After spending many years travelling and documenting her curiosities, celebrated Mexican photographer
Graciela Iturbide purchased a small 100 square metre site to serve as her extended archive and private space for guests and curators. Located just a block away from her house and on the streets of neighbourhood Nino Jesus, New Mexico, she commissioned her son Mauricio Rocha from
Taller Mauricio Rocha to transform the narrow site into what is now known as Iturbide Studio. Two years in the making, the project is now affectionately nicknamed as Iturbide’s ‘factory of bricks’ – Graciela Iturbide’s eponymous studio is an enchanting space that I’m sure many would love to work in.
Having previously designed his mother’s current house (and another one in the making), Rocher was entrusted with a relatively free brief on the condition that the architecture would be made of brick. Travelling to Puebla with Gabriela Currillo – a city known for ceramics, the pair commissioned four uniquely designed bricks for the façade built right at the edges of the property. Drawing inspiration from the mechanics of a camera’s aperture, Rocher strategically arranged and slanted the bricks to draw external light while protecting the internal space from outdoor spectators. From the ground floor, bricks are arranged vertically close to each other and gradually disperse as they travel upwards before opening towards a terrace that looks towards New Mexico’s skyline.
