marina vella arquitectura utilizes locally harvested materials to create traversa house

architecture by shafa diandra

the traversa house is located in a cattle ranch in a vast area next to the town tanlajas (tan — place / lajas — stones in layers) in the huasteca potosi, one of the four regions of the mexican state, san luis potosi.

“the objective of our work is to value natural materials and traditional constructive techniques, breaking the prejudice toward the use of those resources, like for example that a dirt house should be small and closed. we hope the traversa house will encourage architects and builders from the area to utilize the local bamboo and stone in their projects.” explained marina vella, the architect and founder of marina vella arquitectura.

in the area, its climate is warm and humid, with an average temperature higher than 18ºc. the coy river crosses the land and in the high season, it overflows forming springs and fountains. the population of this area is of the teneek ethnic group whose vernacular architecture is considered a cultural heritage of the huasteca potosina because of the building materials used, their construction techniques as well…