Casa Selva is conceived as a quiet holiday house immersed in the dense jungle landscape of Tulum, Mexico. Rather than approaching the house as an object, the design treats it as a low, grounded living environment—one that dissolves the boundary between interior space and the surrounding nature.
The project is organized around a generous, double-height living volume that opens fully to the garden through floor-to-ceiling glazing. This central space functions as the heart of the house, accommodating living, resting, working, and gathering without rigid programmatic separation. Low seating, floor cushions, and a timber platform sofa encourage a slower, more tactile way of inhabiting the space, emphasizing bodily comfort over formal posture.
Material choices are deliberately restrained. Raw concrete surfaces provide thermal mass and a sense of permanence, while warm timber ceilings and joinery soften the atmosphere and introduce a human scale. Natural fibers, woven elements, and hand-crafted objects complement the architecture without competing with it, allowing the lush greenery outside to remain the primary visual focus.
Light plays a central role in shaping the interior experience. During the day, filtered sunlight moves across textured surfaces and vegetation, while evenings rely on warm, indirect lighting to create an intimate, grounded ambiance. The atmosphere is calm and protective rather than performative—designed for retreat, reflection, and long periods of occupation.
Casa Selva explores a form of tropical architecture that is quiet, sensory, and deeply connected to its context. It prioritizes spatial generosity, material honesty, and indoor–outdoor continuity, offering an alternative to spectacle-driven vacation homes by focusing instead on slowness, atmosphere, and lived experience.