Modern House Inspired by The Sea-Nautilus House

A young couple with two children from Mexico City who after living in a conventional home wanted to change to one integrated to nature. This amazing house was build in 2006 by Arquitectura Orgánica. The goal of this project was to make it feel like an internal inhabitant of a snail, like a mollusk moving from one chamber to another, like a symbiotic dweller of a huge fossil maternal cloister.  It’s more of a sculpture than a dwelling.

Taking cues from a Nautilus shell, the house is put together using ferrocement construction, a technique involving a frame of steel-reinforced chicken wire with a special two-inch-thick composite of concrete spread over it, resulting in a structure that’s earthquake-proof and maintenance-free. The open concept inside the house is dominated by smooth surfaces, spiral stairs and natural plantings that makes the inhabitants feel like they’re living inside a snail who swallowed the entire contents of somebody’s back yard. While the house is surrounded on three sides by the bustling Mexico City, its West side has a breathtaking view of the mountains. This interior “grass carpet” is just amazing, leading residents and guests through a network of stone paths to the various areas of the home. The bathroom is simply amazing. In it, you actually feel like you’re under water with the sandy walls, gorgeous blue tiles and the window overhead.  Wow. Maybe someday all houses will be made this way.