Art collector's Pied-a-Terre in Polanco, Mexico City

Project Details

Project Description

PIED-A-TERRE IN MEXICO CITY.

Interior Architecture and I. Design
by Jerry Jacobs, INT'L AIA, CAM, ASID


Mexico City one of the largest cities in the world has a new Hotel zone on Paseo de La Reforma, the most elegant Boulevard in town, and at the edge of Polanco the new hip area of the city. There, into a pair of blocks some large hotels have gravitated to, including Intercontinental, J.W. Marriot, W, and Nikko with over 2000 bedrooms.

While the hotels view mainly Reforma, and Chapultepec Park, Hotel entrances face the cozy Campos Eliseos drive. This is where the apartment owner an American Resort Developer and Hotel Director with over 30 years in Mexico, decided to have his Pied-à-Terre. He now lives in Los Cabos in southern Baja California, Mexico’s Golf Mecca, and visits the large city a couple of times a month, for friends, culture and on his way to the US East Coast. Over the years he has put together a small collection of Mexican Contemporary Art, including Cuevas, Merida, Reyes, Rojo, Rubalcava, Tamayo, and Valenzuela.

This apartment hadn’t been done in more than 20 years. We gutted it down entirely, and moved some walls around, tapering the Living room wall to face the window elevation at a symmetrically opposed angle creating a cone effect and a focal point. Angled to the elevator foyer and living room, the office and powder room are wrapped in a glass and mirror prism, opening and reflecting the small space to enlarge it as well. We provided a clean look for the 3 bedroom, 3 bath apartment, with an office and library, in addition to the kitchen and dining living room spaces, and mini-service quarters, totaling only about 2500 sq.ft.

The owner wanted to be able to enjoy his morning cup of coffee inside the kitchen while looking through to the avenue. This was not possible as the kitchen had a wall. It also had to face the dining room area. So we installed a molecular sensitive glass elevation between the two, frosted but clear with the touch of a button. Now he can sit in the Kitchen Island and see through, then have privacy in the dining room when the kitchen is staffed. The kitchen was tight so we took some space from the service quarters too, adding a bowed Island to it as well.

The dining room is the focal point on entry. We placed an existing painting by Vicente Rojo, on the buffet wall and used a round glass top table. In the ceiling, which is only 8’6” high, we were able to create reveals and add lighting at the walls, and a circular dome. We applied Venetian Stucco finish throughout the apartment walls. We commissioned another V. Rojo piece for the main wall, so art by the same artist dominated the area. Rojo’s work is very geometric and minimalist and reflects the Modern Minimalist style in Mexico.

The living room furniture layout is simple too. A sectional, a curved back love seat and a rotating chair. The metamorphic coffee table was commissioned in Paris. The Persian rug is unusual in that it is minimalist. It sits over another mat of leather tile from Argentina. The TV is inset in the glass wall that surrounds the office and powder room core. Opposite a black cubby hole built-in cabinet with rolling ladder completes the library effect.

In the Master Bedroom a built-in cabinet look surrounds the bed and with opposite credenza allowing for storage. Art by Rufino Tamayo and Carlos Merida in the hallway. Aqua glass tile and glass stall, and built-in vanity with backlit glass basins in the Master bathroom.

A light Bulgarian limestone is used in all floors and some of the bathrooms walls.

Sources and Credits listed separately.