Mesoamerican Modern: Ancient Ideas in Contemporary Mexican Homes

A stunning survey of contemporary Mexican houses shaped by Mesoamerican ideas, revealing a vibrant design movement rooted in the history, landscape, and craft of Mexico's oldest civilizations

Mesoamerican Modern is the first book to explore the pre-Hispanic traditions at the heart of contemporary Mexican interior design, revealing how architects and designers across the country draw on the wisdom and aesthetics of its ancient cultures.

This lushly illustrated volume presents sixteen remarkable homes that exemplify this movement. Rather than reproducing classical European archetypes, they reinterpret pre-Hispanic forms and patterns with striking originality. Rooms follow the geometry of pyramids, feature tunnel-like volcanic stone entrances, or remain open to the sky. Water channels cut through living areas, gardens merge seamlessly with indoor spaces, and light and shadow are treated as materials in their own right.

Featured projects include a house with flooded walkways in the yellow town of Izamal, an elevated beach home with no exterior doors, a monastic retreat beside a waterfall, and the studio that a renowned architect built for his mother, the photographer Graciela Iturbide. Sites such as Casa Pedregal, by famed architect Luis Barragán, anchor the book in the lineage of Mexico's great Modernists, while newer homes, including several never before published, show how Mesoamerican ideas continue to drive some of the most inventive residential designs today.

Interspersed throughout the book are visual field guides exploring themes such as pattern, native flora, and collecting, offering readers a deeper understanding of cultural influences.

Authored by curator, journalist, and writer Su Wu - a leading advocate for Mexican design - and filled with more than 400 exquisite photographs shot specifically for the book by acclaimed Mexican photographer Luis Garvan, Mesoamerican Modern demonstrates that the future of design is being rewritten in Mexico.

Author: Su Wu
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: 10/21/2026
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 3.41lbs
Size: 11.64h x 8.73w x 1.19d
ISBN: 9781837291137

About the Author
Su Wu is a writer and independent curator based in Mexico City, described as a 'curator defining Mexico City's new art-scene style' by Vogue, and a 'fixture on and avowed proponent' of Mexico's design scene, 'renowned for her expert eye, ' by Elle Decor. She is curator-at-large for MASA, the Mexico-based arts organization dedicated to contemporary craft and visual culture, with a particular interest in the intersection of craft and art. Recent exhibitions include You Stretched Diagonally Across It: Contemporary Tapestry at Dallas Contemporary and Elementos Vitales: Ana Mendieta in Oaxaca in Oaxaca City. A former Getty Arts Fellow, her writing has appeared in numerous publications and monographs, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and Artforum. Her work has also been featured in Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times HTSI, and Architectural Digest México y LatinoAmérica, among many others.

Luis Garvan is a Mexico City-based photographer whose work has been exhibited internationally, including in galleries and cultural institutions across Mexico, Europe, and the United States. His photographs have been featured in leading publications, such as Vogue México, Apartamento, and The New York Times.