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Chichén Itzá Lodge Museum
Chichén Itzá Lodge Museum
Mexico
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Other Projects by Studio Becher
Chichén Itzá Lodge Museum
Mexico
Chichén Itzá Lodge Museum, Yucatan, Mexico
International academic competition, 2007
This design responds to a competition brief asking for a lodge with twenty double-beds and a small museum just next to the famous Maya pyramid by proposing a radically new type of accommodation: a cross between a hotel and a camp.
The concept is to sleep in a luxurious bed just above the trees, but unlike in a conventional, air-conditioned 'grand view hotel', the lodge accommodation is exposed to the open air and at one with the jungle, amongst the sounds, scents and breeze of the forest. A night among the calls of toucans and howling monkeys, the new type of lodge provides an unforgettable and unique jungle-atmosphere experience next to one of the most important world heritage sites: intense, pure and authentic.
Forming a structure of thirteen corbelled piles of timber logs amongst the vast wooded plains of the Yucatan peninsula nearby the Caribbean Sea, the radical concept rejects the use of glazing or concrete. Using locally sourced timber for logs and foundation piles, the proposal provides an economical, sustainable and fully recyclable contribution to contemporary architecture in Central America. With its low energy operation and a minimum of maintenance, its construction is truly contemporary and its pyramidal structure highly referential. Pre-stressed logs of engineered timber for large spans, reinforced by integrated tensile rods, challenge and develop traditional solid wood carpentry and craftsmanship.
With an absolute minimum of installations, low energy LED-technology lighting and the rejection of air conditioning, the project represents a radical alternative to conventional hostels and hotels. Due to the arrangement of spaces extending deep into the building and the absence of panorama glazing with its heat gain problems, the building achieves a naturally shaded and ventilated climate with a tolerable temperature attuned to the forest. Additionally, the open structure of the building prevents the accumulation of smoke in the case of fire and makes mechanical smoke vents unnecessary.
The small Maya museum is located on the ground floor and consists of three exhibition spaces of different height, light and character, providing a dim, almost cave-like atmosphere. Nine monumental piles of timber support the lodge and its service facilities and form a variety of spaces of which the central one is an impressive 9m tall. Sensitive Maya antiquities are displayed in conditioned, spot-lit show-cases, but larger exhibits are exposed and glow in mystical light providing an authentic and intense museum experience.
A grand staircase leads up to a public restaurant which provides the guests with fantastic views into the treetops and down into the central museum space. The restaurant serves ancient Maya food like breadnut, turkey soup, manioc and Theobroma cocoa rather than café latte, chilled drinks or 'continental breakfast'.
The lodge comprises of twenty membrane-cabins which span between the main platform and the massive timber roof hovering above. Translucent high-tech membranes, reinforced with steel cables and rods, protect the guests – most staying for one night only – from the rare but heavy rain or thunderstorms. In addition, curtain-like shutters can be drawn to fully enclose the openings.
This special construction allows the promised feeling of maximum contact with the jungle and its nocturnal life. Gathered like curtains the corrugated skins blur clear projection of human shadows and ensure privacy to make the innovative concept commercially viable. In addition, each bed is surrounded by a mosquito net. In total there are four layers of translucent skins separating the guests from each other.
In order to reduce nuisance from lighting in adjacent cabins and to keep the building as muted as possible after nightfall, there is only a minimum of spots and point light fixtures installed, providing a dimmed light just enough for reading and safe circulation.
Tall beds with integrated castors, large lockers, pull-out bedside tables and extra-tall and protective headboards with integrated LED reading lamps can be arranged by the guests as one double or two single beds, and polished wooden floors provide a clean and comfortable environment in the cabins. In order to make the experience more authentic, there are no televisions or fridges provided in the cabins, and a rule of conduct as known from museums or libraries is suggested to ensure the nocturnal peace.
A roof terrace on top of the building provides the guests with grand views, day and night, over the site and offers an alternative atmosphere to the two salons on the ground floor for meeting companions and other guests. Pyramidal barbeque huts with low doorways allow small groups of guests to socialise around polished brass barbeques.
In summary the Lodge Museum represents a wooden megalith which hosts both ancient relics and a new type of traveller in an authentic and brut atmosphere. A prototype lodge in the form of a referential monument which represents a counter-position to the conventional ‘fun’-oriented holiday resort. Set back in the forest it is almost invisible from the archaeological site and off the main photographic views. Positioned by the second and almost forgotten well it provides perfect panoramic views of the entire site with the existing holiday resort and pools out of sight.
Chichén Itzá – 'At the mouth of the well of the Itzá'.
International academic competition, 2007
This design responds to a competition brief asking for a lodge with twenty double-beds and a small museum just next to the famous Maya pyramid by proposing a radically new type of accommodation: a cross between a hotel and a camp.
The concept is to sleep in a luxurious bed just above the trees, but unlike in a conventional, air-conditioned 'grand view hotel', the lodge accommodation is exposed to the open air and at one with the jungle, amongst the sounds, scents and breeze of the forest. A night among the calls of toucans and howling monkeys, the new type of lodge provides an unforgettable and unique jungle-atmosphere experience next to one of the most important world heritage sites: intense, pure and authentic.
Forming a structure of thirteen corbelled piles of timber logs amongst the vast wooded plains of the Yucatan peninsula nearby the Caribbean Sea, the radical concept rejects the use of glazing or concrete. Using locally sourced timber for logs and foundation piles, the proposal provides an economical, sustainable and fully recyclable contribution to contemporary architecture in Central America. With its low energy operation and a minimum of maintenance, its construction is truly contemporary and its pyramidal structure highly referential. Pre-stressed logs of engineered timber for large spans, reinforced by integrated tensile rods, challenge and develop traditional solid wood carpentry and craftsmanship.
With an absolute minimum of installations, low energy LED-technology lighting and the rejection of air conditioning, the project represents a radical alternative to conventional hostels and hotels. Due to the arrangement of spaces extending deep into the building and the absence of panorama glazing with its heat gain problems, the building achieves a naturally shaded and ventilated climate with a tolerable temperature attuned to the forest. Additionally, the open structure of the building prevents the accumulation of smoke in the case of fire and makes mechanical smoke vents unnecessary.
The small Maya museum is located on the ground floor and consists of three exhibition spaces of different height, light and character, providing a dim, almost cave-like atmosphere. Nine monumental piles of timber support the lodge and its service facilities and form a variety of spaces of which the central one is an impressive 9m tall. Sensitive Maya antiquities are displayed in conditioned, spot-lit show-cases, but larger exhibits are exposed and glow in mystical light providing an authentic and intense museum experience.
A grand staircase leads up to a public restaurant which provides the guests with fantastic views into the treetops and down into the central museum space. The restaurant serves ancient Maya food like breadnut, turkey soup, manioc and Theobroma cocoa rather than café latte, chilled drinks or 'continental breakfast'.
The lodge comprises of twenty membrane-cabins which span between the main platform and the massive timber roof hovering above. Translucent high-tech membranes, reinforced with steel cables and rods, protect the guests – most staying for one night only – from the rare but heavy rain or thunderstorms. In addition, curtain-like shutters can be drawn to fully enclose the openings.
This special construction allows the promised feeling of maximum contact with the jungle and its nocturnal life. Gathered like curtains the corrugated skins blur clear projection of human shadows and ensure privacy to make the innovative concept commercially viable. In addition, each bed is surrounded by a mosquito net. In total there are four layers of translucent skins separating the guests from each other.
In order to reduce nuisance from lighting in adjacent cabins and to keep the building as muted as possible after nightfall, there is only a minimum of spots and point light fixtures installed, providing a dimmed light just enough for reading and safe circulation.
Tall beds with integrated castors, large lockers, pull-out bedside tables and extra-tall and protective headboards with integrated LED reading lamps can be arranged by the guests as one double or two single beds, and polished wooden floors provide a clean and comfortable environment in the cabins. In order to make the experience more authentic, there are no televisions or fridges provided in the cabins, and a rule of conduct as known from museums or libraries is suggested to ensure the nocturnal peace.
A roof terrace on top of the building provides the guests with grand views, day and night, over the site and offers an alternative atmosphere to the two salons on the ground floor for meeting companions and other guests. Pyramidal barbeque huts with low doorways allow small groups of guests to socialise around polished brass barbeques.
In summary the Lodge Museum represents a wooden megalith which hosts both ancient relics and a new type of traveller in an authentic and brut atmosphere. A prototype lodge in the form of a referential monument which represents a counter-position to the conventional ‘fun’-oriented holiday resort. Set back in the forest it is almost invisible from the archaeological site and off the main photographic views. Positioned by the second and almost forgotten well it provides perfect panoramic views of the entire site with the existing holiday resort and pools out of sight.
Chichén Itzá – 'At the mouth of the well of the Itzá'.
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