Exploiting the bounty of local building products as well as a regional tradition of craft, Monterrey, Mexico'based S-AR is amassing a rugged, though subtly refined, body of work that reflects the city around them. The capital of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Monterrey is also the country's industrial center, home to cement giant Cemex and a slew of other manufacturing concerns, steel and glass companies among them. In other words, it is a materials smorgasbord for designers like the four partners of S-AR, who met during college. “Our work is based in the resources of this city,” says principal César Guerrero, “but we also want to do something more handmade, using traditional processes.” With labor also in abundance here, the locavore “diet” becomes the logical one: fabricating custom components rather than specifying mass-produced or imported ones for practical and economic reasons.
Casa 2G, a private city residence that wears its rough material palette on its sleeve, illustrates the firm's approach. Inside and out, the reinforced concrete walls and floors of the low box are left exposed and unadorned, punctuated by simple detailing—windows, doors, and metalwork fabricated by local manufacturers and tradespeople. S-AR also explores atypical applications for basic building blocks. For example, the structure for the firm's Casa Huastok is built largely of scrap metal from the client's Monterrey-based steel company. “We translate materials,” says Guerrero, referring to the house's skin, made from corrugated steel that is typically used for warehouses and fencing. Likewise, for an emergency-housing prototype, Módulo 10x10, the architects employed fiberglass panels repurposed after being used as formwork for a nearby parking garage. Working this way means embracing the scars, says Guerrero. “It's raw—it's not perfect—but you have some kind of beauty in that.”
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