Book overview
A stunning survey of contemporary Mexican houses shaped by Mesoamerican ideas, revealing a vibrant design movement rooted in the history, landscape, and craft of Mexico's oldest civilizations
Mesoamerican Modern is the first book to explore the pre-Hispanic traditions at the heart of contemporary Mexican interior design, revealing how architects and designers across the country draw on the wisdom and aesthetics of its ancient cultures.
This lushly illustrated volume presents sixteen remarkable homes that exemplify this movement. Rather than reproducing classical European archetypes, they reinterpret pre-Hispanic forms and patterns with striking originality. Rooms follow the geometry of pyramids, feature tunnel-like volcanic stone entrances, or remain open to the sky. Water channels cut through living areas, gardens merge seamlessly with indoor spaces, and light and shadow are treated as materials in their own right.
Featured projects include a house with flooded walkways in the yellow town of Izamal, an elevated beach home with no exterior doors, a monastic retreat beside a waterfall, and the studio that a renowned architect built for his mother, the photographer Graciela Iturbide. Sites such as Casa Pedregal, by famed architect Luis Barrag
Mesoamerican Modern is the first book to explore the pre-Hispanic traditions at the heart of contemporary Mexican interior design, revealing how architects and designers across the country draw on the wisdom and aesthetics of its ancient cultures.
This lushly illustrated volume presents sixteen remarkable homes that exemplify this movement. Rather than reproducing classical European archetypes, they reinterpret pre-Hispanic forms and patterns with striking originality. Rooms follow the geometry of pyramids, feature tunnel-like volcanic stone entrances, or remain open to the sky. Water channels cut through living areas, gardens merge seamlessly with indoor spaces, and light and shadow are treated as materials in their own right.
Featured projects include a house with flooded walkways in the yellow town of Izamal, an elevated beach home with no exterior doors, a monastic retreat beside a waterfall, and the studio that a renowned architect built for his mother, the photographer Graciela Iturbide. Sites such as Casa Pedregal, by famed architect Luis Barrag