Architecture is a plural reflection. Pay attention to the story and emotions. Doing not only speaks of the physical, the provocation of the intangible value in a work is what defines the relationship with its inhabitant. For Practica Arquitectura, knowing how to do involves the worlds of theoretical/historical rigor with the weight of a space translated into memory. The dialogue that They wants to achieve speaks of the pre-existence, the constructive tradition and the making of places/spaces. 

Work on what has been worked on and advance on what has been advanced. The interest in history is the principle of their work. Understanding and reinterpreting it brings them closer to the rigor of the technique and the abstraction of learned ideas to open up their understanding of the problem. With a spirit of learning, the architects ‘s practice develops in processes about thinking and working on architectural events that complement the place. 

For the architects ‘s study, it is important to understand the identity as Mexicans, what is achieved is a result of the experience, the places, what has been visited, the customs, traditions and history that Mexico has given them.

Yinji：What design philosophy you pursue in your work?

David Martinez Ramos：I have always felt very drawn to history, as well as to natural and urban environments. Not because of nostalgia, but because it is the only way that I can feel like I belong to something bigger. This search for belonging has brought me to believe that the most honest way of relating architecture to its inhabitants and its context is not through a function, a material, a shape, a typology or a trend; rather, it is through what makes us universal: our feelings. The ability of a space to create emotion and living memory without necessarily having been there before is what allows a building to distance itself from a fixed moment in history and to begin to feel like a timeless space.

Dalí developed the paranoiac-critical method as a way to use irrational knowledge based on the critical objectivity that was the primary basis of his work. Within Práctica Arquitectura, the studio that I direct, this method has been a position for involving the worlds of theoretical/historical soundness with the weight inherent in an architectural space that is translated into memory. The dialogue I strive to reach is one that speaks of pre-existence, constructive tradition and the making of places/spaces. Currently, I believe that the majority of architects are not able to converge what they say with what they do, creating a breakdown between what is taught within schools of architecture and the medium itself.

In a world that is ever more immediate, artificial, cold, ostentatious, and everything that causes us to feel more like machines, it is essential to fight for what makes us feel more human, more alive. New generations have the ability to change course, which I think starts by asking the question, “What makes something transcendent?” In terms of my quest, to transcend means to have the ability to produce an emotional and rational event; that is why architecture should be judged not on how it looks; rather, on how it makes one feel.

Yinji：How do you get inspiration when you start a new program? 

David Martinez Ramos：Inspiration lives within the process, I always find myself observing and learning things that make me feel with wonder. The environment where you work is an important help, but we always have ideas back in our heads from places or spaces we have seen or visited, moments that make us feel something special and that naturally get stored in our memories. Within the process, those intentions take initiative within the design process, they become something that you can verify that it works and that it could actually feel the way you imagined it.

Yinji：How do you think of the relationship between light and space? 

David Martinez Ramos：I think that light is, and space is made until light touches it. Light provokes in space a series of tools that complement the atmosphere, from the scale that darkness can control, to the proportion that direct light can create in melodic rhythm. However, to think about light, one must first think about shadow.

Yinji：How to integrate the architecture into the nature? 

David Martinez Ramos：Architecture is the intangible of the places we live in, the spatial and atmospheric quality, the rest are tools to achieve that. That is to say, a wall is an element that we normally think of as something built with a group of bricks or stones, but a group of plants can also be a wall, it depends on the intention, what is the purpose of the element. I think, understanding architecture  in that way, the architectural work makes you understand that nature and the building is thought as a whole, not as two separate things.

Yinji：What is your favorite material? How do you create a tranquil space?

David Martinez Ramos：Penumbra. For me, learning to use the amount of light in a space is the most difficult thing to learn and the most important thing to use. Spaces are usually dynamic, but they should always have mystery and enchantment, the materials should share the intention of the light in order to create a wholesome atmosphere.

Yinji：How has the indigenous culture of Mexico influenced you?

David Martinez Ramos：Totally, I have always been amazed by the monumentality of pre-Hispanic buildings and the subtle way of solving everyday situations within the dwelling. The tectonic language is also something that has struck a chord with what I am looking for, a mix between sobriety and expression.

Yinji：Leaders on your way forward, which design masters have influenced you?

David Martinez Ramos：My great mentor was Agustín Landa Vertiz, he gave me classes, I worked with him and he was the one who made me find the passion for what I do and learn to think for myself. Alberto Kalach also forged a broad learning in my practice, the 3 years I worked with him taught me to understand that the limits of imagination are in what you study and the degree to which you can interpret it.

Yinji：Have you been to China? How do you understand oriental culture?

David Martinez Ramos：I have never gone or planned to go, until now it has been an unknown culture to me. I am very interested in understanding the way of living and attending to daily rituals in such a simple and natural way, there is a sensitivity that I am very interested in understanding.