masa y vacío, color y pasión
Mexico
Inscriptions are possible until 31 August 2023.
An intensive stay in Mexico’s mythical capital will introduce you to the seemingly robust but undoubtedly emotionally charged 20th- and 21st-century architecture of a country with a permanent passion for its past.
In the wake of Luis Barragán, Ricardo Legoretta and Félix Candela, surprisingly captivating contemporary architects sail the former waters of Lake Texcoco, such as Alberto Kalach, Mauricio Rocha, Ambrosi Etchegaray, Fernanda Canales, Francisco Pardo, Frida Escobedo and, last but not least, Productora led by Belgian Wonne Ickx.
After a few day trips to Valle de Bravo, Cuernavaca and Jojutla, the journey continues to Oaxaca where a ditto vision is transposed to the colourful, sedate hinterland.A final highlight is found in Puerto Escondido. Known to many as the surfers’ paradise, but for some years now also the mecca for art lovers. On the property of artist Bosco Sodi, structures by international luminaries Ando, Siza and Kuma stand alongside gems by Mexican architects. Axel Vervoordt, meanwhile, has also settled there….
Romantic, passionate, sensual, tragic and cruel. So are the Mexicans and so is their history. Mexican architecture is known to us as colourful. Without a doubt, the overwhelming colour palette is breathtaking and carries the cultural experience of this trip. The deep blue of Frida Kahlo. The cutting red of Diego Rivera or Juan O’Gorman. The dazzling gold of Mathias Goeritz. The flowing white of Félix Candela. The sun-soaked ochre of Ricardo Legoretta and now Productora. And not least the mysterious deep pink of Luis Barragán. Color y pasión.
But underneath, Mexican architecture is so much more than its photogenic use of colour. Not out of willfulness, but out of a deep sense of self, Mexican modernist architects reinterpreted the dogmas of the US and of Europe. Moreover, they integrated phenomenal muralism, the supreme expression of post-revolutionary art. The interplay of mass and emptiness, a legacy from Aztec architecture, continues to resonate consistently in modernist and contemporary architecture: masa y vacío.
The Mexican poetic imagination creates gardens, houses and fountains of breathtaking beauty: metaphysical landscapes for meditation and serenity. In enclosed grounds, the coordinates of volumes and walls are composed in such a way that the gaze of the visitor and user is sucked upwards: el aire es azul!
Mexico City
Mexico-City is obsessed with its past, but open to anything new. This contradictary nature results in fascinating architecture, created by passionated people.
Valle de Bravo
Valle de Bravo is located on the shore of Lake Avándaro, approximately 156 km southwest of Mexico City and west of Toluca. During the 1960s the place became world-famous for its auto racing event Circuito Avándaro which was suspended in 1969 after pilot Moisés Solana’s fatal accident. On 11–12 September 1971, Valle de Bravo became the Mexican Woodstock as a large gathering of between 200,000 and 300,000 hippies from all over the country, Central and North America arrived in town to take part in the massive Festival de rock y ruedas Avándaro held in the hamlet of Tenantongo.
The ‘dam’ is actually a series of dams named Valle, Tilostoc, Colorines, Ixtapantongo and the newest at Santo Tomás de los Plátanos. With the creation of the lake came the development of exclusive resort facilities such as hotels, golf clubs, country cabins, sailing clubs and a myriad of restaurants.
Cuernavaca
Because it averages 27°C all year round, little Cuernavaca, just a half an hour’s drive from Mexico City, is known as the city of eternal spring. For centuries long, it has been the holiday destination for Mexico City’s inhabitants: for the Aztec monarchs, for the Spanish colonialists and for the presentday inhabitants. A dayouting to Cuernavaca to visit both modernistic (Félix Candela) and presentday (Productora) architecture is a successful break during the intensive stay in Mexico City.
Jojutla
Jojutla (in the state of Morelos) was one of the many municipalities of the republic that became a field of ruins after the 7.1-degree earthquake on the Richter scale that shook Mexico on September 19, 2017. In a fraction of a second, most of its infrastructure completely or partially collapsed, more than 1000 homes have been damaged.
After an initiative initiated by Infonavit where a group of national architects got involved, a master plan for restructuring the main public buildings of the municipality was launched. A bridge by OMA is still awaiting construction.
Oaxaca
Despite the enormous wealth of historical, modernist and contemporary architecture in Mexico City, the supervision team’s hunger remained unquenched for projects by the fascinating contemporary offices Taller de Arquitectura (Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carillo) and Productora (including Belgian architect Wonne Ickx). During the quest for (even) more quality, eye-catching Oaxaca came into the limelight. Moreover, in and around this capital of the state of the same name there are breathtaking natural phenomena, pre-Columbian settlements of Zapotecs and Mixtecs and true discoveries of contemporary architecture laced with genius loci.
After an intensive and lengthy stay in Mexico City, this visit completes our Mexican architecture, culture and nature lexicon at a more leisurely pace.
Puerto Escondido
Although there is no exact record of the exact moment when Puerto Escondido began to become a reference point for contemporary Mexican architecture, it has experienced several waves; perhaps the first of them began in 2016 when construction began on Casa Wabi, a project by Tadao Ando in which the Mexican office BAAQ’ collaborated as a partner in the development of the executive project and the coordination of the construction. However, in 2019 another wave was experienced, which was later reinforced with the onset of the COVID19 pandemic and remote working, which radically awakened interest in returning to the provinces and coasts where there was less population and overcrowding.
programme
program subject to change
MEXICO-CITY (5 days)
BARRAGÁN
Los Clubes/cuadra san Cristobal, Luis Barragán, 1967
Torres Satelite, Luis Barragán & Mathias Goeritz, 1957
Luis Barragán House and Studio, Luis Barragán, 1948
Casa Gilardi, Luis Barragán, 1976
Capilla Las Capuchinas Sacramentarias, Luis Barragán, 1953
Plaza Bebederos, Luis Barragán, 1960
UNIVERSITY CAMPUS (UNAM)
Estadio Desportivo de Ciudad Universitaria, Augusto Perez Palacios, Jorge Bravo, Raul Salinas, 1952
Biblioteca central universitario, Juan O’Gorman and Diego Rivera, 1950
Pabellón de Rayos Cosmicos, Felix Canderla, 1951
Masterplan UNAM, Mario Pani & Enrique del Moral, 1948
MUAC Museo Universitario Arte Contemporaneo, Teodoro González de León, 2008
MODERNISTIC HIGHLIGHTS
Edificio Bacardi, Mies Van der Rohe, 1961
planta Bacardi, Felix Candela, 1949
Los Manantiales, Félix Candela, 1958
centro urbano presidente Aleman, Mario Pani
capilla San Vicente de Paul, Enrique de la Mora, 1960
Archivo Diseño y Arquitectura, Arturo Chavez Paz + Fernando Romero, 1952
casa Amalia, Agustin Hernandez, 1973
HISTORIC
Teotihuacan
Plaza de las tres Culturas, Mario Pani, 1962
Woningbouwcomplex Nonoalco Tlatelolco, Mario Pani y Luis Ramos Cunningham, 1964
Torre Tlatelolco, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, 1966
Zocalo
Templo Mayor
MARKETS
Metro Merced, Félix Candela, 1967
Mercado de la Merced, Enrique del Moral, 1956
Mercado Roma, Rojkind Arquitectos, 2013
CONTEMPORARY JUWELS
Galeria Kurimanzutto, Alberto Kalach, 2008
casa Kurimanzutto, Alberto Kalach,
Biblioteca José Vasconcelos, Alberto Kalach, 2004
La Laguna, Productora, 2022
General Prim, Productora, 2020
plaza Zarco, Productora, 2016
estudio Iturbide, Rocha Carillo, 2015
conjunto residencial, Frida Escobedo, 2018
MURALISTS AND ART
Casa y estudio Diego Rivera & Frieda Kahlo, Juan O’Gorman, 1932
Casa O’Gorman, Juan O’Gorman, 1929
Polyforum Siqueiros, 1967 + 2012
Colegio San Idelfonso, Samuel Chavez
Palacio Nacional, Vicente Mendiola & Manuel Ortiz Monasterio
MUSEA
Museo Jumex, David Chipperfield, 2013
Museo Anahuacalli, Diego Rivera, 1945
uitbreiding Museo Anahuacalli, Mauricio Rocha, 2020
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Teodoro González de León y Abraham Zabludovsky, 1972
optional: Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, 1964
OPTIONAL…
La Casa Azul de Frieda Kahlo
Casa Leon Trotzky
Museo del Eco, Mathias Goeritz, 1952
VALLE DE BRAVO (1 day)
some of these private residences:
casas Barranca Valle, Alberto Kalach, 2015
casa Aguacates, Francisco Pardo, 2020
casa Lourdes, Ricardo Legoretta, 1973
casa Diaz, Productora, 2011
casa Avándaro, Hector Barroso, 2017
casa Santana, Manuel Cervantes, 2020
casa Kalach, Alberto Kalach, 1993
casa Bruma, Fernanda Canales, 2017
entre Pinos, Hector Barroso, 2017
casa Terreno, Fernanda Canales, 2018
casa cosecha de lluvia, Rob Hutch, 2020
casa catarina, Héctor Barroso, 2022
CUERNAVACA (1 day)
capilla de San Felipe de Jesús, Félix Candela, 1959
insignia de la plaza de los Abanicos, Guillermo Rosell, Manuel Larrosa y Félix Candela, 1958
centro cultural Teopanzolco, Productora, 2017
La Tallera – Museum Siqueiros Cuernavaca, Frida Escobedo, 2012
casa Mathias Goeritz, Ricardo Legoretta
optional: catedral de Cuernavaca met glasramen door Mathias Goeritz
JOJUTLA (1 day)
escuela Primaría Emiliano Zapata, Alberto Kalach, 2020
zócalo Jojutla, MMX, 2019
parroquia San Miguel Arcangel, Dellekamp / Schleich
cc Higuéron, Dellekamp / Schleich, 2019
capilla Santa Cruz, Alberto Kalach, 2018
OAXACA (2 days)
Monte Albán
centro cultural San Pablo, Mauricio Rocha, 2012
archivo histórico, Mendaro Arquitectos, 2016
artist workshop, Alberto Kalach, 2008
centro de las artes de San Agustin Etla (CASA), Francisco Toledo
school of Visual Arts of Oaxaca, Mauricio Rocha, 2008
optional: jardín etnobotánico de Oaxaca
to decide in fuction of distance:
teotitlán del valle, Productora,
Milagrito mezcal pavilion, Ambrosi y Etchegaray, 2014
los Amantes distilleria, Root Studio, 2017
PUERTO ESCONDIDO (3 days)
CASA WABI with
artist studio Bosco Sodi + artist residences + observatory + public spaces, Tadao Ando
landscape and gardens, Alberto Kalach
clay pavilion, Alvaro Siza
high temperatures pavilion (clay), Alberto Kalach
chicken pavilion, Kengo Kuma
Guayacán nursery, Jorge Ambrosi y Gabriela Etchegaray
compost pavilion, Gloria Cabral y Solano Benítez
AND…
Meridiano (founded by Nicholas Olney & Boris Vervoordt), Axel Vervoordt & Tatsuro Miki
casa Zicatela, Alberto Kalach, 2018-2022
some holiday residences according to disponability by Ludwig Godefroy, BAAQ’, Aranza de Ariño, S-AR, Ambrosi y Etchegaray, Alberto Calleja,…
profiles
practical
visa: not required
vaccinations: not required. However, some vaccinations are recommended, see wanda.be
Standard information for package travel agreements
payment info
€5,750 for 12 days, 11 nights**** (€479/day)
if min. 20 travellers
single supplement: €1,400
INCLUDED
- intercontinental flights with Iberia, economy class, via Madrid (8 Dec 07:10 BRU > MEX 18:35 / 20 Dec 00:05 MEX > BRU 22:30)
- 2 domestic flights with Aeromexico on 15 Dec: Mexico City > Oaxaca and on 19 Dec: Puerto Escondido > Mexico City, including 23kg hold luggage
- 6 airport transfers with chartered coach
- 7 days of comfortable coach + bus driver tips for local transfers
- 11 overnight stays with breakfast. The hotels booked are from the exclusive hotel group Grupo Habita
- in la ciudad de México: hotel Circulo Mexicano (designed by Ambrosi Etchegaray)
- in Oaxaca: hotel Otro Oaxaca (designed by Root Studio). The hotel opens soon, so July 2023 only renders on the website
- in Puerto Escondido: both hotel Escondido and hotel Terrestre (designed by Alberto Kalach), including two evening meals
additional peculiarity about these hotels is that they only have rooms with double beds - 2 picnics in special places
- 2 dinners at hotels Escondido and Terrestre
- use of audiophones
- permanent guidance and expert guiding by Dominique Pieters
- local French- and English-speaking tour guides
- meetings with local architects and experts
- gifts for the architects and private individuals who open their homes exclusively to us
- (exclusive) entrances to buildings
- entrances to museums included in the programme
- group travel assistance insurance
- log guide: self-composed, designed and professionally printed travel guide with multifunctional cover, city maps, sketch chalk, postcard, pencil,…
NOT INCLUDED
- optional cancellation insurance
- lunches (except the 2 picnics at special places, see above)
- evening meals (except the 2 evening meals in hotels Escondido and Terrestre, see above)
PAYMENT
- registration is definitive
after payment of the deposit of €1,500
to be paid into account BE25 7350 4701 5682
By making this payment you accept the general and special terms and conditions of planopli and you also declare that planopli is not responsible for accidents, theft or loss.
based on art. VI.45, 11° of the Code of Economic Law, there is no margin for reflection. - balance 30 days before departure