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The Directory › The Americas › Mexico › Mexico City
Plate V · ii · a · The City

Mexico City

Two artists' houses at opposite ends of a very large city, and two entirely different arguments about what colour is for.

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A street of early twentieth-century townhouses at dusk, jacaranda branches over wrought-iron balconies
Plate V · ii · a · The Colonias

The houses here are behind walls that tell you nothing, on streets that tell you everything.

A day, properly arranged
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Not a Monday. And not without the bookings already in hand.

The entries

Both visited, both kept.
An empty modernist interior: thick plaster walls, a plain wooden stair, one shaft of low light
Interior · plaster, stair, one window

Stand still for two minutes and the room changes colour on you. That is not a trick of the paint; it is the whole method.

NOVEMBER, 10:40AM
Notes for Mexico City

These two are not a walk apart. Barragán's house sits west of the centre and Coyoacán is a long way south of it; give the crossing a full hour and do not be clever about the timing.

Book Barragán weeks ahead — the visit is a small guided group and the slots go. Kahlo is timed-entry and busy at every hour; I took the first slot of the day and still shared the kitchen with a crowd. It did not spoil it.

November gave me cool bright mornings and a light that flattered both houses. The altitude is real: walk slowly on the first day and give the eye time to catch up.

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