Studio
About Us
Archetonic is a Mexico City based firm with over 30 years’ experience in architecture. Our practice is the lens through which we view the world and connect with society.
We see in architecture and design the opportunity to reflect on the way in which we act, inhabit and coexist. Through our exploration of multiple layers of design, we employ a systemic methodology, creating spaces that are self-sufficient, sensitive to their context, and embodying spatial quality and economic responsibility. Our primary focus is on architecture as a means for living, serving, and cohabiting in society.
We approach challenges of any scale, typology and temporality, taking care of even the smallest detail, from its conception to its execution.
We are in a constant search to push beyond the possible and the conventional. Our design process reflects and protests on how spaces are designed, built and inhabited in our country.
Experimenting with shape and the limits of design has led us to discover unique opportunities in spaces. All our projects have the base commitment to improve the environment, paying special attention to design methodology, materials and local processes.
Our team is guided by instinct mixing experience with young talent. To date, we have over 120 built projects (housing, commercial, tourist, offices, interiors and cultural) of great urban impact as well as projects of smaller local scale, which are backed by national and international honors and awards.
Our biggest challenge today is to strengthen the links with the people who are actively and passively involved in our projects. Continue to innovate in our discipline and unravel the different factors that make up the system in which the spaces we project are immersed, so we’re able to offer more sensible design solutions for our cities and communities.
JACOBO MICHA MIZRAHI
Architect based on Mexico City, with works of various uses and scales in multiple states of Mexico. Graduate from the Architecture School from the “Universidad Anahuac” (Mexico City, 1996) and with a master’s degree in Architecture, Urbanism and Mobility (2021) from the ESDesign institute of Barcelona with affiliation to the University of Valencia.
His practice addresses challenges of any scale, genre and temporality with openness and sensitivity.
He founded ARCHETONIC in 1991 in a small office. Over time, commissions went from interior architecture to medium and large scale projects with more diverse typologies. Reflection and hindsight have allowed him to forge firm convictions around the discipline and he has been able to focus his practice and team on methodologies and strategies that foster avant-garde architecture, aligning programs and projects with his creative ideology.
His ability to understand the different construction processes and a deep understanding of construction-works complement and consolidate his interest in the design of projects that, in addition to being born with a blunt philosophy, are executed with a particular rigor that supports the persistence of the initial intentions of the architectural concept.
Facing a new challenge in each project, his practice tends to the user experience, the proper aging of spaces and the effect of his projects on cities and various environments. His philosophy is told through the spaces he designs, and he has the conviction that he builds himself in architecture and its transcendence.
He has designed, developed and built more than 120 projects. Currently, his team is made up of more than thirty professionals with extensive experience in master plan design, architectural design, interior architecture, real estate development and construction.
In 2021 he received the "Luis Barragán" Award, granted by the “Colegio de Arquitectos de la Ciudad de México, Sociedad de Arquitectos Mexicanos” (CAM SAM), in recognition of his career in architecture.
Much of his solid professional career was edited, published and distributed by the Arquine editorial office in the book "Archetonic / Jacobo Micha Mizrahi" showing 12 projects, carried out between 2003 and 2009.
He is interested in professional growth and research, constantly participating in national and international Architecture and Urbanism competitions and in continuous contact with the academy.
His work has been published in various specialized national and international media outlets, and he has been invited as a lecturer, synodal and tutor at universities.
National and international awards and recognitions that support his career:World Architecture Festival (WAF), Architizer A+Awards, American Architecture Prize, Marble Architectural Award, The Plan Award, Premio Obras Cemex and the Mexico City Architecture Biennial, among others.
JAIME MICHA BALAS
Architect established in Mexico City, with practice on different programs and scales around various states of the country. He is involved in design on multiple levels, layers, and contexts.
He holds an architecture degree fromUniversidad Iberoamericana(Mexico City) and a Masters degree in Design Studies fromCENTRO(Mexico City). As part of his education, he had the opportunity to study abroad at the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), taking part on the workshop led by Glenn Murcutt (Pritzker 2002).
He has been part of ARCHETONIC since 2011 and is Co-founder of MIIN (2020).
His architectural practice has addressed, professionally and academically, projects in different latitudes and contexts. From urban planning to architecture of different types, in the city, rural areas and tourist destinations.
His interest for discovering different facets of design has led him to challenge the boundaries of architecture and experiment with furniture, editorial and graphic design, as well as being constantly developing in the academic field.
The Design Studies contribute to his training as an architect and his ability to establish complex and effective links between ideas, processes and trends in business and cultural innovation; the application of creativity in the teaching-learning processes and strategic design in the public and private context.
His master's thes isUPCYCLE: spatial approaches to the architectural intervention in pre-existing buildingsaddresses one of the more actual forms to practice architecture and urban planning today and obtained an honorable distinction.
He formed part of theCátedra Blancaprogram supported byCemex. The project was developed with a responsible urban intervention criteria and proposes the use of a remnant property of the city linked to theGlorieta de los Insurgentes.
His built work has been published and awarded internationally by different institutions and publishers.
ALAN MICHA BALAS
He studied Architecture in the Universidad Iberoamericana (Ciudad de México 2018). He received an Honorable Mention and was awarded the “Premio Manuel Garibay” for his academic excellence and outstanding performance in the Bachelor of Architecture
As part of his academic career, he’s been involved in numerous workshops, dealing with topics such as understanding the site and its characteristics, social housing models, bioclimatic design, among others, that have allowed him to develop in an integral manner
He had the opportunity to participate in a research and design workshop where he aided in collecting research material and information to better understand immigration in the southern border of Mexico.
This research was used to design a shelter for immigrants that responded to their unique necessities and those of the locals, resulting in an architectural project with inherent characteristics to the area, an optimal adaptation to its context and an important social participation.
He joined the team at ARCHETONIC in 2017 where he performs in the design area, developing projects from its conceptualization to its proper construction and, through design methodologies and systemic thinking, conducts feasibility studies to analyze the viability of future projects.