mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards

conceived entirely from negative space, the project carves a living environment out of a series of floating voids.

ludwig godefro edited by thomai tsimpou April 21, 2025 3 min

ludwig godefroy inverts domestic architecture in mexico

With Casa Soskil in Mérida, Mexico, architect Ludwig Godefroy flips the conventional home-garden hierarchy on its head: instead of placing the garden around the house, he places the house around the garden. Conceived entirely from negative space, the project carves a living environment out of a series of concrete floating voids, framing open-air courtyards that embrace nature while shielding from prying eyes.

Rather than focusing on habitable rooms as the core, Casa Soskil begins with the void, a garden that functions as the primary spatial and emotional anchor. This negative space becomes the starting point of the design, generating a protective perimeter of built elements that gently hover around it. These structures are strategically positioned to preserve sightlines and privacy, framing generous openings while respecting the natural placement of trees on site. The result is an ‘interiorized exterior,’ where the garden becomes the living space itself.

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 1 — all images courtesy of Ludwig Godefroy

casa soskil uses garden as a connecting thread

The inherent duality of the site, bright sunlight at the front and deep shade toward the back is central to the spatial strategy introduced by the Mexico-based team of Godefroy. Casa Soskil responds by forming two social poles: a sun-drenched zone with a terrace and pool for active gathering and a shaded zone featuring a study, nap room, and fire pit for quiet contemplation. These poles are stitched together by a meandering garden path, turning the landscape into the connective tissue of the home. The ground level becomes a continuous open-air living space, blending interior and exterior with no clear boundary between the two. Above this horizontal landscape, the private bedrooms emerge like treehouses, lightly perched within the foliage.

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 2 — instead of placing the garden around the house, the architect builds the house around the garden

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 3 — conceived entirely from negative space

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 4 — Casa Soskil carves a living environment out of a series of concrete floating voids

casa-soskil-ludwig-godefroy-porous-shell-lush-courtyards-mexico-designboom-large03 — open-air courtyards that embrace nature

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 5 — Casa Soskil begins with a garden that functions as the primary spatial and emotional anchor

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 6 — this negative space becomes the starting point of the design

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 7 — an ‘interiorized exterior,’ where the garden becomes the living space itself

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 8 — one of the two shaded zones features a study, nap room, and fire pit

casa-soskil-ludwig-godefroy-porous-shell-lush-courtyards-mexico-designboom-large01 — private bedrooms emerge like treehouses

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 9 — the ground level becomes a continuous open-air living space

mexican house by ludwig godefroy unfolds as a porous concrete shell around lush courtyards - 10 — openings on the bathroom door frame views of the garden

project info:

name: Casa Soskil
architect: Ludwig Godefroy | @udwiggodefroy
location: Mérida, Mexico

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.