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Located in the cloudy forest on the outskirts of Xalapa, Veracruz and designed by Mexican architect Danilo Veras Godoy, “Casa de los Milagros” (House of Miracles) is a space designed with organic shapes, earth, unexpectedly shaped openings, and mosaic glass in varying degrees. It was designed to meet the needs of Rosalinda Ulloa, a single mom who will live there with her two young children. It was built in phases, beginning in 1995, and completed in 2002, with some changes made between then and 2006.
Although Veras Godoy’s work is not well known, it is interesting to study the peculiar and playful organic style of housing that he left in his wake, specifically in Mexican regions such as Xalapa, Veracruz. His work gives insight into how both builders and residents interact with architectural creativity, resulting in constructions that continue to dazzle and inspire. With this in mind, photographer Nasir Nader Ibrahim presents a series of images that explore comprehensively and in detail, accompanied by text that guides us through the construction of these spaces to better understand the background to Firas Godoy’s work.
Text from Sarah Davis.
The varying heights of the convex cliffs that make up the roof are reminiscent of a great sea creature in motion. When viewed from ground level, smooth, earth-colored concrete appears to support the upper half like a large mushroom stem. Finally, the curved base of the house gives the appearance of a floating organic creature. In fact, the house itself is a kind of Rorschach test: like clouds or abstract art, the interpretation of its unique form is in the eye of the beholder. According to the owner, Rosalinda Ulloa, different people refer to it as a mushroom, an octopus, a bat cave, a flower, and even a meringue used to cover cakes.
Built in phases and without a traditional floor plan, the house is the product of long conversations with the family who will occupy the space first. “What are your wildest dreams?” The starting point was, and the various answers would include the slides and poles of the fire station, a salamander-like creature crawling toward the chimney on the roof, a kitchen filled with light, and bedrooms raised in a nest-like manner with windows for stars at night and sun saluting in the morning: Caves with a view. The house is a collage as well, parts of it made from found and donated materials. Two rows of circular windows above the stairs, for example, were a gift from a friend of Ulua. Upon receiving it, she and Danilo Ferras Godoy spent hours playing it and deciding where to put them, but what would be built for their show. Eventually, they were used to light the stairs, from the bottom of the house up. The same thing happened with the stained window in the living room, which was also a gift.
Animals, whether intended or proposed, also adorn the house: the sink in the upper bathroom is shaped like a lion’s head, while some would say the faucet on the ground floor resembles a blue bird’s beak. The salamander-like figure above the chimney emerged as a result of a young family’s imagination and the architect attached a crayon to a long stick to trace the shape. Above the entire structure, a serpent made by Ulloa swallows a pillar as the triumphant crown of the palace, a symbol of both female sensuality and the owner who overcomes her fear of reptiles.
Upon entering the house, one can imagine oneself inside the shell of a snail. The design is circular, both floors consist of several rooms curved around a central column: real on the ground floor, imagined on the first floor. On the ground floor, rotating from left to right, the living room, dining room, kitchen, stairwell, and ground floor bathroom. On the first floor, going in the same direction, there is the bathroom and dressing room followed by three bedrooms. The combination of circular, slanted and quadruple windows throughout the house ensures that light enters everywhere it is needed: in the stairwell, in public spaces and in individual rooms.
The interior of the house has the same playful and cosmopolitan characteristics as the interior. With bright turquoise floors throughout much of the house, the soft, neutral tones of white, brown, and terracotta walls act as a canvas to allow for the overall design. Storage stone structures combine with glass mosaic counters in kitchen and bathrooms, the effect is one of domestic utility and optimistic dream.
Casa de los Milagros is also a place that requires agility to navigate around: alternating stairs lead to raised bed platforms in each of the bedrooms, while the rest of the space is reserved for work or play, with built-in shelving. An external staircase leads to the master bedroom to allow direct entry into the sanctuary when needed, a slide was originally built into one of the bedrooms, while an outside slide was added to the house later for more fun.