The architects Luis Enrique Flores and Armida Fernandez founded the design and architectural company Estudio ALA in Mexico in 2012.
According to Estudio ALA, the studio takes a multidisciplinary approach to every project: “We want to connect with time, history, geography, and people.” “We think that architecture must be able to blur the established borders and traditional hierarchies, allowing flexibility of usage where new kinds of behaviour might be developed,” the authors write.
The business has concentrated on initiatives including social, cultural, and environmental challenges in recent years.
How could desert tourism encourage the region’s sustainable development to protect the environment and promote the welfare of the neighbourhood? El Perdido celebrates Baja California Sur’s historical origins and material culture, offering a window into the past while posing a potential design language for the future in a place where fast development is hastening the corrosion of culture and tradition. Traditional construction methods have been used in modern applications and recast to promote new behaviours to disperse old hierarchies.
In the little agricultural community of El Pescadero, which is rich in crops of basil, chilli, tomatoes, and strawberries, El Perdido is situated 800 metres from the Pacific Ocean. Large low shrubland that extends across the coastal alluvial plains and westward into the Sierra de La Laguna mountain foothills is what distinguishes this particular ecoregion. The design reacts to the atmospheric circumstances of its geography through climatic study, and considerable care was made to offer visitors the best thermal comfort possible while they were there. To use toling during the summer and passive heating during the winter, it was necessary to take into account the site’s temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and sun incidence.
In Pescadero, where unique vegetation, clay walls, wooden structures, and palm roofs embody Baja California Sur’s legacy, visitors may engage with the local way of life thanks to the vernacular materiality. This colour scheme, generally ignored in modern construction in favour of imported materials and tropical foliage, is created entirely from locally available materials and handcrafted by local artisans. By defying expectations, the architectural experience brings the distinctive terroir of the area to life and rekindles respect for the regional building.
A traditional grove of palo blanco trees welcomes guests at the main entrance and provides shade as they approach the central residence (Guest House). The centre house, which includes a living room, dining room, kitchen bar for guests, multipurpose room, store with local goods, and reception, functions as the hub of social activity and the hub of the entire property. A restaurant and bar are located north of the home, tucked away in a deep canyon of locally quarried stones. A serene fountain and an east-facing chapel are in a sunken courtyard to the south, surrounded by low mud walls. A linear path extending west from the chapel leads visitors to an observatory with expansive Pacific ocean views. The pathway is flanked by unique vegetation. Each route and each stop is carefully calibrated to introduce visitors to the local environments where El Perdido is situated.
Because they require less upkeep in the area’s dry environment and the regular temperature changes of a desert climate, indigenous plants and cacti were used entirely in the landscape design.
According to Estudio ALA, “the structures are designed to be as efficient as possible while providing a continual conversation between the internal space and the surrounding nature.”
A group of villas where visitors stay are scattered across the interior garden, which also features a small pool that is directly connected to the main house. Each villa is made to encourage both private and communal living. The structures, which consist of a bedroom, bathroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, and terrace, are designed to be as efficient as possible while maintaining a continual interaction between the inner space and the outside environment. The result is a permeable structure where the distinction between internal and outdoor space disappears and where Palo de Arco and earthen walls meld with the tortes and yucca beyond.
“it is an all-inclusive experience with architecture that fits into the countryside. Engagement with the context is crucial. Options include being with others, alone oneself, travelling to the location, and learning about the local culture. Giving rather than taking.” Co-founder.
