Two-Story Apartment in Mexico City

An apartment with a total area of 90 square meters, designed by the studio Cadaval & Solà-Morales, is located in Roma Norte, a historic district of Mexico City, Mexico. Roma Norte flourished in the 19th century as an urban development area with a grid-like street layout and multi-story buildings inhabited by members of the upper class. With the rise in popularity of suburban living in the 1950s and due to the 1985 earthquake, the population of Roma Norte decreased significantly. What was once a prestigious neighborhood transformed into a depressed zone filled with numerous abandoned buildings.

In their project, architects aimed to explore new possibilities for spatial planning within the existing environment. The intervention was carried out in the horizontal plane and involved dividing the apartment into two zones. Small and cozy rooms with low ceilings are situated on the mezzanine level, while the spacious public area features double height. The two rooms—bedroom and study—are adjacent to a unified space containing the living room, dining area, and kitchen. The simplification of the layout is intended as a tool that enables clear perception of the apartment's spatial structure and its relationship with the city, offering views of bustling streets through protected windows adorned with ornate metal grilles in the living room.