By Lacy Cooke / Inhabitat

Mexico City-based architectural firm Arqmov Workshop designed Awakening, a gorgeous green retreat that could be built in a biosphere reserve called Sian Ka’an on Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Awakening includes 12 cocoon-shaped rooms designed to connect their inhabitants to the surrounding nature.

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Sian Ka’an, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is home to mangroves, a huge barrier reef, and tropical forests. Arqmov’s proposed project designed to stimulate introspection would allow visitors to experience the natural beauty of Mexico. According to the architects, they want visitors to experience an “awakening” through connection to nature.

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Each cocoon dwelling includes a living area and sleeping area, and the cocoons could be connected by suspension bridges. Notably, as the cocoons taper off where they connect to the earth, the dwellings would take up minimal ground space. The architects say this would minimize the impact on the site, protecting nature and endangered species – like the black-handed spider monkey and the Central American tapir – found in Sian Ka’an.

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The organic lines of Awakening’s buildings are based on geometry found in the “natural form of shelters” like cocoons, nests, shells, caves, and burrows. A swimming pool shaped like an “open bird nest,” reception desk shaped like a “hummingbird nest,” restaurant shaped like a seashell, and multipurpose building shaped like a turtle’s shell would all enhance the natural feel of Awakening.

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Rainwater collection systems would provide the cocoons with water. Renewable energies such as solar and wind would power Awakening. Water could be treated on-site as well; the architects describe the system as a “complete water cycle and zero discharge to the aquifer.” Food would also be prepared on location, using healthy, local ingredients to promote sustainable eating.

Read more @ Inhabitat