The theme of the house is among the most complex, especially when working with an existing building and there are no contextual cues impressed by the place that architecture ought to interpret. In such cases, the only true point of reference is the client. Interpreting the cultural background of those who will live in the house means entering the intimate sphere of a family. A proper understanding of their way of being means approaching the design not with a purely formal attitude, but as a genuine intellectual act.

From our very first meeting, the most important thing you chose to share was the significance of your journey to Mexico. From that moment on, the guiding thought for this house was how to meaningfully translate the memory of that journey into a city like Palermo — a city that, like Mexican cities, possesses a character that does not easily lend itself to further contamination, as it is itself built upon layers of contamination. On the other hand, you are artists, raising children to embrace an inventive approach to life.

When we think of Palermo, we can say that the complexity of its spaces is what makes the city unique. Then there is Mexico, which, like Palermo, is an explosion of color. Reflecting on these analogies became our starting point.

Let us imagine walking through a city like Palermo: from Via Roma we enter Vucciria, and a staircase opens onto a square; from the square, narrow alleys compress the space and then stretch it upward; from one alley, through a passage, we enter a courtyard where two people are seated in conversation. A staircase leads up to a balcony, from which a door stands open, and inside a woman is preparing lunch for the two seated in the courtyard. The city enters the house; space is continuous. The same happens in the alleys of a Mexican city: doors remain open and colors flow inside. Today, we would like to tell you this story.