The duality between vernacular and modern has long been presented in Mexican architecture as either tension or balance. Manuel Cervantes offers us his particular synthesis of this way of conceiving architectural modernity in Mexico with works that also transmit a delicate balance between reason and emotion.

This monograph collects in almost 300 pages his main works between 2011 and 2021, including both his single-family homes and other larger-scale typologies, with texts, photographs and drawings, as well as with a conversation with his colleagues Macias Peredo that allows us to understand the origins of their thinking through their experiences and relationships.

Against the idea of wanting to be and do things anywhere, tempting idea in such a connected world, Cervantes claimed empathy with the site. The architecture, its complexity and sophistication is not so much in the imported, new materials, but in how to work, propose and be creative with what you have at hand, weaving relationships, and the place is not only a physical context but also its people, the food, culture.

Construction is where you can see the rigor of their work, the pragmatism of their decisions and, above all, the honesty of materials and systems. The construction drawings and details shown in this publication help us understand and learn from this design methodology.

From the concepts of subsoil, crust and sky, he shapes his buildings by creating spaces that are often nothing more than the result of a construction process where the structural and material design define the final atmosphere of the project.

“To build a wall or a column, we like to imagine not only the tectonics but the sensation that touching them, surrounding them, seeing them and even smelling them will create, because the wood reminds us of the forest and the steel more of the city, soil of the countryside and brick of a village; however, all these materials are actors in a film that we will experience later on, a staging to celebrate life."

Contents

The search for the heart through the reason of architecture, Ricardo Meri de la Maza
Conversation between Manuel Cervantes, Salvador Macías and Magui Peredo
The construction of the design, Manuel Cervantes

Amatepec House. Lomas de Chapultepec, México
Punta Ixtapa. Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, México
Santana House. Valle de Bravo, México
Studio House. Lomas de Chapultepec, México
Tepetate House. Lomas de Chapultepec, México
Salazar House. Salazar, Estado de México
Avandaro House. Valle de Bravo, México
Rural House Salazar. Salazar, Estado de México
Banderas House. Nayarit, México
Pedregal House. San Luis Potosí, México
Hydroponic Plant. León, Guanajuato. México
Mexico City’s Historic Center. Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
Equestrian. Puebla, México
Edificio La Raza. Ciudad de México, México
Avancer Tower. San Luis Potosí, México
El Rosario Transport Interchange. Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
Cuatro Caminos Transport Interchange. Naucalpan. México

The duality between vernacular and modern has long been presented in Mexican architecture as either tension or balance. Manuel Cervantes offers us his particular synthesis of this way of conceiving architectural modernity in Mexico with works that also transmit a delicate balance between reason and emotion.

This monograph collects in almost 300 pages his main works between 2011 and 2021, including both his single-family homes and other larger-scale typologies, with texts, photographs and drawings, as well as with a conversation with his colleagues Macias Peredo that allows us to understand the origins of their thinking through their experiences and relationships.

Against the idea of wanting to be and do things anywhere, tempting idea in such a connected world, Cervantes claimed empathy with the site. The architecture, its complexity and sophistication is not so much in the imported, new materials, but in how to work, propose and be creative with what you have at hand, weaving relationships, and the place is not only a physical context but also its people, the food, culture.

Construction is where you can see the rigor of their work, the pragmatism of their decisions and, above all, the honesty of materials and systems. The construction drawings and details shown in this publication help us understand and learn from this design methodology.

From the concepts of subsoil, crust and sky, he shapes his buildings by creating spaces that are often nothing more than the result of a construction process where the structural and material design define the final atmosphere of the project.

“To build a wall or a column, we like to imagine not only the tectonics but the sensation that touching them, surrounding them, seeing them and even smelling them will create, because the wood reminds us of the forest and the steel more of the city, soil of the countryside and brick of a village; however, all these materials are actors in a film that we will experience later on, a staging to celebrate life."

Contents

The search for the heart through the reason of architecture, Ricardo Meri de la Maza
Conversation between Manuel Cervantes, Salvador Macías and Magui Peredo
The construction of the design, Manuel Cervantes

Amatepec House. Lomas de Chapultepec, México
Punta Ixtapa. Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, México
Santana House. Valle de Bravo, México
Studio House. Lomas de Chapultepec, México
Tepetate House. Lomas de Chapultepec, México
Salazar House. Salazar, Estado de México
Avandaro House. Valle de Bravo, México
Rural House Salazar. Salazar, Estado de México
Banderas House. Nayarit, México
Pedregal House. San Luis Potosí, México
Hydroponic Plant. León, Guanajuato. México
Mexico City’s Historic Center. Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
Equestrian. Puebla, México
Edificio La Raza. Ciudad de México, México
Avancer Tower. San Luis Potosí, México
El Rosario Transport Interchange. Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
Cuatro Caminos Transport Interchange. Naucalpan. México