What if your only connection to nature was a view through a 20-story window?

Mexico City-based firm Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados (PPAA) believes that today’s densely developed urban and suburban areas have lost a deeply needed connection to nature, resulting in a lack of quality, attainable, human-centered housing.

Since the days of caves and mud dwellings, humans built their homes in response to their environment. This building process created functional, sustainable homes using available materials.

While primitive in construction methods, they were profound in theory: humans are not meant to conquer nature, they are meant to coexist with it.

With their structure Infinite Openness, PPAA presents architectural elements they believe should be included in every home:

A direct, meaningful connection to nature

Infiltration of natural light

Flexibility of space

Human-scaled proportions

Building materials that reflect the site’s environment

Moments of awe and inspiration

The environment that we live in should influence the design and function of our home.

Environmental context refers to a literal understanding of the place where a home is located. Is it in the mountains or in the desert? Does it deal with torrential rains or accumulations of snow? Is there an abundance of wood or stone available on or near the site? The answers to these questions inevitably inspire the design and the function of a home, placing it seamlessly into the landscape.

This model reflects the framed system that PPAA decided would work best for their prototype.

PPAA’s research revealed four main categories of building typology: earthen houses, block construction, framing systems, and inflatables. To make the home of the future as flexible as possible, PPAA decided to work with framing systems. This allows a variety of easily sourced materials to be used – from wood and bamboo to steel and aluminum.

PPAA was inspired by the idea of erasing the boundaries between nature and the home.

Creating a visceral connection to nature is not just a matter of adding a pretty landscape. PPAA asked: how can a house literally invite nature inside? The answer to this question can be found in human scaled proportions that complement the outdoor environment, the infiltration of natural light into interior spaces, and placing a high-value on defined, private exterior areas.

PPAA began creating spatial studies to determine how much space is needed to live comfortably.

The final question to investigate was how much space does a person really need? Seeking to maximize interior space without compromising its function or aesthetics, PPAA completed a series of spatial studies evaluating the usefulness of flat screen technology. For example, flattening the volume of appliances such as refrigerators and dishwashers could lead to smaller homes that minimize disturbance to the surrounding land.