From Puerto Escondido we take just a flash—the neon-hued sunset that appears and disappears between hotels and glowing signs. We must continue north, to encounter the Sierra Madre. Terrestre blends in behind a barely lit gate swallowed by bushes. It’s night; the briny smell of the ocean comes before everything else, and the roar of the waves offers no respite. Sand in our sandals, very low lights, the scent of may flower. We sleep inside an idea by Alberto Kalach, one of the first hotels in the world powered solely by solar energy. Casita number four: concrete and wood in an essential balance. There is everything one needs: a flashlight, straw hats, an outdoor shower, a rooftop pool, and a hammock. There’s no air conditioning or hair dryer; they aren’t needed.

Finding one’s way isn’t easy. We get lost several times in a labyrinth of tropical plants, guided more by sound than by sight. Breakfast is a celebration of exotic flavors; for dinner there are tacos and rice with lobster. Friendships form quickly, as they often do in isolated places. Casa Wabi—the real reason we came all this way—is reached by bicycle along a dirt road. Over the past ten years this stretch of coast has grown organically. Artists and architects—friends among themselves—have bought land and built their buen retiro here, but every intervention adheres to absolute respect for the ecosystem and the local community. Every meter of forest removed must be replanted nearby. Casa Wabi rises on the coast of Oaxaca as a silent yet powerful gesture. A refuge designed by Tadao Ando to welcome art, nature, matter, and silence.

Words and pictures Laura Taccari.