Thirteen oak trees are planted in a courtyard at the centre of this residence by Roof Arquitectos, which sits in the hilly landscape outside the Mexican city of Morelia (+ movie).

Roof founders Rogelio Vallejo and Francisco Noriega took the unusual starting point of landscaping first and building later.

After planting the trees, which they describe as a "central forest", they arranged the residence around them in four blocks, creating a patio that is intended to be evocative of the city's old courtyard houses.

"When we first envisioned this house, we imagined a small, silent forest of red oaks, and how that silence would be broken by the wind rustling the foliage on trees and the sound of footsteps on wood," said Vallejo and Noriega.
"The first move we made, when we started to build this house was to plant 13 red oaks," they added. "These 13 trees are the heart of the house, around them the space is emphasised, and the house is organised."

Casa MK is inhabited by a couple and their two children, who all share a keen interest in art, photography, writing and architecture.

"When they asked us to design this house, they told us that it was very important for them that we knew every member of the family in a very deep way, only after we met them we could start the design process of the house, and that's what we did," the architects told Dezeen.
"When we finally felt that we knew each other, they gave us ...