House in Chihuahua

The House In Chihuahua is part of a golf club community in the desert like northern region of Mexico. The dwelling was designed to accommodate the special climatic circumstances of the area: in winter temperatures can fall to minus ten degrees Celsius, while in summertime temperatures can rise to above forty degrees Celsius. The differences between daytime and night time temperatures can vary by as much as twenty degrees. To balance the extreme temperature differences, we partially buried the house into the mountain slope to take advantage of the soil’s thermal mass. The colder soil around the house absorbs heat accumulated during the day, and at night the ground gives off heat to the building. The house is organized around a series of patios and roof openings that provide light, ventilation, and views to different areas of the house. The sloped roof acts as a new topography, which blurs the boundaries between the constructed area and the surrounding landscape.