A residential project in the Mexican coastal city of Acapulco designed by Mexican architecture firm Estudio Manuel Cervantes was announced Monday as the winner of the 2024 Architectural Review (AR) House Awards.
“Our goal is to create homes that are not just structures, but adaptable homes, whose architecture allows residents to break the vicious cycle of poverty in Acapulco,” Manuel Cervantes told AR.
Acapulco suffered extensive damage in October 2023 during Hurricane Otis, one of the worst storms ever to hit Mexico's Pacific coast. The storm damaged 80% of the resort town's hotels and 95% of its businesses and killed at least 52 people.
Cervantes' studio designed the new homes, which would be built from prefabricated Covintec panels – wire mesh frames filled with Styrofoam and coated with concrete. Each home is designed to function without air conditioning, while wooden screens and concrete grilles allow air and light to pass through.
As part of an initiative called Con-three, Meaning “with you” in Spanish, the studio has completed 42 homes and is working on completing 78 more, with funding from various private donors through nonprofit organizations–profit organizations Gilberto Association And Building. Homes vary in size from 376 to 807 square feet and cost an average of $18,000 each to build.
The structures withstood flooding during Acapulco's tropical storm season in September and October, including Hurricane John.
Cervantes' goal is to build long-term housing for those affected by Hurricane Otis in the wake of Hurricane Otis Housing map (Housing Primer), published by the National College of Architects of Mexico and the Society of Mexican Architects in 1954. The original project created a construction manual to help those working in the informal labor market who did not have access to government-built housing.
He also draws inspiration from an article from 1954 Architecture Mexico written by Mexican architect Enrique del Moral, in which, according to AR, del Moral emphasizes the importance of using open floor plans that facilitate cross-ventilation and avoid the excessive use of glass and metal.
The Impact of Hurricanes on Acapulco
While Acapulco was still recovering from the effects of Otis, it suffered extreme flooding and mudslides Hurricane John in September, which killed at least 29 people.
In October, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced an 8 billion peso ($400 million) program. Reconstruction package for Acapulco and Oaxaca in October in response to the destruction caused by John.
The Mexican government also recently announced plans to build a million new houses across the country in the next six years with an investment of 600 billion pesos (US$29.7 billion) under its housing construction and regularization program.
With reports from The Architectural Review, The sun of Acapulco And The country