Luis Barragán’s El Pedregal inspires contemporary home
Agua 210, a powerful residential design by Mexican architecture studio HEMAA, draws on its modernist context and the work of the country’s master architect Luis Barragán
Dominated by its grid façade, strong materiality and clean, geometric volumes, Agua 210 is an impactful residential design created by Mexican architecture practice HEMAA, led by Alejandra Tornel, Jose Miguel Fainsod and Santiago Hernández Matos. What a quick, close-up glance doesn’t reveal is that this noble home is part of the iconic residential landscape of the Jardines de Pedregal, the Mexico City development created by modernist architecture master Luis Barragán.
The area, also known simply as El Pedregal, takes its name from the petrified lava that covered the area when the Xitle volcano erupted some 1,600 years ago (pedregal means ‘rocky place’). In the 1940s, Barragán undertook a residential experiment to transform it into a place that unites visionary architecture and nature, resulting in well-known works such as Casa Prieto-López, which was recently bought and restored by businessman and art collector César Cervantes. Agua 210 sits in the same family of houses, proudly announcing its presence through tall, sharp volumes and a nod to the area’s roots.
The architects wanted to create a contemporary home that is a ‘reinterpretation of a house from the 1950s’, while also maintaining the all-important relationship of the building with its natural surroundings. Basing their design on the abstract footprint of an outline that Barragán himself created, the team at HEMAA worked across two main axes to compose a series of spaces that offer everything from privacy to openness, and from warm domestic comfort to cool, sharp lines.
A verdant garden engulfs the home, elevating the composition. ‘As a visual finish, a succulent garden serves as a space for contemplation and silence,’ explain the architects. The green space also features a piece by Tezontle Studio that draws on the sculpture garden by poet and artist Edward James in the Huasteca jungle.
The spacious interiors balance cool concrete with soft timber and bespoke joinery that wraps entire rooms. Large windows confidently cut out of the façade frame the views of the greenery and landscape beyond. Meanwhile, grey quarry stone cladding on the façade elegantly hints at El Pedregal’s heritage and rocky nature, bridging past, present and future.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Molly Goddard on creating a community of contemporary brides
As new Molly Goddard bridal wear is released, the designer talks about creating romantic but real wedding dresses, while three recent brides tell the stories behind their own Goddard gowns
By Jack Moss Published
-
Palazzo Roma embodies the heritage of Roman noblesse
Palazzo Roma, part of the Shedir Collection, boasts eclectic and eccentric interiors by Giampiero Panepinto
By Luke Abrahams Published
-
Boise Passive House’s bold gestures support an environmentally friendly design
Boise Passive House by Haas Architecture combines sleek, contemporary design and environmental efficiency
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Mexican artist’s studio makes the most of light and volume in San Miguel Chapultepec
A Mexican artist's studio and home, designed by JJRR in the heart of Mexico City, makes the most of volume and light for its owner, Stefan Brüggemann
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Pabellón de la Reserva and its sustainable architecture nod to its natural setting
Pabellón de la Reserva by architecture studio Hemaa offers an idyllic countryside getaway, a stone's throw from Mexico City
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Orchid Pavilion channels Japanese philosophy for blossoming flowers in Puerto Escondido
Orchid Pavilion by CCA Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica provides fitting shelter for flower conservation in Mexico's Casa Wabi
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Residential development The Village on the Yucatán Peninsula frames its verdant environment
The Village by Sordo Madaleno is a meticulously composed apartment building, built on a strict grid with an emphasis on outside space and connection to site
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
1i Arquitectura’s House of the Tall Trees celebrates a spectacular forested site
This Mexican retreat, House of the Tall Trees, makes the most of a wooded site with a striking combination of glass, timber and concrete
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Casa Carrizo was designed as a breezy Mexican beach house
Casa Carrizo, designed by Mexican architecture studio BAAQ, is a beach house sitting on the idyllic shores of Mexico’s Pacific coast
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Casa HMZ by Lucio Muniain offers a labyrinthine sense of gradual discovery
An intriguing new build by Lucio Muniain channels the best of 20th-century Mexican architecture
By Ana Karina Zatarain Published
-
1i Arquitectura’s Casa Pedregal keeps its inner secrets safe from the street
A dramatically lit concrete interior defines Casa Pedregal, a new family house designed by 1i Arquitectura in Mexico
By Jonathan Bell Published