The Mérida House With a Secret Line of Light

House in Mérida is not a house that fights heat by closing itself off, it lets air find a path.

The design is organized as a long, quiet sequence, crossed by a linear upper opening that brings light from above and allows hot air to escape through the highest point.

Instead of relying only on thick walls, enclosed rooms, or air conditioning, the house works with a more precise strategy: shade, garden, screens, ventilation, and a quiet longitudinal slit that turns climate into architecture.

Living, dining, and kitchen spaces open toward a garden enclosed by stone walls, while insect-screen panels allow air to keep moving through the house without fully exposing the interior. A corridor organizes the bedrooms and ends in a framed view of the garden, keeping vegetation present even in the more internal areas.

The materiality reinforces the connection with Mérida: a limestone base anchors the house to the Yucatecan context, handcrafted pasta tiles create continuity between spaces, and recovered doors and windows bring a layer of time to the renovation.

House in Mérida does not try to create a spectacular tropical image.

It tries to answer a simpler and more important question:

How can you live better in a hot city without turning the house into a closed space against the climate?

Location: Merida, México
Architects: F S D A
Area: 186 m²
Year: 2025
Photography: Tamara Uribe, Eduardo Loeza

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