Galería OMR in Mexico City by Mateo Riestra, José Arnaud-Bello & Max von Werz.

Given Mexico and walls have been getting a bit of press recently, we thought this little-known Mexican belleza may be of interest. Mexico’s Galería OMR has moved into a newly renovated villa in the nation’s capital. Masterminded by a three-man team of architects and designers; Mateo Riestra, José Arnaud-Bello and Max von Werz, a string of transformed and new spaces are woven together to further pedestal OMR’s place in the international art scene. More importantly, it is littered with a series of sickeningly awesome details. And I mean, details that have been crafted and finished so finely, ‘shut the front door’ just doesn’t cut it.

Originally, the Sala Margolin was a turn of the century concrete beast, dedicated to the sale of literature and vinyl. That is until, OMR and their team of architects found it and fell in love with its béton-coffered ceiling and the enormous central skylight that it features. Originally, the Sala Margolin was a turn of the century Porfirian villa, dedicated to the sale of literature and vinyl. That is until, OMR and their team of architects found it and fell in love with its brutalist, béton-coffered ceiling and the enormous central skylight that it features. Re-programmed to include a renovated ground-floor gallery; an additional upper level structure houses a multi-purpose area, offices, bathrooms, a kitchen, a library and a roof-top terrace. Whilst levelling the original ground floor, the team stripped the five-and-half metre space of cornices and other ornamental frills; priming the Mexican gem to receive and host the best of both the Mexican and international contemporary art scenes.

Where the building really starts kicking goals is in its detailing. Although a series of typical yet expertly executed shadow gap details take the place of architraves and cornices, I had bit of a drool session over the villa’s rear façade system. Making some serious mental notes regarding the impressive use of colour with concrete, the detailing of the operable window frame, as well as the stair composition makes this villa-galería a total archi-babe.

Externally, a deep yet vibrant red marks additional elements, whilst on the interior a simple white finish highlights the difference between old and new. A classic case of keeping it simple has paid dividends for this transformative number. Goes to show that there’s a lot more to talk about when it comes to Mexico at the moment than just walls, and even then, some of them are pretty damn fine.

[Images courtesy of Galería OMR. Photography by Rory Gardiner.]