Are you a young, affluent, aesthetically-minded person currently planning a vacation? Are you going to Lisbon? Jamaica? Havana? Mexico City? Yep, those are the hyped-up “it” destinations right now — and of course the danger of being hyped up is that it may eventually become impossible to deliver that magical experience in real life. Luckily, we’ve honestly never heard of anyone who was like, “Mexico City — nope.” IRL, it really is a charming mishmash of architectural styles, a delicious spot for foodies, and a serious destination for anyone interested in design culture. That’s why, when we saw that one of our favorite photographers — Eric Petschek, the interior designer and architectural photographer behind the Instagram account @cb — was in Mexico City documenting his trip with iPhone and DSLR in hand, we immediately reached out to see if we might publish the results.
“This was my first time in Mexico City,” Petschek says, “and my familiarity with the metropolis leading up to this trip was strictly people telling me how much I’d love the place. And I did. There’s so much to see — architecturally speaking — so much delicious food to eat, so many different colonias to explore. I always joke with people that I take leisure very seriously, and what I mean by this is that when I travel, I do so with intention. More often than not, that intention is to seek out superlative design, architecture, art and food, in that order. Mexico City didn’t disappoint on any of these fronts, and for all of these reasons I suspect I’ll return before too long.”
“Oh and also — the weather and light in Mexico City were perfection. Sure, that perfect soft light was largely due to the pervasive smog that infamously shrouds the city, but what my lungs disliked, my lens positively loved.” Take a Mexico City architecture tour with Petschek below, for all the Barrágan, Legorreta, and Chipperfield you could ever need (not to mention thecolorblocking).
Casa Luis Barragán. “The combination of the reflective gold artwork by Mathias Goeritz with Barragán’s signature pink reminds me a lot of Belgian artist Ann Veronica Janssens’s work. Also, perhaps its because I’m a simple human, but I really love when there’s a material that is super endemic to a locale and the very sight of it immediately brings to mind your time there — kinda like a song you listened to on repeat while on vacation will immediately transport you back. Anyway, that’s how I feel about lava stone.”
Casa Luis Barragán. “Pink two ways. Barragán’s alignment of doors and color is simultaneously playful and modernist — who knew it could be done??”
Casa Luis Barragán. “Yes to this living room situation.”
The Camino Real Hotel. “The Camino Real Hotel in Polanco, built for the 1968 Olympics, but seemingly very ‘now.’ It was designed by Barragán disciple Ricardo Legorreta.”
Casa Gilardi. “Another Luis Barragán residence, in fact, the last one he designed. I doubt the security camera and protruding lamp were his design, but they kinda add a funny contemporary layer to the 1976 edifice. We’ll call this post-modernism. (PUNNY!)
Casa Gilardi.Casa Gilardi. “The whole house was designed around this tree.”
Casa Gilardi. “Color blocking game on fire.”
Casa Gilardi. “In my next, much larger and much nicer apartment, I’m going to have a Mathias Goeritz concrete sphere. The slots on the right are the painted windows to the yellow passage.”
Casa Gilardi. “This is the interior experience of the yellow-painted vertical windows you can see in the photo of the courtyard. It leads to the famous pool. The whole house is basically a 4D color story.”
Casa Gilardi. “The way the light spilling down the stairway plays with the Goeritz sphere is just too much. And this is the first thing you see when you enter the house. NEXT. LEVEL.”
Casa Gilardi. “Part of what’s so amazing about this house is that it is still owned by one of the guys who commissioned it originally, and in fact our tour guide was the grandson of the original owner! It was clear they don’t regard the house as a precious architectural artifact, but rather a living, breathing entity that they interact with on a daily basis. They still go swimming in the pool.”
Casa Gilardi. “A slightly less common view of the pool, though I’m not sure why because that furniture and those decorative watermelons are perfection.”
“This is the door we mistook for the entrance to the Jardín Ortega. Its not. But it’s close and it’s super stunning!”
Jardin Ortega. “A secret, magical garden right next to Barragán’s house. I will say, that for all of Mexico City’s pollution, the resulting light makes for the most lovely, soft sunspots that make you feel like you’ve wandered into a Disney movie.”
Jardin Ortega.Museo Jumex. “This is the scale, simplicity, and refinement I think every art collection should aspire to achieve. Wonderful building by David Chipperfield.”
Downtown Hotel. “We had the tremendous fortune of staying in two separate Grupo Habita properties while we were in Mexico City. And while both were examples of adaptive reuse, this particular property, the Downtown Hotel, was adapted from being a palace for a count. So yeah, the room was literally palatial. (And this is one of those few times where I think springing for a room upgrade is an incredibly good value.) In addition to the thoughtful and contextual design by Cherem Arquitectos, the whole hotel group—Grupo Habita—is at the center of all things design and culture in Mexico, so they make for the best concierges a traveler like me could ask for.”
Labor Gallery. “The colorful but plain entrance to Labor Gallery belies a stunning gallery space belonging to Labor Gallery. So many gems behind closed doors!”
“Naturally Héctor Esrawe, a pioneer of contemporary design in Mexico City, set up the showroom for his eponymous furniture line in a stunning art deco townhouse in Polanco.”
“One might worry about the building upstaging its contents, but nah. In my next life I’m going to be an interior stylist, and then I’ll be able to justify buying beautiful abstract wooden vessels like these without a second thought.”
“The Museo Experimental El Eco is an amazing institution that has been around since 1953, when businessman Daniel Mont gave Mathias Goeritz the mandate (and funds) to provide a venue for Mexican artists to do “whatever the hell they want.” Goeritz conceived of the building as a permeable sculpture, and to this day the gallery is pushing boundaries and catering to an adventuresome audience.”
“This studio and house, built by Juan O’Gorman for Diego Rivera, predates Barragán! The house was finished in 1931 and one of the first examples of Modernism in the Americas. And that’s to say nothing of that suspended spiral stair.”
“Juan O’Gorman was 24 when he designed this house. He used it as a case study to convince Diego Rivera to commission him to develop the adjacent lots for himself and his wife, Frida Kahlo. I guess it makes sense because only a 24-year-old would be audacious enough to try building a stair like that.”
“These graphic geometries are so Bauhaus and so good.”
A perfect blue building to end on.
See the Arlo Skye x Sight Unseen suitcase in the place it was meant to be photographed: Casa Perfect, the Beverly Hills estate–turned–contemporary furniture showroom for design mecca The Future Perfect.
This year's Mexico Design Week was proof that there's more happening in the country's design scene than ever, as the number of young studios launching work with a global sensibility steadily grows. We came back with dozens of photos to prove it, plus a long list of talents we'll definitely be keeping an eye on.
A weekly Saturday recap to share with you our favorite links, discoveries, exhibitions, and more from the past seven days. This week: hits from Zona Maco, Mexico's art week; a Memphis-y jewelry line we somehow haven’t seen before; and (yet another) pink terrazzo bathroom.
