On a wild stretch of Oaxaca’s Pacific coast, Casa Wabi reimagines the traditional palapa as a minimalist artist’s refuge – pairing open-sided, palm-thatched structures with locally crafted timber furniture and raw, material-led artworks by founder Bosco Sodi.
On a remote stretch of Oaxacan coastline, Casa Wabi’s artist residences sit lightly between land, sea and sky. Inspired by the traditional palapa – an open-sided Mexican structure with a roof of dried palm leaves – the buildings frame the Pacific breeze rather than shutting it out, trading air conditioning for shade, cross-ventilation and the cycles of the day.
Inside, the spaces are stripped back and intentional. Low timber consoles and tables, designed by Lucia Corredor and crafted by local artisans, ground the interiors in the region’s making traditions. Mid-century Danish armchairs from the 1950s sit in restful dialogue with these pieces, signalling a global design language that never overpowers the raw character of the place.
Founded by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi, Casa Wabi is as much about process as it is about architecture. Sodi’s own work appears throughout – clay totems from his Caryatides series, volcanic rocks coated in red ceramic and left resting in the sand. They reinforce the idea of art emerging directly from material and landscape.
In the almost monastic bedrooms, with their low bed platforms and sparse furnishings, the retreat’s ethos is clearest: a deliberate simplicity that makes space for concentration, reflection and the slow work of experimentation.
