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Photo credit: Rafael Gamo
A resort project for the nonprofit Fundación Casa Wabi near Oaxaca, Mexico, has been shared with Archinect following the project’s completion in February of 2024.
The new Orchid Pavilion from the Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica (CCA) embodies the Japanese notion of Ikigai (or ’a reason for being’) and functions as both a meditative refuge for guests and a resource for the stewardship of local plant life at its site on the outskirts of Puerto Escondido.
By prioritizing three design imperatives (functional simplicity, sustainable materials, and the primacy of sanctuary), the CCA says they were able to establish space that helps support its client’s mission of fostering arts engagement with the community while simultaneously giving back to nature.
A line of concrete basins integrated into the pavilion’s roof structure filter water down into concrete collecting trays embedded in the floor as part of a passive irrigation and humidity regulation solution.
This creates an internal climate that benefits users resting on longer walks through the jungle environment. Potable water that is therein shared by guests and the orchid plants becomes a metaphor for the symbiosis of man and nature as the design is completed by custom-made concrete ceramic pieces and locally sourced wood.
It joins other designs for the Fundación authored by Kengo Kuma, Álvaro Siza, and Alberto Kalach in recent years. The Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica was founded by Bernardo Quinzaños in Mexico City in 2008.
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