05-MAY-MEXICO-A personal project for 2026

May was dedicated to Mexico, a country where architecture, color, craftsmanship, and history come together in unforgettable ways. From ancient pyramids to vibrant interiors and contemporary museums, every space tells a story through design, light, texture, and cultural identity.

Mexico is vast and incredibly diverse. This time, the journey focused mainly on Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende, yet these images still capture the richness, beauty, and design inspiration that make Mexico such an extraordinary country.

Residential Architecture and Frida Kahlo's House

The use of strong colors, natural materials, vegetation, and open courtyards creates homes full of warmth and personality. Mexican residential spaces often blur the line between architecture and nature, creating environments that feel vibrant, emotional, and deeply connected to culture.

Frida Kahlo’s world was filled with color, symbolism, and artistic expression. Her iconic Casa Azul reflects how architecture and interiors can become an extension of personal identity through bold palettes, handcrafted elements, and emotional storytelling.

Mexican Museums

Mexico’s museums demonstrate how modern architecture can feel sculptural and dynamic. Buildings such as the Museo Soumaya transform architecture into urban landmarks through bold geometry, innovative forms, and expressive materiality.

Designed by Fernando Romero and completed in 2011, the museum’s iconic curved form and hexagonal skin demonstrate how repetition, pattern, and materiality can generate both complexity and elegance. It is a powerful example of how contemporary Mexican architecture balances innovation with cultural identity, proving that modernity and heritage can coexist beautifully.

Religious Architecture

The interior of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City showcases the scale, craftsmanship, and grandeur of Mexico’s religious architecture. Massive stone columns, ornate altars, and natural light create a space that feels both monumental and spiritual.

The pendulum in the foreground reflects the engineering efforts used to monitor and stabilize the cathedral, which experienced centuries of settlement due to the soft lakebed soils beneath Mexico City. It is a reminder that preserving historic architecture requires both design excellence and technical innovation.

Mexico’s interior Spaces

Mexico’s interiors celebrate craftsmanship through stained glass, ironwork, ornamentation, textures, and rich material palettes. These spaces show how detail and artistry can transform interiors into immersive visual experiences.

The interior of the Gran Hotel de México is a masterpiece of Art Nouveau elegance. The stained-glass ceiling transforms light into color, while the iron elevator structure introduces rhythm, geometry, and movement into the space.

Mexico offers endless inspiration for architects, designers, and creatives. What makes Mexican design so powerful is its emotional richness. Spaces are not afraid of color, texture, ornamentation, symbolism, or contrast. They embrace history while remaining alive and evolving.

Sometimes the most inspiring design lessons come not from trends, but from places where culture, craftsmanship, and architecture remain deeply connected.

All the images in this blog has been taken by me (jose@olivares.hk) and if you want to see-comment each daily image for May, please check our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/olivares_hoteldesign/#