Name: The Plan 164
Brand: The Plan
Price: 15.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

By Yuki Sumner - 1 September 2025

Even a can of Coca-Cola consumed by a builder has stayed and been incorporated into the building. Mexican architect Alejandro D’Acosta calls this a “closed door” policy, where nothing leaves the site as waste. His Casa Cueva (Cave House), built directly into an ancient river basin in Baja California, is a raw, experimental retreat. The 250 sq. m off-grid dwelling merges seamlessly with the land, embodying D’Acosta’s philosophy of minimal intervention and radical reuse. Designed and built in collaboration with his three daughters, Martina, a product designer, Fernanda, a landscape architect, and Francesca, a filmmaker, it is a holiday home for the extended family and future generations.

Every material, from driftwood to salvaged beams and stones from the site, carries a story. “I find poetry in the garbage”, D’Acosta says, smiling through his round glasses, the picture of a philosopher-architect. Now 64, he founded Alejandro D’Acosta Arquitecto in 1990. His team of ten operates across Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Baja California. He has taught for over three decades, first at Universidad Iberoamericana and then at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, where he remains today. D’Acosta grew up in a large missionary family, travelling through rural Mexico. His early exposure to indigenous communities shaped a worldview rooted in ancestral wisdom. “Simplicity”, he says, “is the essence of true beauty”.

Three decades ago, D’Acosta bought 30 ha of land, intending to produce spumante wine. He later abandoned the idea, citing the oversaturation of Baja wineries and ecological concerns. He removed the vineyards and focused on land conservation. “Architecture is not just construction. It is about the sun, wind and what happens underground. It is about the soul of a place. How do you calculate that?”, he asks. Too often, he says, decisions about...