Mexican architect and environmentalist Alberto Kalach challenges our collective values and how they translate into the way we live. For him, true luxury lies not in the excesses of scale and materials so commonplace today, but in the seamless integration of architecture and nature. It is about the framing of the landscape, the breeze that flows through an edifice, the spatial proportions that invite reflection. His creative practice stems from a profound understanding of the sites he chooses, allowing his architecture to become fully integrated with nature in an unobstructed way.

Kalach’s design practice Taller de Arquitectura X is an ongoing response to the critical challenge of building in less intensive ways, and more in tune with the dynamics of nature. His latest project with Grupo Habita – Hotel Terrestre in Puerto Escondido, Mexico – coalesces these principles into a construction that is responsive to its site and which amplifies the beautiful idiosyncrasies of the natural surroundings. This 14-room boutique hotel on the Oaxacan coast runs entirely on solar energy.

On a recent afternoon, Sarah Len, Editor-in-chief of MATERIA, met the architect at his home in San Miguel Chapultepec – a lightweight glass structure that Kalach designed and set atop a home dating from the 1930s. A sanctuary filled with books, art, and curios, the home perfectly captures the spirit of its creator.