OPEN HOUSE

Located on Mexico's Baja California peninsula, the latest in Ludwig Godefroy's series of sculptural, brutalist residences offers a new window on indoor-outdoor living

- ELLIE STATHAKI

For Mexico-based architect Ludwig Godefroy, a seemingly straightforward commission for a 'house with a garden' is never just as simple as it might sound. His past works, including the fortress-like Casa Alferez and the cool and open Casa Mérida, often take a dramatic, highly textural, almost theatrical approach. It's a description of his work that he agrees with. 'I believe architecture has to wake up emotions,' he says. 'I want my architecture to surprise people, to make them feel the space without being able to explain it with words; something you would feel entering a church, for example: the silence, the light and even the temperature of the architecture.' The latest addition to his portfolio of highly expressive buildings is a private retreat in Mexico's Baja California Sur, Casa La Paz. Unconventional and eye-catching, it bears all the hallmarks of Godefroy's idiosyncratic attitude to architecture.