Photographer Edmund Sumner has been shooting some of the best new architecture in Mexico and sheds light on established and emerging talents working in the country, united by an approach that has produced a vernacular defined by its relationship to Mexico’s dramatic and thriving landscape.
Zalapa Apartments by Rafael Pardo.
Photos
Edmund Sumner
Words
Edmund Sumner
Mexican architecture defies simple description. Its characteristics are increasingly defined by a vanguard of architects and designers who, in their hands, turn concrete and mortar into tools for fostering community, addressing socio-political concerns, and symbolising resilience and determination. In Mexico — the fifth most biodiverse country in the world — I have found architects who cultivate fertile ground for producing architecture that reflects themes of resilience and connectivity to the land, marked by local materials, artistic integration, and progressive design philosophies.
Broadly speaking, Mexico has a vibrant identity, encompassing textiles and the hard materials of the built environment. Mexico City, with more inhabitants than any other city in North America, boasts an international population that contributes to its rich tapestry of architectural languages. Since the social turmoil of the 20th century, these languages have competed and collaborated to forge the country’s national modern identity. This conversation between past, present, and future is ongoing, interpreting the peaks and troughs of political and social unrest to cultivate an activist creative community that emerged in the 1990s and birthed the contemporary design scene we associate with Mexico today.
Today, Mexico’s architectural panorama grapples with challenges, as large parts of the city remain marked by insecurity, division, and isolation. The dichotomy between private and social housing mirrors societal divides. However, contemporary architectural practices and visual art forms have embraced a modern ethos, seamlessly blending climate considerations with local customs while advocating for marginalised communities. Spaces are designed with a focus on human interaction and refuge.
Tadao Ando inside Casa Wabi in Puerto Escondido.
Tadao Ando
Ironically, it was Tadao Ando who guided my first trip to Mexico, to the rocky landscape of Cumbres de Monterrey National Park. This was Ando’s first residential project in Latin America and for me, the initiation of over a decade of journeys to Mexico and counting.
Reflecting on this, although my role has primarily been as a photographer, if there’s one word to describe how my work has left traces across different continents, it’s ‘conversation’. While photography is a visual medium, I hope my work serves as a conduit through which to bring conversations of emerging architecture to a global stage.
Casa Wabi rests on the rural fringes of the port town of Puerto Escondido on Mexico’s Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca.
To that end, this has led me to metropolitan cities and rural vistas. Mexico is a country that expresses both environments and the architects who inspire my travels to Mexico nowadays are not solely architects but multidisciplinary designers, each expressing the value of creativity and craftsmanship in every material they encounter. The essence, however, is that Mexico is thrifty, thrilling, and thriving.
Casa Catriana by Ludwig Godefroy.
Ludwig Godefroy
Considering the open arms of Mexico that attract international designers, it seems apt to consider cross-continental influences and note the work of Ludwig Godefroy, hailing from Normandy in France and now, for almost 15 years in Mexico, establishing his distinctive brutalist style. His studio, established in 2011, is characterised by cutaways and voids, honing his own particular version of contemporary brutalism. Ask him about his work, and he will modestly describe it as “keeping it simple.”
His palette of construction materials is primarily concrete and wood, with the manpower sourced locally. There is an enviable skill in making what seems complex to the untrained eye into architecture that is thoughtful, critically designed, enduring, and tied to its surrounding community. To me, Ludwig’s perspective on architecture is refreshing, and this year, having photographed Casa Alvarez, a fortress-like home in the woodlands just outside Mexico City, I feel Ludwig’s architectural compositions are becoming ever more valuable in a fast-paced, technology-driven world.
Casa 720 by Fernanda Canales in Valle De Bravo. Canales was highlighted in RIBA’s recent publication, 100 Women: Architects in Practice released earlier this year.
Fernanda Canales
Remarkable achievements also characterise the practice of Fernanda Canales, renowned for her socially engaged architecture aimed at providing homes infused with light, air, and space for all. Regardless of scale, whether social housing or private residences, her projects are guided by the same architectural ethos. By incorporating elements such as libraries, senior centres, markets, and sports complexes, she fosters a sense of community, beauty, and safety in underserved areas.
Above and left: Casa 720 sits by a mountain near Valle de Bravo, a town on Lake Avándaro, located west of Mexico City.
Recognised across various media platforms, Canales is often associated with terms like ‘cultural,’ ‘community,’ and ‘designing better.’ Her work is thoughtful, rooted in the complex history that shapes her country’s infrastructure, and deeply attuned to the natural landscape and individual needs of residents.
I had the opportunity to work with Canales this year, photographing her recent development, Casa 720, a country house for a family of six located southwest of Mexico City. Casa 720 explores the potential of the central patio, a fundamental typology in Mexican architecture, from colonial courtyard houses to multifamily tenements and graceful modernist projects by luminaries like Mathias Goeritz and Luis Barragán. Casa 720 is circular, primarily constructed of wood and concrete, with floor-to-ceiling windows encircling a central patio — a space for contemplation, communal gathering, and a resting point from which to admire the basalt crag overlooking the property.
‘House by a Glen’ in Morelia, the capital of the central Mexican state of Michoacá, by HW Studio.
HW Studio
Elsewhere in Mexico, moving slightly west, I am inspired by the work of HW Studio, an architecture practice founded in 2010 by Rogelio Vallejo Bores in Morelia City. This year, I collaborated with them to photograph a project known as The Hill in Front of the Glen, a cave-like residence that undulates and partially submerges into a tree-lined forest environment. Viewed from above, the home is nearly inconspicuous; from the side, it has a primitive appeal, and its palette reflects the cool tones and lush life of the forest. HW Studio’s practice is marked by great thoughtfulness, blending artistic principles with Eastern and Western philosophies to create architectural structures that contribute a sense of quietude in a noisy and often violent world. Their work has a psychological depth rarely found in architecture.
As expansive as Mexico may be, its architecture serves as a wellspring of inspiration that transcends continents. As the country continues to evolve, its future will be shaped by architects, designers, and artisans who infuse their creations with creativity, ingenuity, and a profound respect for the country’s rich cultural heritage. In the near future, I will return to Mexico to photograph new projects before the close of 2024.
Capturing Mexico
As a photographer, I embrace a profound responsibility — and find great joy — in maintaining “soft eyes” on the world; an openness to seeing beyond surface-level aesthetics in the work of architects and designers who push the boundaries of architecture and design beyond their formal definitions.
Zalapa Apartments by Rafael Pardo.
At the time of writing, I am producing a book with Thames and Hudson on the subject of Mexican architecture titled Casa Mexicana. This publication is a tribute to the talent — both established and emerging — that I have encountered since my first visit to Mexico in the early 2000s. Whether by chance or design, these encounters have been shaped by my curiosity and initiative to venture off the beaten path, a journey through the geographic, ecological, and cultural richness of Mexico that expresses the spirit, imagination, and cultural poetics of its modern day.
Reyes House in Mexico City by Pedro Reyes and Carla Fernandez.
Beyond photography, however, I believe videography and sound should be used to transform the built environment from static, singular images into multi-sensory mediums. By embracing these forms of expression, I strive to capture not only the physical structures but a reflection of the layered, evolving conversations within contemporary architecture. As a result, I hope my work can act as a bridge, translating the tangible into the sensory, allowing for the experience of architecture as living, breathing, and culturally resonant spaces, filled with the spirit and imagination of their creators.
Casa Naila in Puerto Escondio by BAAQ.
Source: Architecture Today
