In order to fully understand this house, located in a gated community in Zapopan, Jalisco, it is of paramount importance to recognize the twofold strategy inscribed at its core. On the one hand, as its name suggests, this house springs from the conviction to incorporate into its architectural scheme a magnificent old tree that preexisted on the building site. This tree will become the visual counterpoint to both the garden and its inhabitant’s social activities. On the other, an equally crucial aspect, which also contributed to determine the house´s character, is its distinctive emplacement.

        为了全方位地了解这座位于墨西哥哈里斯克州萨波潘市商业小区里的住宅，首先，也是至关重要的就是要了解根植于房子核心的两个设计重要举措。一方面，就像是房子的名字所暗示的，房子本身来源于对自然的一种信仰，这种信仰把建筑工地现有的一颗繁茂的大树和建筑设计融为一体，最终这棵树成了花园和房子住户社交活动的视觉对应点。另一方面，同样也是很重要的方面，树的天然存在有助于表现房子的特点，一个独具特色的寄托物(类似于中国的寄情于物)。

Although, typically we tend to understand a project’s emplacement as a question concerning which part of a given site is chosen to build on, in this particular case, the decision had to do with a vertical rather than a horizontal concern. In this sense, a key to understanding the project is to notice that its ground floor is not on the street level, but one level above it. This solution provides two noticeable consequences: first, most of the noise that comes from cars is eliminated, and secondly and most relevant, instead of looking directly into the street, all the views from the house’s ground floor look towards the tree tops from the surroundings, in a way, erasing its urban context.

        尽管我们注重理解一个项目的寄托物，关于房子该建于所给地点的哪一部分的问题而展开，但是在这个具体的例子里，最终的答案和一个纵向而非横向的考虑密切相关。基于这一点，一个认识本项目的关键是要注意到住宅的地面层并不在街道的高度，而是高一个层级。最终方案提供了两个引人瞩目的结果：第一，大多来自于汽车的噪音减少了；第二，相关地，视觉效果并没有直通街道，而是通过站在地面层，所有的视觉焦点直对周围的树颠，通过这样的方式，消除了城市环境(进而，让自然的元素得到充分发挥)。

It is because of this that the house manages to distance itself from the outside and therefore looks inwards, into its wonderful garden. Thanks to its open scheme and carefully chosen windows, the ground floor, which consists of a clean succession of clear and harmonious spaces, opens up completely towards the main and secondary gardens, establishing an interesting and never ending dialogue between exterior beauty and inner clarity. This project achieves this in such a way that instead of having a house separate from the garden, it is possible to say that this house lives through the garden, as well as, that this garden participates in the life of the house.

        设计师试图让房子远离外面的世界(这里指城市)，因而看起来更加的隐秘，藏匿于这梦幻般的花园中。由于房子开敞式的设计和精心选取的玻璃窗，由一连串明亮而又赏心悦目的空间而组成的地面层，完全向主副花园开放，建立一种室外自然美和室内清晰可见有趣而有连绵不绝的对话。通过这样的方式，本项目实现了之初的想法，而没有把房子和花园分开。可以这样说，房子贯穿于花园之中栩栩如生，同样的，花园参与到房子的日常生活之中。

Beyond the special relationship we find between outside and inside space, it is important to notice that the house’s interior scheme is very straight forward: the basement (on the street level) lodges the garage and utility rooms; the ground floor is dedicated entirely to social activities of its inhabitants; and the second floor accommodates its occupants private quarters. The apparent simplicity of the layout speaks of the well-established order underlying the project’s open spirit. Finally, this house reminds us of something we easily forget, that is, that the garden must be as important as the house, for as John Hejduk has written “the sister of a house is its garden”.

        除了设计师寻找到的室内外这种特别的关系，更重要的是要了解房子的室内设计非常的“直白”：地下室(位于街道高度)布置车库和工具室；地面层完全就是住户的社交活动场所；二楼是个人的生活空间。显而易见的简约平面布局说明了井然有序的设计，为项目本身的坦荡心境埋下了伏笔。最终，住宅让我们回想起了我们容易遗忘的东西，即花园跟房子同等重要，就像是“纽约五人”之一的约翰·海杜克层写道，“房子的姊妹就是花园。”

项目地：墨西哥哈里斯克州萨波潘市

项目完工：2014

设计公司/设计师：Agraz Arquitectos SC./Ricardo  Agraz

项目管理：Brenda Barrón

建筑公司：Ing. Rubén Álvarez Alfaro

摄影师：Mito Covarrubias

占地面积：2023.87平方米

建筑面积：1050平方米

文字撰写：Juan Lopez Vergara

译/编辑：SAM