Joy & Legoretta

In Joy’s Dessert Works, it appears that his buildings fit into the region landscape particularly well in regards to color and form. I’m not sure though how regional the various metal finishes are, however the color palette makes for a nice blending into the landscape. The convent studio has a seamless combination of concrete and wood building materials that are commonly used in Mexican Architecture. The Tubac house pays homage to the many homes built with corrugated metal for roofing in poorer neighborhoods in using the rusted metal for the entire façade.

In the Vermont home, I think he was going for a more English farm house, which works quite well in that setting… however, I’m not sure if the interiors work the same way. I can’t quite tell from that diagram if the SIP panels are painted to appear to be the same grey stone as the end walls, or if there’s an exterior cladding… But the outward appearance is almost deceiving from what you actually experience inside. Instead of being dark and cold, it seems light and warm with the large windows and wooden interior finish.

If anything the experiential character of the house is enhanced by the fundamental basics of orientation and building materials. With the house built more simply and carefully, there is more room to enjoy the views and indoor outdoor relationships. The house is not muddled with extra rooms or excess interior walls, but simply planned to optimize thermal comfort and material use. And again, the material choices in the Tubac house are not an eye-sore sitting in the dessert, but blend beautifully like a painting into the landscape surrounding. In the case of the Vermont house simple living and the basics seems to be all that one needs in such an environment. The quality of construction and craftsmanship would only enhance the users experience while in the space. So, I am therefore a fan of his attention to detail and context.

 

Ricardo Legoretta

With the hotel, I was not expecting the hotel to look as it did, when reading the romanticized description of it. While in section it fits very well into the existing landscape situated on the beach. The color and form struck me as harsh. However, I guess one could say the use of the adobe like construction and walls responds to the heritage or culture of the place. The choice to not condition the space makes sense to me, assuming people would be spending most of their time outside anyway. My only negative response, is that I would not say that the resort is Mexican in spirit.. It seems to relate more to natural landscapes of Mexican rainforests and views than to emulate the lifestyle of Mexican people. I found the collection of water features and pools impressive but over the top, which is again why I would relate it more so to the landscape than to the culture.

As for the Solana complex, I didn’t get a feel for the attention to climate as much, and as for the reference to culture, it felt as if it were almost superficial. The massive bright facades and comically large columns and pylons did not speak to any regional culture that I know of. And the scale of the buildings just did not seem to relate on the human level. I don’t think the regional culture can be translated on this large of a corporate scale.