House with Mexican Accent

A house with a total area of 278 square meters, designed by architects from Bercy Chen Studio, is located in the vibrant Austin area, USA.

Composedly oriented inward, the building focuses on a small courtyard containing a pool and a gravel garden with several Japanese maples growing within it.

The designers drew inspiration from various sources—from Constructivist paintings by El Lissitzky to Mexican modernism of the 50s and 60s. The latter's influence is evident in the strong emphasis on on-site cast concrete and the typology of a house built around an internal courtyard.

The house consists of a series of volumes and planes that layer and intersect with each other, yet never fully align. This creates an effect of reducing the building's presence in the urban landscape and generates several advantageous vantage points inside and outside the structure.

Photography: Paul Bardagjy