The simplicity of the standard tennis court allows even the most rudimentary of spaces to feel orderly. Even if you’re looking at a public court you have to wake up at 6 am to queue for, or a worse-for-the-wear home court that’s been neglected for far too long, the elegance of those 11 simple lines remains.
Some architects prefer a design that's in harmony with the orderliness of the court, not an antidote to it. Hector Barroso is one such architect, having designed the grounds for a private tennis club in Los Cabos, Mexico in 2018. Using rammed earth, the design mimics the landscape of its region, the fact that it is literally crafted from the earth allowing for a natural alignment. The overall design hasn’t yet been fully realized, but several of Barroso’s elements are completed at the property, including a sunken stadium with a court at its center, one of the property’s centerpieces. “What I’m interested in is empty spaces, the ‘calzadas’ as we call them, and how the position of the architecture around it gives scale and sense to those negative spaces,” Barroso tells Racquet. In one stroke, the sense of quiet borrowed from the surrounding landscape offers a sense of momentary tranquility to players before they pick up their racquets.