By B. Sowers - Landscape Architecture Magazine

A floating resort designed by EDSA helps preserve fragile coastal terrain in the Yucatán.

By Scott Sowers

The odd layout of the resort is a response to a decision to preserve as many mangroves as possible. Courtesy Ian Lizaranzu (photographer), GIM Desarrollos (client) — The odd layout of the resort is a response to a decision to preserve as many mangroves as possible. *Courtesy Ian Lizaranzu (photographer), GIM Desarrollos (client).*

At the Etéreo beach resort on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, the typical vacation experience is transformed into a floating holiday amid a carpet of pygmy mangroves. Pathways to the resort’s pools, restaurants, and beaches are rendered as boardwalks constructed of treated hardwood and mounted on timber pilings. The walkways serve as a staging ground for nature walks and photographic safaris. “The boardwalks feel like they’re floating in the mangroves,” says Devon King, a landscape architect and vice president at EDSA, which led the site’s design. “We wanted to create an ethereal journey and make the walk from the hotel to the beach with moments of discovery, seating areas, and educational moments that made people slow down.” Continue reading Over And Above →

The Magazine of the American Society of Landscape Architects