Arquitectura_Mexico_Magazine-L

During our recent site visit to the new home we are developing in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, we took the opportunity to pause and immerse ourselves in the local architectural richness.

In this article, we share our selection of the three houses that most impressed us, either for their architecture, unique design, or the fascinating history they hide behind their walls.

 

1. Luis Barragán’s Casa-Estudio: architecture as an act of faith, emotion and beauty.

Luis Barragán’s Casa-Estudio, inaugurated in 1948, stands as one of the most influential works of modern Mexican architecture. It marks a milestone in integrating modernity with local vernacular tradition. Located in a working-class neighbourhood in Mexico City, where the simplicity of traditional houses contrasts with contemporary architecture, Barragán’s house becomes an artistic refuge. This project also manifests his unique style and incorporates a rich chromatic palette and a studied relationship with natural light, key elements in generating a profound sensory experience.

The design of the house responds to a structure that promotes spatial fluidity, with a series of rooms that organically follow one after the other. From the first space, the porter’s lodge – lit by yellow glass – to the entrance hall, where gold and pink walls welcome visitors, Barragán creates a sequence of lights and colours that transforms the user’s perception. Natural light, which enters through large windows, plays a crucial role in establishing a constant visual connection between the house’s interior and its garden, favouring the integration of the natural environment with the architecture.

Each house’s space is carefully designed to offer a different experience. The double-height library and shared spaces, such as the dining room and breakfast room, serve as functional areas and reflect Barragán’s approach to colour and light. The dining room, for example, features a colour that blends in with the vegetation outside, while the breakfast room offers a view of the garden from a new perspective. The bedrooms, meanwhile, maintain a minimalist aesthetic, with textures and colours that, together with the natural light, create a harmonious and contemplative atmosphere.

The terrace at the top of the house is the work’s climax, where Barragán experiments with bare walls and an abstract organisation of space, creating a sense of introspection and calm. This composition ends the architectural narrative of the home, providing a physical respite. It is a poetic reflection on the interaction between colour, light, and space. Thus, Luis Barragán’s Casa-estudio becomes a living testimony to how design can transform everyday experience into something profound, aesthetic, and emotional.

“My house is my refuge”, Barragán wrote, “an emotional piece of architecture, not a cold piece of convenience”. In that sentence, as in every corner of his house, the essence of his legacy is summed up: architecture as an act of faith, emotion and beauty.

2. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo’s Casa Estudio Museum: a landmark of modern Mexican architecture that invites intercultural dialogue.

The twin houses of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, now the home of the Casa Estudio Museum, are a landmark in the history of modern architecture in Latin America. Commissioned by Rivera in 1931 and designed by his friend and young architect Juan O’Gorman, these homes were among the first to harmonise functionalism and the organic Mexican style. Each house was intended to house an independent studio for each artist, reflecting their creative needs and marking a clear break from the country’s traditional architecture.

O’Gorman’s work, which included influences from figures such as Le Corbusier, proposed a minimalist approach that broke with the conservative forms of the time. Using plain concrete and simple geometric forms, the architect designed two clear volumes: a red one for Diego and a blue one for Frida, separated by a bridge at the top. Both spaces were designed to integrate perfectly with the natural surroundings, thanks to large windows that connect the interior with the landscape while allowing for controlled and uniform lighting – a key feature in the architect’s work.

The design of the houses responds to an aesthetic and a functional concept. O’Gorman, aware of the increasing urbanisation and social change in Mexico, included details such as a roof terrace, a spiral staircase and a cactus fence that refer to the local nature and identity of the country. These elements and the natural lighting that penetrates through skylights and large windows give the houses a serene atmosphere, ideal for artistic creation. The choice of these materials and techniques reflects a deep respect for the environment and a quest to adapt modernity to Mexican tradition.

Today, after Rivera died in 1957 and the subsequent donation of the house to the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, the twin houses have been converted into a museum that preserves the artists’ studios and personal objects and continues to promote the legacy of both artists, both artistically and architecturally. The Casa Estudio remains a benchmark of modern architecture in Mexico. It is a legacy of Rivera and Kahlo’s commitment to their environment and a space that invites intercultural dialogue, as conceived by its creator, O’Gorman.

3. Casa Wabi – Tadao Ando: a space where artistic creation and the local community coexist.

Casa Wabi, located just 30 kilometres from Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca, is much more than a space dedicated to art. It is the headquarters of Mexican artist Bosco Sodi’s foundation and a palpable example of how architecture can connect contemporary art with nature and communities. Designed by Tadao Ando, the building blends seamlessly into its surroundings between a deserted Pacific beach and the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains. Through its artistic residencies, Casa Wabi fosters intercultural dialogue and seeks to positively impact the region, elevating Puerto Escondido into a cultural destination of reference.

The design of the house, inaugurated ten years ago, is a faithful reflection of the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which seeks beauty through imperfection. Ando used concrete, his favourite material, to create a space that fuses Japanese design’s sobriety and precision with the Mexican tropics’ exuberant vitality. A 312-metre-long concrete wall defines the space, separating public and private areas, while a rectangular pool, which seems to merge with the ocean, provides a point of intersection crowned by a large palapa, a feature of the site. The landscaping, designed by the renowned Alberto Kalach, reinforces this connection with nature, while land-art sculptures, such as Sodi’s Atlantes, complete the sensory experience.

The uniqueness of Casa Wabi lies in its architectural singularity, a concept that Tadao Ando underlines by stating that ‘its spaces could not be replicated anywhere else‘. Inspired by the Benesse Foundation in Naoshima and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Casa Wabi houses a series of interventions by renowned architects and artists. These include the clay pavilion designed by Álvaro Siza, the Kengo Kuma chicken coop, and the Lucía Koch and Louis Gréaud installations. This ensemble of pieces enriches the cultural offer and contributes to the foundation’s aim of promoting dialogue between cultures and artistic disciplines.

In its ten years of life, Casa Wabi has established itself as an essential meeting point for the local community and international artists. Its commitment to education and access to art is manifested in various initiatives, such as film screenings, clay workshops for children from nearby communities and the mobile library. Thanks to these programmes, almost 400 multidisciplinary artists have passed through the residencies, establishing a bridge between contemporary art and the local population. Thus, Casa Wabi stands as a standard of sustainability and design, where artistic creation and the local community coexist naturally.