AZ Awards 2026 Finalist in Houses: Casa Tao

Award of Merti: Single-Family Houses

Casa Tao

Situated in a neighbourhood with no remarkable views, the monolithic home’s tall walls and angles create shade and refuge from the blistering sun and humid air.

Year: 2026
Location: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Firm: HW Studio, Morelia, Mexico
Photos: Hugo Tirso Domínguez
Category: Houses

“If light is scarce, then light is scarce; we will immerse ourselves in the darkness and there discover its own particular beauty,” wrote Japanese author Jun’ichirō Tanizaki in his 1933 essay In Praise of Shadows. Tanizaki’s view on aesthetics inspired the homeowner of Casa Tao, a concrete marvel on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Situated in a neighbourhood with no remarkable views, the monolithic home’s tall walls and angles create shade and refuge from the blistering sun and humid air. HW Studio designed a layout with bedrooms on the cooler ground floor, and living, dining and study areas up high and accessible to the ocean breeze. Travertine marble floors are cool underfoot; the darkness does the rest.

Team: Rogelio Vallejo Bores, Oscar Didier Ascencio Castro, Nik Zaret Cervantes Ordaz, Vera Sánchez Macouzet, Juan Pablo Camacho Ayala (HW Studio); Pedro Mendoza, Octavio Pérez, David Pérez (COMAQSO); (HW Studio); Mark Elliot Bejarano Castro (Ordine Furniture); Muebla Bahía Furniture

Award of Merit: Single-Family Houses

Casa Tao

Situated in a neighbourhood with no remarkable views, the monolithic home’s tall walls and angles create shade and refuge from the blistering sun and humid air.

Location: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Firm: HW Studio, Morelia, Mexico
Photos: Hugo Tirso Domínguez
Category: Houses

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