Architecture | Fernanda Canales Architecture
Fernanda Canales Architecture - House 720 Degrees - Valle de Bravo - Mexico
| 2026-01-20 |     |
House 720 Degrees is a geometric and optical device, doubling the 360-degree track of normal vision. The design originates from a central patio and from the ways in which the inner and outer worlds might interact with one another. Conceived as a solar clock that registers the passing of time, this off-the-grid house is many houses in one: during the day it frames a mountain and a volcano, opening up toward the varied views along the external perimeter of the circle; at night, it turns inward around a circular courtyard.
The project comprises three different volumes: the main circular house, a detached studio/guest room, and a rectangular volume with a patio that contains additional bedrooms, storage, and services. The division into separate volumes responds to the accentuated topography and preserves the existing vegetation. Designed for two families, it includes spaces for extended relatives and guests.
The house unfolds across two levels — one on the ground floor and another as an open roof terrace. Its circular plan holds rectangular bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, and a kitchen. The curved walls are left for circulation, extending as terraces toward the courtyard and as gardens toward the exterior. The scheme uses flexible openings — privacy screens, large fold-away windows, and framed views — allowing the interior spaces to transform and remain connected to the environment.
Located in a secluded valley three hours from Mexico City, the house addresses two apparently contradictory conditions: seclusion and aperture. It shelters against radical weather — where temperatures can vary by 30°C in a single day and rain dominates half the year — yet opens as much as possible to the surrounding landscape. Its walls act as membranes between two temperate zones (forest and prairie), two seasons (dry and wet), and three spatial conditions (center, inside, and outside).
The house is earthbound, nestling into the ground from which its materials emerge. To make the large-scale construction blend into the untouched scenery, a low, single-level design, local soil mixed with concrete was used to achieve a natural finish that echoes the landscape. Most of the lamps and furniture were produced on site with local materials and local craftsmanship.
The house harvests rainwater, generates its own electricity through solar panels, and incorporates hydronic radiant floors in the bedrooms. The solar system also heats water used throughout the house. Every space benefits from natural cross-ventilation and opens to two or three different orientations.
The priority was easy and economical maintenance: durable materials that withstand the weather without painting or cladding, becoming part of the natural landscape. Built with the soil and color of the land, the house changes subtly with the seasons — a living structure that adapts, blends, and breathes with its environment.
About Fernanda Canales
Fernanda Canales (Mexico City, 1974) studied architecture at the Ibero-American University, Mexico City, before completing a Master’s in Theory and Criticism at the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB-UPC) and a PhD at the Madrid School of Architecture (ETSAM-UPM). Her architectural work has received several international awards and has been exhibited at the Royal Academy of the Arts in London, the Ifa Galerie in Stuttgart, and the Venice Architecture Biennale, among others. She is the author of numerous essays and books, and has taught architecture and urbanism at the Yale School of Architecture, the Princeton School of Architecture, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the Polytechnic University of Milan.
Photo credit: Camila Cossio - Rafael Gamo