Fernanda Canales Completes Off-Grid Circular House 720 Degrees in Mexico’s La Reserva Peñitas

Mexican architect Fernanda Canales has completed House 720 Degrees, a circular off-grid residence in the La Reserva Peñitas development, located in a secluded valley three hours from Mexico City. The project is conceived as both a geometric and optical device that doubles the 360-degree track of normal vision, according to the architect’s studio.

The design originates from a central patio and explores how inner and outer worlds interact. Canales describes the house as a solar clock that registers the passing of time. During the day, the circular plan opens toward a mountain and a volcano, capturing varied views along the external perimeter. At night, the house turns inward around the circular courtyard.

Key facts

Three volumes on a steep site

The project comprises three distinct volumes: the main circular house, a detached studio and guest room, and a rectangular volume with a patio that contains additional bedrooms, storage, and services. The division into separate volumes responds to the accentuated topography and preserves the existing vegetation. Designed for two families, the house includes spaces for extended relatives and guests.

The house unfolds across two levels — one on the ground floor and another as an open roof terrace. Its circular plan holds rectangular bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, and a kitchen. The curved walls are left for circulation, extending as terraces toward the courtyard and as gardens toward the exterior. Flexible openings — privacy screens, large fold-away windows, and framed views — allow the interior spaces to transform and remain connected to the environment.

Responding to extreme climate

Located in a valley where temperatures can vary by 30°C in a single day and rain dominates half the year, the house addresses two apparently contradictory conditions: seclusion and aperture. It shelters against radical weather yet opens as much as possible to the surrounding landscape. Its walls act as membranes between two temperate zones (forest and prairie), two seasons (dry and wet), and three spatial conditions (center, inside, and outside).

To make the large-scale construction blend into the untouched scenery, a low, single-level design was used. Local soil mixed with concrete achieves a natural finish that echoes the landscape. Most of the lamps and furniture were produced on site with local materials and local craftsmanship.

Off-grid systems and maintenance

The house harvests rainwater, generates its own electricity through solar panels, and incorporates hydronic radiant floors in the bedrooms. The solar system also heats water used throughout the house. Every space benefits from natural cross-ventilation and opens to two or three different orientations.

The priority was easy and economical maintenance: durable materials that withstand the weather without painting or cladding, becoming part of the natural landscape. Built with the soil and color of the land, the house changes subtly with the seasons — a living structure that adapts, blends, and breathes with its environment.

About the architect

Fernanda Canales (Mexico City, 1974) studied architecture at the Ibero-American University, Mexico City, before completing a Master’s in Theory and Criticism at the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB-UPC) and a PhD at the Madrid School of Architecture (ETSAM-UPM). Her architectural work has received several international awards and has been exhibited at the Royal Academy of the Arts in London, the Ifa Galerie in Stuttgart, and the Venice Architecture Biennale. She is the author of numerous essays and books, and has taught at the Yale School of Architecture, the Princeton School of Architecture, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the Polytechnic University of Milan.

Source: Amazing Architecture, https://amazingarchitecture.com/houses/house-720-degrees-la-reserva-penitas-mexico-by-fernanda-canales