dawn for
a work inspired by an older age.
ludwiggodefroy.com
all defining features of the architecture.
The latter element, a stairway to heaven
no matter how one slices it, guiding guests
from suite to water or suite to rooftop, also
serves the more impromptu purpose of
providing seating or a place to sunbathe.
The architecture flourishes when green-
ery is left to scale exterior walls and sheath
exposures in a kind of picturesque privacy
shield. As a form meets flora homage to
its context, Casa TO trades on the tropical
setting at every turn, embracing nature as a
bridge between indoor and outdoor thresh-
olds. Vibrant green vegetation against
grey concrete revitalizes the eye even as
it refreshes the spirit and also helps to
soften the strong profile and hard edges
of the architecture's heavier, more dura-
ble surfaces. The result is a living, thriving
