Featured in the magazine’s tour of Mexico City’s Colonia Roma, Hotel Brick is housed in a listed Belle Epoque building. It has been in turns a banker’s home, a bordello and a locksmith’s. Today it is an elegant 17-room boutique hotel, completely transformed and extended by local practice LRDG, with a very popular bar, brasserie and café.
W* talk to the architects - Dany Izbitzki, Ori Izbitzki and Nahim Dagdug - about the Brick project and their passion for the neighbourhood, Colonia Roma.
W*: How did you go about designing the hotel?
LRDF: In reality it was something that already existed and all we did was clean it up a bit and let it bloom. The two things came together in a perfect confluence – finding the house and the ideal neighbourhood.
W*: What appeals to you about the Colonia Roma?
LRDF: We want to position Roma as an arts district in the city and to make sure it does not get filled with nightclubs like [next-door neighbourhood] Condesa.
W*: What other projects are you planning in the neighbourhood?
LRDF: We have several upcoming projects in Roma that are services that will enrich the colonia. We are planning an independent cinema, a type of business centre for freelance creatives, and a cultural forum on Alvaro Obregon.
W*: What are you top tips for visitors to the Colonia Roma?
LRDF: The array of independent art galleries that you can find here; a stroll along Orizaba street in the heart of the colonia; dining at Rosetta restaurant; a drink in Brick’s lobby bar.
W*: How do you see the future of the neighbourhood?
LRDF: We hope it doesn’t get overdeveloped or lose its character. We would like the old buildings to be preserved and for it to become a fully pedestrianised zone with a focus on culture and a friendly atmosphere.


Mezcal raises the bar
Once tequila’s frumpy country cousin mezcal has become the tipple du jour in Mexico
Mezcal raises the bar
Once tequila’s frumpy country cousin mezcal has become the tipple du jour in Mexico


High Culture
Barranca Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Guadalajara
While Guadalajara has always been at the forefront of contemporary art in Mexico (boasting great collectors, a vibrant young art scene and the first Mexican international art fair was held there in the mid 1990s) it has never had a decent contemporary art museum. After a number attempts over the years to establish, including proposals for a Guggenheim franchise in the Barranca del Cobre designed by Enrique Norten, it seems like Guadalajara will finally be getting the cultural complex it deserves. The building is designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and financed by the Government of Jalisco in a piece of land donated by the city of Guadalajara. Located to the north of the city, in Parque Mirador Dr. Atl, on a mountain at the end of Calzada Independencia, at the point where the city ends and Guadalajara’s natural landscape begins.The building will have 11,000 sq m, of which 4,000 sq m will be dedicated to exhibition space and will be surrounded by a park.
Image credit: © Herzog & de Meuron
High Culture
Barranca Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Guadalajara
While Guadalajara has always been at the forefront of contemporary art in Mexico (boasting great collectors, a vibrant young art scene and the first Mexican international art fair was held there in the mid 1990s) it has never had a decent contemporary art museum. After a number attempts over the years to establish, including proposals for a Guggenheim franchise in the Barranca del Cobre designed by Enrique Norten, it seems like Guadalajara will finally be getting the cultural complex it deserves. The building is designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and financed by the Government of Jalisco in a piece of land donated by the city of Guadalajara. Located to the north of the city, in Parque Mirador Dr. Atl, on a mountain at the end of Calzada Independencia, at the point where the city ends and Guadalajara’s natural landscape begins.The building will have 11,000 sq m, of which 4,000 sq m will be dedicated to exhibition space and will be surrounded by a park.
Image credit: © Herzog & de Meuron

Barranca Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Guadalajara
High Culture
Barranca Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Guadalajara