Eight black houses are arranged next to a path cutting through this residential complex that architecture firm PPAA has designed in Mexico City.
Paved in dark stone and planted with trees, the stepped path acts like an internal street for the Carrizal houses in Lomas Quebradas, a neighbourhood in the south of the city.
The paved path acts as an internal street. Top image: each house has a rooftop terrace
Four houses are arranged on each side and have latticework screens that shields views to a private garden behind, but allows natural light to filter through.
"Looking to move away from the scheme of housing attached to homes, the social part and garden of each house is worked with a lattice that allows transparency from side to side of the property," said PPAA. It provides access to a subterranean car park
"As a result there is a sense of openness between two solids and long views throughout the project," the studio added.
Made from concrete blocks by a company called Grupo Joben, the permeable latticework walls are contrasted by walls covered in a black render.
Concrete lattice is contrasted with black render
The latter gives each house a monolithic appearance, whose form is exaggerated by the windows that are set into the walls.
"The black facade is a black rendering called Corev Mooth and belongs to the more private areas of the houses where the openings are more punctual, in contrast with the latticework that covered the more public areas of the...