Casa Estelí
Low-Tech Architecture as a Sustainable Strategy in Brick and Adobe Construction
Casa Estelí, located in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México, transforms a deteriorated adobe structure (45m2) into a low-impact dwelling through strategies of structural separation and spatial continuity. Rather than reconstructing the existing building, the project stabilizes its eroded earthen walls, preserving their material condition as evidence of time.
The original 30 cm thick adobe structure is reinforced through a continuous timber ring beam and the controlled insertion of new openings, enabling it to perform coherently under seismic forces. The intervention establishes a clear tectonic distinction between the existing silo and the new additions.
Two load-bearing brick volumes built of rat-trap bond flank the original structure, defining a linear corridor that organizes the house. With a 26 cm wall thickness, the brick system replicates the spatial perception of mass found in the adobe while remaining materially distinct.
A self-supporting timber frame becomes the primary architectural element. Independent from the adobe silo and partially supported by the new brick volumes, it protects the earthen walls from further erosion while unifying the ensemble through a series of covered unenclosed spaces.
The project operates entirely through passive means. The combined thermal mass of adobe and brick regulates indoor temperature, demonstrating how low-tech construction can achieve environmental performance through material logic rather than technological dependence.
