Tecorrales is located two hours from Mexico City, nestled in the pine and oak forests of Valle de Bravo region. The project began on a square-shaped plot where a former pasture had left only a few trees growing. On our first visit, we found lines of hay laid on the ground, following the gentle slope of the land. These lines not only revealed the terrain’s natural rhythm but also offered a sense of scale, both for the eye and the body to follow.

The architects designed three built volumes that sit softly on the land, aligning with these intriguing lines. We drew the first walls of the landscape project as a continuation of those from the architecture, as a soft transition. Their position as retaining walls allow for terraces to be formed. The landscape design draws inspiration from the idea of scaling open space by shaping it into smaller or larger “rooms.” Paths and native hedgerows trace these lines, forming a landscape that is both complex and easy to maintain, or let grow freely.

Crucial to this process were the clients themselves: gentle, trusting people who allowed us to trust the soft processes of nature itself. This trust also allowed for a minimalist expression: self-binding gravel paths are suggested not by built paving, but by the quiet presence of an upright stone, a larger stone to cross a swale, a stone ramp to allow a wheelbarrow to pass over a step, discreet yet deliberate, guiding movement without imposition.

Tecorrales in Mexico are traditional dry-stone walls or enclosures, typically used to define fields or contain animals. When abandoned or thick enough, hedgerows often grow between the protective piles of rocks, creating ecosystems that support biodiversity, retain water, and prevent soil erosion. In this project, the dry-stone walls were combined with at least two other elements—either a path, a swale, or a hedgerow. These boundaries evolved into spaces of their own, enriching the ecosystem and nurturing new habitats. During rain, runoff water filters through the tecorrales system, hydrating the soil before filling a natural pool through a carved stone detail.

Close to the main house, an aromatic and fruit garden was designed—this is the only area that requires minimal irrigation. The rest of the land is allowed to evolve naturally, with a focus on guiding rather than controlling the landscape: meadows, wetlands, and hedgerows are maintained with care, knowing where to prune and where to let nature take over.

These landscape “rooms” invite us to play, swim, sit, and lie down. Simple structures such as a steel rebar pergola, a clothes line, or a pétanque court with a bespoke design were included. Together, they form the scenography for all kinds of stories to unfold—whether it’s an encounter with a curious frog, the fleeting sight of a bird, or a hare passing by.

Native species hedgerows are composed of emergent trees such as oaks (Quercus rugosa) and black cherry trees (Prunus serotina), along with fast-growing smaller trees and shrubs like elders (Sambucus canadensis) and Baccharis, which not only produce white flowers at different times of the year but also provide fruits for local fauna. Agaves and Senecios offer shade for ground covers while helping to retain water and stabilize the soil.

Meadows are regenerated through green manure seeding, a process that uses fast-growing annual plants to quickly cover degraded soil, combined with endemic herbaceous seeds. These species germinate during the summer rainy season and bloom by the end of the year, creating vibrant patterns of colour and supporting high levels of biodiversity. This is the first emergent layer of a native landscape in regeneration, and it also marks the beginning of a maintenance strategy to determine where the landscape should be allowed to develop into shrubland and, eventually, forest, and where to maintain open ‘rooms’.

• All landscape architecture offices involved in the design of landscape:
Estudio Ome

• All architecture offices involved in the design:
Claudia Rodríguez and Louise Rouzaud

• Other credits:
Photography credits: Maureen M. Evans and Estudio Ome

• Location of the project
Valle de Bravo, Mexico

logo-landscape-forms

LILA 2025 Sponsor

Media Supporters
Info