Frida Escobedo explains how one of her first residential projects, Casa Negra, was influenced by the function of a camera obscura, in the third instalment of a series of short movies about the Mexican architect. 
In an exclusive interview, Escobedo tells Dezeen that the house she designed for a photographer acts like a camera obscura ? a photographic device that can be used to project the surrounding environment directly onto a screen.
"When we were first thinking about the ideas behind this project, the camera obscura was one of the references," Escobedo told Dezeen.
One of Escobedo's first residential projects, Casa Negra, was inspired by the camera obscura
The house takes the shape of a black box raised off the ground on columns and is fronted by a glazed box, offering views of Mexico City. "It's in an area of Mexico City where you're actually up in the hills so you can see all of Mexico City. So it was almost like a camera obscura: you could see the landscape of the city through this black box."
Escobedo designed the house together with architect Alejandro Alarcón, her partner at the time. The house was built with a limited budget and materials.
The house was built in the hills overlooking Mexico City for Escobedo's photographer friend
"Our friend is a photographer and he had very little money. We had to work with very little resources, so it was about creating the most space with the least materials," Escobedo said.

The small house acc...