COLLECTION NAME:
Archivision Digital Research Library
Record
Title:
Casa O'Gorman (Casa Cecil O'Gorman; Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo (Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo House-Studio Museum))
Title:
Partial view: Helical exterior stairs in concrete, detail where it meets the second floor south side, looking up
Alternate Title:
Casa Cecil O'Gorman; Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo (Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo House-Studio Museum)
View:
Partial view: Helical exterior stairs in concrete, detail where it meets the second floor south side, looking up
Creators:
architect: Juan O'Gorman (Mexican architect, painter, and muralist, 1905-1982)
Date:
creation: 1929-1931; restoration: 2012-2013
Style/Period:
Modernist; Functionalism (Architecture); twentieth century (dates CE)
Location:
site: Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo; Ciudad de México (Distrito Federal, Mexico, North and Central America)
Location Note:
Diego Rivera s/n, San Ángel Inn, Álvaro Obregón, 01060 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Culture:
Mexican
Materials:
concrete; steel (alloy); glass (material)
Work Types:
built works; residential structures; studios (work spaces)
Description:
Wikipedia [es], Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo (translated from Spanish): The Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo is located in the south of Mexico City and is dedicated to preserving the memory of the muralist and his wife; as well as the study and analysis of his artistic generation. Commissioned by Diego Rivera, in 1931 Juan O'Gorman designed one of the first functionalist constructions in Latin America: a house for the painter and another for his wife Frida Kahlo, where each would have their own studio. At the age of 24, and with his first income as a draftsman, Juan O'Gorman bought two tiered tennis courts and in one of them he would explore the possibilities of the new architecture between 1929 and 1931. He first experimented with the construction of a house-studio located on the lower ground. Although he said it was intended for his father Cecil Crawford O'Gorman, there are reasons to ensure that he actually wanted to show it to Diego Rivera, husband of his teenage friend, Frida Kahlo. At the conclusion of it in 1931, he invited Diego, who was very pleasantly impressed. The young architect offered him the neighboring court at cost if the painter commissioned him to design and build his studio. The master accepted, and what resulted were two study houses, one for him and one for Frida. O'Gorman knew the architectural proposals of the European avant-garde, in particular that of the famous architect Le Corbusier. With these three constructions he provided innovative solutions in the field of structures, as well as the use of glass and steel, concrete stairs and the visibility of the facilities as an expressive element within the language of modernity. From Mexican popular culture, he integrated the use of exposed clay on some roofs and the coloring of the walls and cactus fences, which resulted in a highly original nationalist cosmopolitanism. Incorporating various innovations that represented a true architectural challenge, the first modern house in Mexico was designed and built by Juan O'Gorman between 1929 and 1931. An example of this is the glazed study on the upper floor, with three floor-to-ceiling windows and corner to corner, with a perimeter concrete frame that completely surrounds them, horizontally and vertically. Near cacti and river rocks on the unevenness of the tennis courts. The shade garden, named for the architect, is limited by three slender columns that refer to Le Corbusier's pilotis; from this space begins the helical staircase that required a rigorous control of its geometry and construction process. The terraces defined by round stone tecorrales of the river and magueys are the solution to the unevenness between what were two tennis courts and the street. Over time they disappeared, but in the process of restoring the building in 2012-2013 they were rebuilt from remains and photographs. The cactus fences that surround the site give a total transparency to its limits, which allows to visually integrate this house to the neighboring constructions of Diego and Frida. The north facade is almost blind, with two tall horizontal windows on each floor that correspond to the kitchen and the bathrooms. In the center, the rainwater collection tube is lowered from the roof, collected by a concrete channel, over which the water tanks appear. Like all metallic elements, they show the usual anti-corrosion red paint at the time. The restoration included the reconstruction of the complex aerial helical staircase, the placement of new foundations and the metallic reinforcement of all the vertical supports, in addition to the change of certain mud walls for concrete to comply with current earthquake regulations. / Dezeen.com, Modernist Juan O'Gorman Rivera Kahlo House: The first house, Cecil O'Gorman House, was completed in 1929 as a home and studio for his father. In 1931, Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo commissioned their house and studio on the adjacent plot. O'Gorman designed the two properties using a number of details synonymous with the modern architecture style. Both properties have boxy forms accented with cylindrical volumes, terraces and staircases, while other details include concrete pilotis, baked clay panels, open floors, exposed drainage and staircases. Cecil O'Gorman House has a brick roof and pink-hued exterior walls that are fronted by large windows detailed with pink muntin bars. One face of the building has pillars that elevate a glazed volume above the ground to create a small, open patio. Another has a curving concrete staircase that juts out and leads to the upper level. The house and studio for Rivera and Kahlo, who were married at the time of its commission, is multi-coloured and comprises two separate structures connected by a raised walkway. One building has a blue exterior that is accented by pink window frames and rails. The other is pink and white, and has several geometric shapes, including triangles and cylindrical forms, integrated into the design. Rows of cacti planted around the properties are another nod to Mexican design and landscape. Rivera resided in the house from 1934 until his death in 1957, while Kahlo alternated between the O'Gorman-built residence and her Casa Azul. In 1981 the National Institute of Fine Arts obtained the building from Rivera's daughter. After decades of restoration it opened as the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo House-Studio Museum in 1997. In 2012, the institute also acquired O'Gorman's father's house and turned it into a museum too. O'Gorman was born in Mexico City in 1905 and died in 1982. He is attributed with bringing functionalist modernist architecture to Mexico. / Wikipedia[en], Juan O'Gorman, San Ángel houses: In 1929, O'Gorman purchased a plot containing two tennis courts in Mexico City's San Ángel colonia. On the plot, O'Gorman constructed a small house and studio intended for use by his father, now known as the Cecil O'Gorman House. The building's forms were strongly influenced by the work of Le Corbusier, whose theories of architecture O'Gorman studied. O'Gorman dubbed the house the first functionalist structure in Latin America. Diego Rivera, a contemporary of O'Gorman, impressed with the design of the Cecil O'Gorman House, commissioned the architect to design a home for him and Frida Kahlo on an adjacent plot. The house was built in a similar functionalist style from 1931 to 1932. The Rivera-Kahlo house was two houses connected by a bridge. Both houses were purchased to be restored and opened to the public with the Rivera-Kahlo house operating as a museum. / Source: https://es.wikipedi… https://www.dezeen.… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_O'Gorman#San_Ángel_houses
Technique:
construction (assembling)
Vendor ID:
1A1-GORMAN-COG-A26
Archivision Set:
Archivision Module 16
View Description:
(translated from Spanish) This studio has access from inside the house itself and at the same time with an external, independent access, through a superb helical staircase, without railings, articulating the house with the environment and recalling Lecorbusian proposals approaching the architectural reality with expressions sculptural. Source: https://www.platafo…
Measurements:
area of structure: 350 m2
Related Work:
partOf Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo
Link To Source
