Identifying Values

EH: Many architects of the new generation have had the opportunity to leave Mexico to learn other ways of thinking and to learn to see our own culture from a different perspective. I like to think of it as a form of reconciliation with our culture and our roots. There has always been an important architectural tradition in Mexico: the pre-Hispanic period, the colonial era, and up to the present day, several movements emerged. Perhaps the last most important one was modernity, where there were private housing buildings and other public ones that remain significant references. It was a time when the country was going through a period of economic prosperity, and public architecture was active. Going back to the previous point, I believe we are in a phase of reconciliation: we are understanding what happened during the modern era and reconnecting with the most intimate cultural part of the territories, their way of building, their climate, their topography, their reality... We have learned to understand the materials of a region, the constructive way of acting of a region, its climate, and that is where the different pieces start to fit together. It is a very important moment; we are returning again to our origins, we are returning to what we are, to our essence.

VH: We are asking ourselves new questions, more focused on what we need and the territory, to build more efficiently, to involve local labor, and to respect the territory we are in, its materials, ... There are already some architectural studio that are our references and perhaps also not only for as but at a global level. Those who paved the way for us were the first generations who had the opportunity to go abroad to study but returned because they knew how to appreciate the richness we have.

EH: There has always been an important architectural culture in Mexico. Not only with Luis Barragán but also other representative figures such as Teodoro González and Abraham Zabludovsky, among others. There have always been good architects, but I believe that the contemporary generation is more aware of the place they are in. But it is thanks to these references, through which the foundations for a timeless architecture have been laid, that today this new generation exists, talking about relevant concepts like local realities and materials also atmospheres... There are certain common values, and we are all heading in the same direction, although each firm then translates these concepts in its own way.

The Territory is Our Home

EH: We always say that territory is the first thing you know; it is your home. And over time, you start to understand how it works. You start to touch it, smell it, you know where it is cold and where it is hot. Our research work starts from an understanding of the territory, which over time you begin to understand and master.

VH: Our architecture does not start from an object; it has to do with the way certain rituals are performed with respect to the territory where we live. Our way of protecting these rituals is to understand how people live, protect the collective memory and culture, support traditions,... and from these traditions, how spaces are used. This reality has to do with climates, technologies, resources, ways of relating, and this obviously has to do with territories. It is one of the starting conditions that most differentiate us from other architectural studios found in big cities. We have it at hand, we have it here, we feel it as part of our identity. All these experiences and rituals nourish us because they allow us to understand how we can contribute something.

EH: Valentino mentions a very important concept for our architectural studio: rituals. In our work, we insist that buildings do not mean the same thing to everyone and have different uses. For example, think about our Salvatierra market here in Guanajuato: it is a workplace for the person selling a product and perhaps does not understand its heritage value. While for tourists, it is a place to buy and try local food, it is a place where many things happen, it is a dynamic place, and that attracts them. For us architects, the market is a gem. Rituals are representative of these different layers of interpretation that we can give to buildings.

Reinterpreting the Bajío

EH: Our practice is located in Guanajuato, which is the capital of the state of Guanajuato and is known as the Bajío of Mexico (*the lowland at the center of the Country). This Bajío, to be as such, has to be surrounded by mountains, and our city is precisely in the mountainous part. Unlike Mexico City and other regions, unfavorable conditions made it more difficult for the arrival of the Spaniards, which marked a change in the way of life. The Chichimeca civilization was characterized by its warrior culture and its nomadic way of life, moving within the region according to the climate and abundant resources offered by the territory. The Bajío is a large valley with agricultural and livestock potential, which served precisely to provide food for mining production. Without the mines of Guanajuato, the Bajío would not have the importance it has. Therefore, for us, understanding the Bajío, the memory generated in this territory and its processes, offers a starting point for reflection to vision our architecture. The mining industry was also an architectural catalyst: the infrastructures created from the mines, the towns, the extraction activity itself,... are part of our territory, and this defines an architectural style, a way of understanding the environment, materials, and construction techniques. From there comes a language that interests us and characterizes our way of acting.

VH: The mining industry, the territory, the Bajío are the bases of our reflection. For example, how, through the stone found in our territory, which has always been used in the mines, we can understand and reinterpret a certain type of atmosphere. With the waste stone that did not contain minerals, buildings in Guanajuato were started to be constructed. How the processes of city development in the Bajío have to do with the presence of rivers in our territory. And how these cities emerged in specific places, generating certain typologies that respond to the context's needs. And in this whole process, we are interested in understanding how civilization begins to interact. These interactions interest us, and all these layers of information define our architecture.

EH: From the beginning, we were clear that we were interested in understanding the territory through architecture. And in 2015, we decided to embark on this independent professional path. Despite having almost no experience, we made this decision with the support of our family, who somehow initiated us into what we do. Our mother is a restorer, and our father has experience as a builder and led the tourism campaign for the state of Guanajuato. Consequently, we had the opportunity to travel throughout the territory with him and understand what surrounds us. Part of our idea is based on understanding the history of construction and the codes we find in it. Another important aspect was the opportunity to study at the University of Navarra in Spain, with internationally recognized professors such as Gonçalo Byrne, Patxi Mangado, and Tony Fretton, who had a certain influence on us because their work also focuses on that attention to place.

From Guanajuato, Looking Outwards

VH: It took us some time to bring the concept to the current level. We had a lot of information. Over time, we started to reorganize ideas and put into practice all these intuitions, which seemed interesting but perhaps were lost or disconnected. We continue investigating, learning, studying, and there came a time when all this information started to take shape. There are certain elements that we see more clearly today and try to translate into our built projects.

EH: We often say that from Guanajuato, we can belong to the world. Despite being far from the world and immersed in the mining landscape, from here, we feel we can have an international firm without losing touch with our roots. At first, we worked from the family home, but we grew and began to feel the need for an independent space. We had a piece of land and decided to build the office. It is one of our first projects and has the peculiarity of having matured over time, evolving according to our needs, both economic and spatial. One of the fundamental aspects is to maintain the view of the natural environment, and we decided to start using the topography. It was interesting because we learned to apply some of the concepts that we find again in our current work: we use local materials, reinterpreting the language in a contemporary way without completely distancing ourselves from the local elements you can find in the mines. The main actors are time and the landscape. Having the office outside the city helps generate another atmosphere and adds a level of inspiration that influences our work routine.

The Process as an Idea Generator

VH: When starting a project, we always try to establish a strategy and understand the reality around us. Our commitment, which is something that characterizes us, is to think about how we can generate the most results using the fewest pieces. With our team, we try to work with various formats: we like to produce models and drawings, and these two tools go hand in hand. Once we feel comfortable with the idea, we move on to virtual models and more detailed drawings. And through this process, we generate a conversation or rather a negotiation among all of us. And in this way, we develop the project, refining it more and more to achieve the maximum result.

EH: We do not feel comfortable with just generating a concept as such, an "architecture generator." We like to understand the reality in which we are going to interact and from there understand the strategy and how we can successfully achieve it according to the project's needs. We were working on a proposal to intervene in the Salvatierra market: our strategy was betting on covers as elements that would solve the organizational part of the market's interior and the urban part of the exterior space. It is from the strategy that the architecture is generated, and the project starts to develop. Once you understand what you have to do, the next part is the more technical craft, which involves understanding how the building will be constructed, resolving construction details. We cannot start a project from one form or another. The form must be the result of a conceptual strategy. That is why we insist that what interests us most is the process because it is through the process that forms, materials, and construction systems are defined. Part of our process is to question everything: we start questioning a project in a positive and negative way, asking many questions, What would happen if it were not this material? What would happen if it were perhaps the other way around? Questioning all aspects strengthens the strategy and allows us to arrive at a solid project. We do not allow an idea to move forward just because "we like it."

Placing value in the Territory

EH: The Félix Candela project is very special for us since it happened during a difficult time for our office due to a lack of work. Valentino and I decided that this competition was the only way to keep the office alive. Despite being a competition, we decided to approach it as if it were a job with a client. The competition fit perfectly because the theme had to do with the territory, something we identified with. We debated a lot about how to generate something that would differentiate us from others and be representative of our thinking. We understood that the key was in the built territory: that the beauty of a territory has to do with a designation of origin, with the construction of the landscape, with its rhythms, vibrations, culture, ways of living, rituals...

VH: More than anything, it was an archaeological work. We wanted to value the territory, and we concluded that for the territory to be the true protagonist, it only needed a meeting place to contemplate it, enjoy its magnitude, and understand it.

EH: Our discourse took references from some philosophers and writers, such as Heidegger, from the perspective of understanding dwelling; Octavio Paz, with the concept of infinite time; and the mystery of Juan Rulfo. Whenever we enter a competition, we approach it in a way that it can be built, no matter how fictional or academic the competition is, we also think it is important to contribute concepts that transcend mere construction, providing more solidity from the point of view of the idea and what we want to propose. Finding the balance in the technical part of the craft, which involves how to carry out the construction of a project, and the component of thought or concept, is key in our projects. Winning was a great surprise because studios from all over the world participated, and we were the only Mexicans to win.

VH: Parallel to the work we develop from the office, we pay attention to a research work that is generated from academia, which allows us to reflect, stay up to date with various topics, and exercise with the students, providing discourse to our projects. We also like to invite other architects to Guanajuato, show them our territory, see how they can contribute, learn from them, understand what they are doing, stay in touch with the world and the ideas created outside our environment. We believe that to better understand our territory, we must not lose sight of what happens outside, and in this way, we stay updated.

EH: We like the academic sector very much, which we understand as an extension of the office. We take research and teaching with the same responsibility as the work we develop from the studio. It is important for our students to understand where they live and how to interact with the place they belong to. And from there, they can develop much more responsible architecture with our environment, whether, as we said, cultural, economic, or social.