{"id":875906,"date":"2026-04-06T13:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/875906\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:40:19","slug":"taller-alberto-calleja-uses-black-concrete-for-casa-mavra-in-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/875906\/","title":{"rendered":"Taller Alberto Calleja uses black concrete for Casa Mavra in Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angular black-concrete volumes are punctured by small tree-filled patios at this home<\/a> in Mexico<\/a>, completed by architecture studio Taller Alberto Calleja.<\/p>\n

Named Casa Mavra, referencing the Greek word for black, the 1,300-square-metre home sits surrounded by dense woodland in the town of Valle de Bravo.<\/p>\n

Taller Alberto Calleja<\/a> (TAC) crafted the home’s low-lying form with black-pigmented concrete to blend in with the shadows of the surrounding trees, aiming to create a “sculptural architectural object” that would not dominate the landscape.<\/p>\n

\"AerialTaller Alberto Calleja has completed a black-concrete home in Mexico<\/p>\n

“The intention was to create a strong and monolithic presence while allowing the spaces inside to remain intimate and closely connected to light, vegetation, and the experience of inhabiting the site,” the studio told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“Although the house is conceived as a sculptural architectural object, it does not seek to compete with the landscape,” it added.<\/p>\n

“Instead, the intention was to position the volumes in a way that feels naturally grounded within the terrain, allowing the architecture to coexist with the mountains and vegetation rather than dominate them.”<\/p>\n

\"CasaTree-filled patios puncture its angular volume<\/p>\n

The two intersecting volumes of Casa Mavra form an X-shaped plan, entered from the south via a long stepped path alongside a narrow pool of water and sheltered by a concrete wall that gradually rises in height.<\/p>\n

This entrance route ends in a large patio space that divides a living, dining and kitchen wing to the west from a bedroom wing to the east.<\/p>\n

\"PatioIt is formed of two intersecting volumes<\/p>\n

Each of these wings is accessed via a semi-external, covered corridor, linked to small patios with plants growing through circular and square cut-outs in the roof and walls.<\/p>\n

“One of the most significant gestures is the continuous wall that rises along the access sequence, accompanied by the sound of water descending along the stairways,” said the studio.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

Edition Office completes black concrete home in rural Australia\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

“As the wall unfolds through the site, it ultimately transforms into the inclined roofs of the house, becoming the architectural gesture that gives Casa Mavra its distinctive character,” it added.<\/p>\n

The board-marked black concrete of the home’s structure has been left exposed throughout, creating a strong contrast with both the surrounding greenery and the sunlight that enters through circular cut-outs.<\/p>\n

\"ConcreteThe wings are accessed via a semi-external corridor<\/p>\n

At the end of each volume, fully-glazed walls overlook the landscape and open out onto small timber terraces, providing a seating area alongside the main bedroom and a small pool next to the living area.<\/p>\n

“The solidity of the concrete contrasts with large glazed openings that bring natural light deep into the interiors and frame views of the landscape, creating a balance between heaviness and transparency,” said the studio.<\/p>\n

\"CasaBoard-marked concrete walls are left exposed throughout<\/p>\n

Other black-concrete houses on Dezeen include Federal House in New South Wales, Australia, by Edition Office<\/a> and a home by AR Arquitectos in the mountains of Argentina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is courtesy of Taller Alberto Calleja.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Angular black-concrete volumes are punctured by small tree-filled patios at this home in Mexico, completed by architecture studio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,141095,229618,30272,138635,4022,77,7931,160230,2132,17022,126129,126130,218696,16,15],"class_list":["post-875906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-black-houses","tag-coloured-concrete","tag-concrete","tag-concrete-houses","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-houses","tag-mexican-houses","tag-mexico","tag-residential-architecture-and-interiors","tag-sectionall","tag-sectionarchitecture","tag-sectionexclusives","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116358049455829978","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}