Venecia 20 Renovation by Inca Hernández: A Neocolonial House in Mexico City

Venecia 20, a project by Inca Hernández, emerges as a deeply reflective architectural intervention that addresses the complex intersection of time, memory, and dwelling. Located in Colonia Juárez, a neighborhood dense with cultural sediment, the project engages with an early twentieth-century neocolonial residence that had long succumbed to abandonment and decay. The design is guided not only by the physical reality of the structure but also by a literary reference, an excerpt from Octavio Paz’s The Labyrinth of Solitude: “A building made of time: what was, what will be, what is becoming.”

Venecia 20 Renovation Technical Information

• Architects^1-5:  Inca Hernández
• Location: Venecia 20, Colonia Juárez, Mexico City, Mexico
• Gross Area: 315 m² | 3,390 Sq. Ft.
• Completion Years: 2025
• Original Construction Year: 1905
• Photographs: © Nicolas Million
• Visualizations: © Studio Navarro

A building made of time: what was, what will be, what is becoming.

– Octavio Paz’s The Labyrinth of Solitude

Venecia 20 Photographs

Temporal Layers and Design Intent

The poetic lens of Octavio Paz informs the project’s conceptual foundation. Rather than treating restoration as a nostalgic return or a neutral act of preservation, Hernández positions architecture as an active form of temporal synthesis. The design acknowledges the house’s original Porfirian character, introduces elements drawn from mid-century Mexican modernism, and culminates in a contemporary architectural expression that avoids mimicry. The project constructs a living archive through this integration where different temporalities are layered rather than erased.

The spatial approach taken in V20 reflects a commitment to adaptability and introspection. The existing structure was reconfigured into six housing units that can accommodate a range of domestic and professional uses. Each unit has been designed with typological flexibility; spaces can function interchangeably as bedrooms, art studios, or workspaces, depending on the user’s needs. This openness to interpretation is rooted in a broader idea of the home not as a fixed typology but as a porous and evolving condition.

Venecia 20 Renovation Typological Flexibility

At the heart of the project lies a central courtyard, conceived not as a decorative remnant but as a spatial and atmospheric fulcrum. It serves as a mediating void that organizes the relationship between interior and exterior, historical mass, and contemporary intervention. The courtyard also operates as a device of introspection, allowing filtered natural light and moments of silence to articulate the dwelling experience. This space anchors the entire architectural composition and affirms the value of stillness in urban contexts dominated by visual and acoustic saturation.

The circulation strategy leverages vertical layering, with more enclosed spaces below and lighter, transparent interventions above. This inversion of expected massing creates a productive dialogue between the past’s gravitational weight and the present’s elevating potential.

Material Poetics and Construction Tectonics

Materiality in V20 is both expressive and performative. The original façade underwent a careful process of recovery, revealing its brickwork, stone lintels, and ornamental detailing, many of which had been obscured by decades of paint and disrepair. These restored elements serve as decorative artifacts and tactile witnesses to the building’s historical trajectory.

In contrast, the new interventions are articulated through metal frameworks, glass enclosures, and volcanic stone from Recinto. The most striking addition is the use of catenary arches in the courtyard, which transition from heavy stereotomic forms to lightweight tectonic expressions. These arches operate as both structural and symbolic devices, referencing universal architectural legacies while anchoring the project firmly in its local context.

The sustainability strategy is quietly embedded in the architecture. Roof terraces incorporate community gardens, solar heaters, and rainwater harvesting systems, aligning with broader ecological concerns without becoming the dominant narrative. These environmental elements are integrated into the project’s formal and experiential qualities, reinforcing the idea that sustainability can be a natural extension of spatial and material logic.

V20 Venecia Plans

V20 Venecia Image Gallery

About Inca Hernández

Inca Hernández is a Venezuelan-born architect who graduated from the Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira and relocated to Mexico in 2015. He founded Inca Hernández Arquitectura, a practice exploring restoration and contemporary design through deeply engaging with cultural heritage and sustainable principles. Hernández has collaborated with notable figures and institutions, including Casa Wabi and luminaries like Álvaro Siza and Tadao Ando.

Credits and Additional Notes

1. Collaborators: Gabriela Llovera Arciniegas, Luis Enrique Vargas

2. Visualizations: Studio Navarro

3. Developer: Top Project Multiplex / Efraín Hernández

4. Furniture Selection: Carl Hansen & Søn, Luteca

5. Heritage Status: Declared Artistic Property by INBAL and the Directorate of Urban Cultural Heritage and Public Space