A Mexican artist's studio and home in the capital's leafy, central neighbourhood of San Miguel Chapultepec becomes a creative sanctuary in this new scheme by local studio JJRR/Arquitectura. The project, led by practice founder Jose Juan Rivera Río, was a commission from conceptual artist Stefan Brüggemann (whose Ibiza studio and residency we visited in 2023), who was after a live/work space in the area – a part of Mexico City where the creative crowds flock, offering a wealth of art offerings and situated next to the verdant surrounds of Bosque de Chapultepec.
A Mexican artist’s studio: a private haven for Stefan Brüggemann
'It is an architectural programme focused on living and at the same time as a work studio and exhibition of the works created by the artist in the same space,' the architecture studio explains in its statement on the scheme.
Further discussions between the architect and client led to a refined brief that outlined a place 'to achieve an environment of peace, tranquillity, serenity and silence, like the feeling of peace that a chapel provokes'. It was this sense of calm and retreat within the bustling Mexico City context that defined the design solution.
Playing with volume inside and out, the design team placed large windows high up on the peripheral walls, ensuring interiors were illuminated throughout the day. It's this kind of indirect light, coming from above, which most befits the typology of an artist's atelier, and here, it is found in abundance.
Meanwhile, a simple and raw material palette of exposed concrete, timber and steel craft an environment that feels refined but also durable – perfect for art production and flexible use, and low maintenance.
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