LGBTQ+ Community Center and House Rubén, Some houses are inherited. Others are bought. And there are some, very few, that are built out of affection. Casa de Rubén is one of them. A community center for daytime recreation intended for the LGBTQ+ community of Bajío.
Courtesy of Intersticial Arquitectura
It was born as a gesture of love and memory. In honor of Rubén Salazar: son, brother, friend, and young activist, whose life was marked by the constant struggle for non-discrimination and inclusion. It is not a stone tribute, nor a speech frozen in walls. It is a living space. Open. Vulnerable. A home where pause, companionship, and listening matter as much as the roof.
Courtesy of Intersticial Arquitectura
From the beginning, those behind the project understood that it was not about designing a building, but about sustaining a possibility. The possibility of feeling safe. Of belonging. Of healing without having to explain everything. Of simply being. And that requires more than blueprints: it requires presence, sensitivity, and real commitment.
Courtesy of Intersticial Arquitectura
The place, a large house in the Historic Center of Querétaro, held its own layers of silence. Each wall revealed something. Restoring was not about imposing a form, but about accompanying the one that was already there. Listening to it. Respecting it.
Courtesy of Intersticial Arquitectura
Casa de Rubén was made possible thanks to a client with a noble and deeply philanthropic vision: to provide a dignified space for support, connection, and healing for the LGBTQ+ community in Querétaro and its region. That conviction was the starting point. The architecture came later, as a tool to translate that gesture into real, accessible, and honest spaces.
Courtesy of Intersticial Arquitectura
Through a sober intervention, rooms, workshops, patios, and terraces were articulated. All connected by a serene atmosphere, without impositions. Restoration was done without hiding the passage of time. Generous openings were created to let in light, allowing air to circulate without interruptions. What had been erased was made visible.
Courtesy of Intersticial Arquitectura
Each gesture seeks to accompany, not direct. To open, not control. To protect, without enclosing. Today, Casa de Rubén does not boast architecture. It breathes it. It inhabits it. It transforms it into an everyday gesture. In a patio that invites. In light that enters without asking for permission. In a space that offers itself without questioning to whom.
Courtesy of Intersticial Arquitectura
Here, there is no judgment. No demands. No interruptions. Here, you simply are. And that being, collective, affectionate, present, is what gives meaning to everything else. Casa de Rubén is everyone’s home.
Project Info
Architects: Intersticial Arquitectura
Country: Mexico, Santiago de Querétaro
Area: 245 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Courtesy ofIntersticial Arquitectura
Design Team: Bosco Tamayo Chapa, Ana Paula Vega Gutierrez, Jimena Amieva Alvarez, Jimena Borbón de la Torre
Engineering And Consulting > Lighting: Tecnnolite
General Construction: Davis de Anda Construcción
Landscape Architecture: Matorral
Engineering And Consulting > Other: Bticino
Isabelle Laurent is a Built Projects Editor at Arch2O, recognized for her editorial insight and passion for contemporary architecture. She holds a Master’s in Architectural Theory from École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville. Before joining Arch2O in 2016, she worked in a Paris-based architectural office and taught as a faculty adjunct at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. Isabelle focuses on curating projects around sustainability, adaptive reuse, and urban resilience. With a background in design and communication, she brings clarity to complex ideas and plays a key role in shaping Arch2O’s editorial