Shall We Dance?
December/January 2006

Described in travel guides as “concrete suburban,” the hilly Tecamachalco area north of Mexico City is a chaotic landscape of nondescript, box-shaped homes. Amidst this neighborhood of white facades, painted metal railings, and flat roofs., an idiosyncratic house designed by architect Michel Rojkind makes a bold statement.

The sensuous red contours of the house take their inspiration from the homeowner’s daughter, a promising ballerina who recently won a scholarship to study in Russia. Prague’s Tancici Dum (Dancing Building) designed by Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunic in the 1990s is perhaps the most well known example of architecture inspired by movement. But Rojkind’s design demonstrates just how different two dance-themed buildings can be. While the graceful lines of Tancici Dum bring a twirling ball gown mid-waltz to mind, Rojkind’s radical riff on the theme of two bodies in motion -- with different angles spiraling from every curve -- is more Martha Graham than Ginger Rogers.

Like a ballet dancer, the structure of the split-level building, which was originally built in the 1960s, is supple yet strong. The two interlacing rectangular prisms (one of which serves as an independent annex for the owner’s daughter) were constructed out of rolled steel beams, covered by a steel-plated shell. The plates were carefully shaped to look like the contours of the human body by specialists who normally work with wrecked cars.

The new design accentuates the quirks of the original structure, which Rojkind describes as having had “a nice sense of humor.” “It had skylights allover and two “fins” that resembled a manta ray,” says Rojkind. “These elements allowed me to be playful with the design.” Like its shape, the bold color scheme similarly reflects a ballerina’s spirit. “Being 19 years old, my client’s daughter is very passionate about life,” said Rojkind. “What other color could illustrate that passion but red?”