Casa Organica / Javier Senosiain

Casa Orgánica (1984) by Javier Senosiain in Naucalpan de Juárez, just outside of Mexico City. The architect designed the house for his family.

A Pedro Friedeberg chair in the living room of the original portion of the house, which is underground. As Senosiain describes it, the initial concept was defined in two large spaces: one day and one night, looking for the feeling that inside the person will enter the land, that was aware of the uniqueness of this space without losing integration with the exterior green areas.

For the construction process a moldable material was needed given the design of the house: ferrocement was the right answer. This material, the origin of reinforced concrete and long forgotten, promised a monolithic sculpture, resistant, moldable and highly elastic. The ferrocement assembly began to be placed on the template that looked like a skateboard rink, forming the envelope with a metallic skeleton, in which the rods were arranged in the form of rings, changing the height according to the space.

The rods were then spirally wound. At the end of the framework, two braided chicken coops were fixed to each other, and then the concrete was cast. This, launched as a mortar, was transported through a flexible hose, using pressurized air, and was projected pneumatically with great force on the mesh. The force of the jet allows the impact of the material to compact it and increase its resistance by a little more or less by 30%, thus obtaining a shell approximately 4 cm thick, resistant thanks to its shape, waterproof and easy to build. the roof was then coated with a ¾-inch layer of sprayed polyurethane, which serves as an insulator and waterproofer.

Once the black work was completed, the house was covered. The idea was that the garden would cover the house for which fertile soil was needed, in less growth, it was decided that the layer of soil would fluctuate between 20 cm and 25 cm thick. In this way the grass would grow less and more slowly thus reducing gardening expenses. The soil and grass around the house will become warm when winter arrives and will cool when summer is born.

Source: Casa Organica

Source: Javier Senosiain

Sand-colored carpet was used to show the connection of the dwelling to the earth.

This couple had a non-stop selfie session throughout the tour.

The tunnels connecting rooms throughout the house were lit in various colors.

For an underground house, the natural light is incredible.

Carl Auböck sculpture on the bookshelf.

The master bath.

As the family grew, the house needed to be expanded. Javier asked his daughter to draw what she wanted the house to look like and it lead to this shark design.

Also, more selfie content in the grass.

The daughter's room.

The entrance to the bunk beds.

Javier's office is located in the shark's mouth. In addition to most of the furniture, he also designed these chairs.

Javier Senosiain in his office. Javier Senosiain Aguilar has combined teaching with professional practice and research. He graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1972, since then he has taught the Design Workshop and Architecture Theory.

Source: Casa Organica

As a nod to his influences, particularly Mathias Goeritz, the opening in the eye looks towards Torres de Satélite. The large "Satellite Towers" sculpture is by Luis Barragán and Mathias Goeritz, with inspiration from painter Jesús Reyes Ferreira.

There were a few Eero Saarinen Pedestal Collection pieces in the house, which makes total sense. Saarinen resolved the "ugly, confusing, unrestful world" underneath tables and chairs, while Senosiain was doing the same underground.