A housing project in Mexico’s coastal city of Acapulco, designed by the Mexican architectural studio Estudio Manuel Cervantes, was announced as the winner of the 2024 Architectural Review (AR) House Awards on Monday.
“Our goal is to make houses that are not just structures but adaptable homes where the architecture enables the empowerment of the inhabitants to break the cycle of poverty in Acapulco,” Manuel Cervantes told AR.
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Acapulco suffered widespread damage during Hurricane Otis, one of the worst storms to ever hit Mexico’s Pacific coast, in October 2023. The storm damaged 80% of the resort city’s hotels and 95% of its businesses, and killed at least 52 people.
Cervantes’s studio designed the new houses to be built using prefabricated Covintec panels — wire mesh frames filled with Styrofoam and coated with concrete. Each house is designed to operate without air conditioning, while timber screens and concrete latticework allow air and light through.
As part of an initiative known as Kon-tigo, meaning “with you” in Spanish, the studio has completed 42 houses and is working to finish 78 more, with funding from various private donors through the non‑profit organizations Asociación Gilberto and Construyendo. The houses vary in size, from 376 to 807 square feet, and cost an average of US $18,000 each to build.
The structures withstood flooding during Acapulco’s tropical storm season in September and October, including Hurricane John.
Cervantes aims to build long-term housing for those affected by Hurricane Otis, inspired by the Cartilla de la Vivienda (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 state-built housing.
He also takes inspiration from a 1954 article in Arquitectura México written by the Mexican architect Enrique del Moral, in which del Moral stressed the importance of using open floor plans that facilitate cross ventilation and avoiding excessive use of glass and metal, according to AR.
The impact of hurricanes on Acapulco
While still recovering from the effects of Otis, Acapulco suffered extreme flooding and mudslides during Hurricane John in September, which killed at least 29 people.
In October, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced an 8-billion-peso (US $400 million) reconstruction package for Acapulco and Oaxaca in October in response to the destruction caused by John.
The Mexican government also recently announced plans to construct one million new homes countrywide over the next six years with an investment of 600 billion pesos ($29.7 billion) under its Housing and Regularization Program.
With reports from The Architectural Review, El Sol de Acapulco and El País
