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Metropolis Editors, Natural Habitat, sustainability, sustainable architecture

METROPOLIS Introduces Natural Habitat, a Sustainable Homes Video Series

The series debuts with a tour of a tranquil upstate New York retreat designed with Passive House principles.

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A bare tree grows up through the center of a pink spiral staircase in Mexico City toward a circular skylight.
Courtesy Rafael Gamo

October 8, 2026

ZD+A Brings a Modernist Mexico City House in Line with its Context

Architect Yuri Zagoin Alazraki reorganized the speculative house to respond to its site and create unique spaces for contemplation.

By: Kate Mazade

When architect Yuri Zagorin Alazraki transformed a 1937 house for himself, he didn’t think of the project as a renovation, but as a design that is both old and new.

Zagorin, founder of Mexico City–based studio ZD+A, completed Casa Kiki in June of 2025, ushering in a new era for the 4,671-square-foot house that was originally part of a speculative real estate development in the affluent Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City.

“We began the design process with the preconception that the existing building had to remain. We call it a ‘poetic preexistence,’” he says. “Beyond the envelope, everything else had to be questioned and evaluated, including the program, solar exposure, and even the space itself. This we call ‘critical archaeology’.”

A red convertible sports car parked in the driveway of a modern home with concrete steps and lush landscaping.
Courtesy Rafael Gamo

ZD+A worked to preserve the essential character and existing structure of the California-style residence—with double-height interior spaces, outdoor rooms, stucco and bright accent colors—while reorganizing how the house was inhabited to create a sequence of spaces that respond to solar orientation, thermal comfort, and access to daylight.

Before Renovation, Courtesy Jaime Navarro.
A curved staircase with brick treads and a wooden handrail under renovation, with a metal support pole in the foreground.
Before Renovation, Courtesy Jaime Navarro.
A person walking up a bright pink spiral staircase that winds around a small indoor tree.
After Renovation, Photo Courtesy Rafael Gamo.
A leafless tree stands in the center of a spiral staircase with pink walls in Mexico City.
Courtesy Rafael Gamo

One of the project’s key objectives was to reestablish the original central turret that served as both the main entrance and the circulation core with a curved staircase that wrapped the double-height space. Covered in a 1970s renovation, the turret sits in the internal corner of the L-shaped plan.

After 50 color tests, the interior of the turret now blazes pink with walls and curved bookshelves that blend into a new helical steel staircase under a glass skylight that casts sunlight down onto the arrayán tree.

“Curved, repetitive, rhythmic surfaces reinforce continuity and movement,” Zagorin says.

Before Renovation, Courtesy Jaime Navarro.
Living room with an open floor plan, a grand piano, seating, and views of two outdoor garden courtyards.
After Renovation, Photo Courtesy Rafael Gamo.
A modern living room with a curved sofa, a geometric metal wall sculpture visible through a window, and wood-paneled ceilings.
After Renovation, Photo Courtesy Rafael Gamo.

The team relocated the kitchen to the former living room—connecting the garden and the other social spaces with a large central island—and added a new living room on the rear patio to extend the home’s L-shaped footprint.

The new living room opens to gardens on both sides, acting as an extension of the exterior space through sliding, floor-to-ceiling glazing. On a stone accent wall, the living room features a fragment of a steel lattice by Mexican modernist Manuel Felguérez—originally produced for the Museo Nacional de Antropología—as a nod to the city’s mid-century architectural moment.

Upstairs, the rooms were reconfigured to connect to the central tower as well as individual exterior terraces. Accessed through an arched opening, the study features an oversized reclaimed pine table, black steel bookshelves and wood-clad walls topped with a mirrored perimeter frieze that amplifies light and expands the space visually.

Before Renovation, Courtesy Jaime Navarro.
A modern galley kitchen with dark cabinets and white countertops, leading to a hallway with a bright pink spiral staircase.
Courtesy Rafael Gamo
A curved pale pink wall decorated with a row of small framed pictures leads to a modern office area with a table, chairs, and a dog lying on the floor.
Courtesy Rafael Gamo

“The home is defined by an open and changing everyday experience, where interiors extend into patios and terraces, and nature constantly accompanies habitation,” the studio says. “Light, materiality, furniture, art, and views construct an atmosphere inviting contemplation and genuine use.”

To reinforce the design’s historical essence, the team worked to reuse existing materials from its warehouse, pulling all of the project’s steel and a portion of the stone from another project.

“The result is a house that feels alive and inhabited, creative and in permanent dialogue with its surroundings.”

A room with floor-to-ceiling pink bookshelves, a central staircase, and a small tree, viewed through an arched doorway leading to another library space.
Courtesy Rafael Gamo

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