With Estudio Temixco, Talacha approaches space as another tool in an artist’s arsenal. The project, located in Temixco, Morelos, Mexico, is the new studio for a visual artist who works specifically with graphite drawings. Talacha operates from offices in Mexico City and New York City; its founder Erik Martínez was recognized on the World Architecture Festival’s 40 Under 40 List. With this project, the practice designed a materially honest studio of brick and concrete that integrates the elemental needs of working with graphite, as well as the site and landscape.
The program is realized with an independent building and renovation of an existing caretaker’s house. Working with local construction tradition, local materials, and a limited budget, Talacha used a concrete foundation slab for the studio, reinforced with block walls and externally clay with white-fired clay bricks. The same structural materials are used for ornament: the same bricks are oriented vertically along the facade to create cornices and textural difference. The caretaker’s house also incorporates this detail using edge-set facing bricks.
A green roof cantilevers over the volumes of brick. This helps reduce the heat island effect and solar radiation, while also ensuring the design responds to the site. Solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system enable the studio to run on solar energy with reduced operational carbon.
As the artist works with graphite on gesso canvases, the space necessitated high walls, ample space to view work from various angles, and, most importantly, abundant lighting. A neutral interior, textured with a vaulted ceiling and exposed beams, is lit by strategically calibrated windows and skylights. The openings ensure the space is well-lit to mostly avoid the use of artificial light during the daytime.
Window placement and large doors take advantage of the wind direction to naturally ventilate the space and create dialogue with the outdoors. Talacha and Jardín Innova led the landscape design, suffusing the site with organically shaped planters, shade species, cacti, and sage. Excavated stones were reused to create an outdoor terrace.
Indoor and outdoor design ensure the studio is warm, precise, and connected to both the artwork taking shape and the site itself. Even the bathroom, where material departure takes the form of earthy tiles and a shiny sconce, continues the soft yet environment-appropriate language. Estudio Temixco wields the elements as much as it works with them.