Designed by Javíer Senosiain of Arquitectura Organica – whose most recent project was Quetzalcoatl Nest, a hybrid between snake, bird and house - this fossil-esque wonder was commissioned by a family in Mexico City who wanted to become more integrated with nature. And that they certainly are, with extensive planting throughout the interior, natural lighting provided by mosaic glass and well-positioned skylights, and organic spaces that flow seamlessly into one another like a mollusc moving from one chamber to another. With two young children to think about, the family wanted somewhere to live that was both stylish and safe. Featuring smooth surfaces, spiral stairs and minimal furnishings, the creative crustacean successfully strikes the balance, and is like something straight of a Lewis Carroll novel. Soliciting even the dullest imagination, growing up in somewhere like this will surely make for a creative, forward-thinking family unit. Built using ferrocement construction - a technique involving a frame of steel-reinforced chicken wire with a two-inch thick composite of concrete spread over it – Nautilus House is maintenance-free and earthquake-proof. The only aspect the home doesn’t excel on is the location; hemmed in by buildings on three sides, the property could very well be a realtor’s worst nightmare. Nevertheless, the one view the off-beat design does have is a pretty spectacular picture-postcard vista of the mountains to the west. Bringing the outside in, Nautilus House is where nature and urban necessity collide head-on. While we don’t know whether we’d like to live here full-time, it certainly pushes the envelope in contemporary living. We’re not quite sure what they’re on down Mexico way – perhaps it’s the same drug smoked by the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland? - but if architecture like this is the result, we definitely want some.
www.arquitecturaorganica.com / Images: Arquitectura Organica