PAAR Taller
PAAR Taller opens its doors to talk about its ideology based on conscious design and the right to biophilia, but most importantly, they share strategies they use when intervening in a mountainous landscape.
Based on the cohesion of landscape, territory, design, and architecture, PA-AR is a workshop created with the aim of reinterpreting the conception of the spaces where we live and connect, as well as improving the quality of life and reclaiming the identity of our territories. Convinced that the landscape should be the undeniable infrastructure that keeps us in contact with the natural environment, our work is to create harmony, knowledge, and heritage between the landscape and people.
Their ideology is to always design consciously, prioritizing the needs that current times demand: environmental care, the use of local materials, the preservation of heritage, highlighting the identity of each region to be intervened, and exercising our right to biophilia.
What experience or who contributed to the birth of your love for landscaping?
Both of us agree that we had a childhood surrounded by natural environments and spent it outdoors. The love also arises from having the opportunity to design with living elements and knowing that there is no final scene, but rather our work allows us to observe the processes, adaptations, or evolution over time of the landscapes we have intervened in. We continue to find satisfaction in this profession because it has given us the opportunity to meet other specialists, other perspectives, and collaborate with many people who seek alternative ways to view the habitat, prioritizing and recognizing natural processes.
Casa Esmeralda
Fotografía / Photography: Escobedo Solis y Ariadna Polo
How do you plan and design outdoor spaces in mountainous environments?
We don’t believe there can be a general plan for designing mountainous environments. In our experience, the approaches have been very diverse when we are given the opportunity to design in these places, and each project has been very specific to its needs and qualities. Let’s remember that we are not just designing for clients, we are also designing for all the users, including the local flora and fauna.
Let’s remember that we are not just designing for clients, we are also designing for all the users, including the local flora and fauna.
Casa Pasiddhi
Fotografía / Photography: Cortesía de PAAR Taller / Courtesy of PAAR Taller
How do you incorporate natural elements like rocks, water, and native vegetation into your designs to achieve a harmonious integration with the surrounding landscape?
Natural elements are by default what we use to design in natural contexts. When intervening in a landscape, it is important to examine the values of these natural elements. By recognizing them, we are determining the design guidelines, identifying what we should conserve, what we can use, what we can transform, or what we need to add.
It is important to examine the natural elements of the mountainous context (rocks, water, and vegetation) to determine design guidelines, which allows us to know what to conserve, use, transform, or add.
Casa Tabique
Fotografía / Photography: ASP
What strategies do you employ to ensure soil stability and prevent issues such as erosion?
When we have the opportunity, the basic strategy is to conserve the structure that naturally holds the land together, such as roots, rocks, and sediments, among others. On the other hand, when a project has erosion problems, we must be careful with the selection of resources to improve this condition. In some cases, it is necessary to resort to complete restorations of topography and vegetation, which involves the intervention of more disciplines to ensure an integrated restoration project.
Casa Esmeralda
Fotografía / Photography: Escobedo Solis y Ariadna Polo
What role do architectural sections and isometric views play in the design process of a mountain project?
In our practice, materials like sections and isometrics are indispensable. They have helped us solve practical problems, from solutions for draining water in planters to the complexity of topography with steep slopes. Without these materials, it is very difficult to communicate the strategies and design of a landscape project.
