Mexico City, City of Design
Mexico City is an almost inexhaustible source of creativity rooted in Mexico’s rich history. Design Week Mexico is held every October, and in 2018, Mexico was named the world’s design capital, following Helsinki, Cape Town and Taipei. To mark this occasion, we at Sapa Pana Travel, in collaboration with travel journalist Jurriaan Teulings, contributed an article to Villa d’Arte magazine.
Johan on Mexico
"Mexico is known to many for its rich history. It is the cradle of ancient pre-Columbian civilisations such as the Zapotecs, Aztecs, Olmecs and, of course, the Maya. The capital, Mexico City, is literally built on the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, which was destroyed by Hernán Cortés. Over the centuries, Mexicans have managed to reinvent themselves time and again in the face of numerous external influences, without forgetting their history or denying their heritage.”
A number of Mexican museums bring together the country’s rich history and contemporary Mexican design in a unique way. One of the oldest, finest and best-known examples is the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, where, in 1964, architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez created a home for Mexico’s most important historical heritage with a design that was revolutionary for its time. In 2011, Fernando Romero, one of the leading Mexican architects of the moment, completed the Soumaya Museum, which houses the extensive art collection of his father-in-law, Carlos Slim. And in Puebla, you will find the International Museum of the Baroque, housed in an architectural gem of modern design.”
Below you will find Jurriaan’s article, accompanied by a mini-guide to Mexico City Design.
Text and photography by Jurriaan Teulings
“ This year (2018), Mexico City is officially the world’s design capital. This informal and chaotic metropolis is bursting with proud creativity. ”
Mexican design through and through
In Roma Norte, one of Mexico City’s trendiest neighbourhoods, there is a striking little design shop for motorbike enthusiasts: Concept Racer. The owner, designer Miguel Lerdo de Tegera, makes a passionate case for it. Ever since presidential candidate Donald Trump made his first derogatory remarks about Mexicans, he has banned all American products—right down to the bottles of Coca-Cola in the fridge. What remains is quintessentially Mexican. He points to bright yellow motorbike gloves, T-shirts featuring the font used for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, and prints depicting gods of pre-Columbian peoples. “All my designs make subtle references to Mexico.” Even a motorbike helmet featuring a skull is in the characteristic confetti colours of the Mexican Day of the Dead. These are all examples of Mexico’s hybrid identity, in which a generous dash of indigenous mythology always shines through.
What this shop on Calle Colima showcases on a small scale can be found everywhere on a grander scale by visitors to the city. Although the famous museums in Chapultepec Park are housed in the modernist colossal buildings typical of the 1960s, they have also been imbued with pre-Columbian grandeur through the use of indigenous figures and patterns. The library on the NAM university campus in the south of the city also looks as though an Aztec king had simply had enough of pyramids and embraced brutalism. The cathedral in the historic centre was, incidentally, built from stones plundered from the Aztec pyramid that once stood on this site.
World Design Capital 2018
In the opening scenes of the latest James Bond film, Spectre, the world is briefly reminded of what the centre of Mexico City looks like today: stunning colonial architecture, streets brimming with music, life, energy and culture. Yet the city is still often underestimated. And this despite the fact that it is every bit as good as North America’s other major attractions, such as New York, Toronto and Los Angeles – certainly when it comes to historical heritage. What’s more, this year the city is thriving as the official World Design Capital for 2018. The programme is packed with exhibitions, artist-in-residence programmes, educational projects and all manner of events, culminating in the tenth edition of Design Week Mexico in mid-October.
“It’s the right moment,” says Andrea Cesarman, director of Design Week Mexico, in the café at Blend, a ‘design-focused concept store’ on the edge of the affluent Polanco district. Blend is housed in a multi-storey building and is filled with work by young Mexican designers. Cesarman and her organisation brought the Design Year to Mexico City, an honour previously bestowed upon cities such as Helsinki, Cape Town and Taipei. According to her, the city has developed significantly in recent years, but it is the potential that really matters. “A new generation has emerged. Even though we are living in politically turbulent times, we are now seeing many positive developments in the worlds of design, art and architecture.”
One of the more prominent names in Mexican architecture is Fernando Romero. He has the right connections: he is the son-in-law of Carlos Slim, the telecoms billionaire who occasionally takes the crown from Bill Gates as the world’s richest man. Romero designed the Soumaya Museum, which opened in 2011 – a building shaped like a gigantic, glittering anvil in the newest part of Polanco, which houses his father-in-law’s private collection. In addition, together with the world-renowned architectural firm Foster+Partners (known, amongst other things, for London’s Millennium Bridge and the new dome on the Reichstag building in Berlin), he is responsible for the design of the city’s new airport. Currently under construction, it promises to be one of the world’s largest and most sustainable airports.
Mexican craftspeople and young designers
Yet, according to Cesarman, it is not just these kinds of mega-projects that set Mexico City apart as a design capital. She is keen to highlight the enormous potential that lies within the vast community of Mexican craftspeople. Think, for example, of small producers who weave traditional rugs or make wooden kitchenware – people who would generally never have given a thought to the fact that there is such a thing as Design Week in Mexico City, where people gather to reflect on their role in the country’s future. The link between the two is formed by the young designers Cesarman spoke of. It is precisely the unregulated nature of Mexico City that attracts them. For example, the design duo Ad Hoc – comprising architect Mauricio Álvarez and industrial designer Juan José Nemer – are breathing new life into traditional crafts by incorporating them into their furniture. “When we set out to find the makers of the wooden whisks traditionally used in Mexico to froth chocolate drinks made from water and cocoa, we discovered that these were originally made in a village twenty minutes’ drive outside Mexico City. This marked the beginning of a collaboration with local craftspeople that continues to this day.”
Emmanuel Picault, a French interior designer who swapped 20 years of tranquillity in Normandy for Mexico City, was also drawn to the city’s chaos and informality. From his office on the 32nd floor of the Torre Latinoamericano, he urges those interested in the Year of Design to look beyond just sleek, modern product design during their visit. He points out of the window. “Look at the chaotic architecture in the streets, where a 16th-century church stands next to an ugly building from 1982. People working on the streets, the flea market. The chaos and confusion are also part of Mexican design. Do you see that glass dome over there? That’s the Palace of Fine Arts. The theatre curtain is made of Tiffany glass. Inside, you’ll find murals by Diego Rivera.”
The Mexican middle finger is back
Rivera, the husband of the famous artist Frida Kahlo, had also once had a run-in with an American businessman and politician. One of his most famous paintings in the palace, *El Hombre Controlador Del Universo*, is virtually identical to the version he once created for New York’s Rockefeller Centre. Nelson Rockefeller had the original destroyed because Rivera had incorporated a portrait of Lenin into it and refused to remove it. In the widely publicised row that followed, the muralist became the very symbol of the fraught relationship between artistic freedom and economic power. In 2018, that defiant Mexican middle finger is back in full force.
Mini-guide to Mexico City: Design
Design shopping in chic Polanco
Onora Casa
Luxury textiles and objects, designed and crafted in collaboration with Mexican artisans from indigenous communities.
Blend
A large, three-storey design concept store with a strong focus on Mexican design; featuring, amongst other things, furniture by the design duo Ad Hoc.
Esrawe Showroom
Showroom of interior and furniture designer Héctor Esrawe. He also designed the interior of the Xinú perfumery on the top floor.
Sleeping in style
Nima Local House Hotel
This exclusive designer boutique hotel has just four suites and is situated on Calle Colima, the most beautiful street in Roma, lined with trendy cocktail bars, restaurants and design shops.
Las Alcobas
This hotel in Polanco is situated close to some of the city’s best restaurants and galleries. It was designed by Yabu Pushelberg, the rock star of interior designers, and features a spectacular rosewood spiral staircase in the lobby.
Carlota Hotel
A design hotel near Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s ‘Champs-Élysées’. The entrance is via the Taxonomia design shop, which specialises in work by local designers.
La Valise
A highly exclusive boutique hotel with just three suites in Roma Norte. Interior design by Emmanuel Picault.
Downtown Mexico
Housed in a 17th-century colonial building, with a trendy industrial edge. The same building also houses design shops and a beautiful restaurant in the leafy courtyard, Azul Histórico.
Art and architecture
Tacubaya Triangle
An often-overlooked corner of the city is the so-called Tacubaya Triangle. Here, in close proximity to one another, are the Archivo design gallery by architect Fernando Romero, the house of one of Mexico’s greatest architects, Luis Barragán – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – and Labor, a leading gallery for contemporary art. All are housed in modernist villas.
Modo
Museo del Objeto is a small museum on Calle Colima in Roma, dedicated to Mexican design with a focus on packaging, advertising and graphic design.
Kurimanzutto Gallery
One of Mexico City’s leading art galleries represents 34 Mexican and international artists in an exhibition space that is well worth a visit in its own right.
Vasconcelos Library
Even if you don’t read a word of Spanish or swapped your bookshelf for an e-reader years ago, this steel cathedral of knowledge is breathtaking.
Chapultepec Park
The green heart of Mexico City is full of fantastic museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art and the National Museum of Anthropology, all housed in stunning buildings. If you have to choose, start with the latter.
Inspirational trip
Has the cultural side of Mexico piqued your interest? We have put together a 12-day art and design trip of Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende for you. View the detailed itinerary for this Unique Journey here. Do you have any questions about a unique trip of Mexico, would you like a bespoke travel proposal, or would you like to arrange an appointment at our office? Please feel free to contact us. Send an email to info@sapapanatravel.nl or call us on +31 73 610 62 04. We’d be delighted to help you.