The Mayan Ruins are an undeniable treasure of the Yucatan Peninsula. Their iconographic power of carved stone and minimal boxes form shapes that are both ancient and contemporary. However, this atmosphere is entirely abandoned in current developments of Tulum. This housing development seeks to rescue the iconography of the region. It is a contemporary ruin, both overtaken by the vegetation of its context, and yet powerfully rooted in tradition. We are inspired by nature in Tulum. The humid and fertile land creates magnificent organic tableaus and generates a tension between the wild jungle, that wants to expand, and the built environment, that wants to keep it at bay. We want nature to be present throughout and grow freely, taking a starring role on the project, aiding in generating privacy and a refreshing micro climate.

The main organizational idea of the project has to do with the treatment of the ground floor. The project is entirely elevated on a grid of walls and columns. It allows for this ground floor to keep as much of the existing vegetation and landscape as possible, forming spaces for privately gathering, public swimming pools, co-working space/ outdoor group dining, all connected by a central communal corridor with benches and vegetation. The idea is that the main access to the 6 houses would be this central corridor, leading to each of the private entrances, as well as the communal gardens. This ground floor remains as an inhabitable ruin, unconditioned and wild, while the enclosed living spaces on the two floors above provide comfortable vistas of the landscape below. These spaces are all constructed of raw materials, namely concrete, help to cool the interior from the Tulum heat, and provide shade to the openness of the ground floor exterior spaces. Each house is given its own private ground floor garden area, which is where the access to entry exists. Residents rise up the stairs into then the more social areas of their houses, the kitchens and living room spaces. These all exist on the second floor, an intermediate zone between the publicness of the ground floor and the privacy of the bedrooms on the top floor. In this organization, we achieve a flexibility of use and function, separating the most private aspects of the house from the most public.

The facade combines the Brancusiadas of Mathias Goeritz, and the gradation of rough base to smooth top temples like the Templo de Sayil. In its full promise of an architecture of both comfort and tradition, there are many spaces of contemplation, of gathering, of spectacle. The carved grid of the organization allows for exterior spaces to be fully open. They connect with their natural surroundings, vegetation overtaking them, as a newly discovered ruin. In this way, the jungle of the place is not forgotten, rather it becomes a focal point of the architecture. Together with the iconographic shapes of the Yucatan and the lush vegetation of the surroundings, this project aims to create a new wave of development in Tulum, one that gives owners a sense of place, of belonging, of historical value.