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ARCHITECTURE / INTERIOR DESIGN

Javier Sánchez
India Mahdavi imh interiors

Architect Javier Sánchez and interior design guru India Mahdavi have converted and decorated this antique jewel of a building in the heart of the Condesa neighbourhood, transforming it into Mexico City’s latest address du jour. Characterised by its artistic nature and funky individuality, the Condesa neighbourhood represents the very essence of bohemian lifestyle. Tucked away between historic façades on a tree-lined road, the new CONDESA df hotel imaginatively fuses the name and spirit of its environment with Javier Sánchez and India Mahdavi’s inventive and playful simplicity, thus creating a place one continually longs to be in.
Mahdavi centres her work on pure imagination. The spaces she conceives are elegant, fluid and always tell a story in relation to the essence of their location. “For the CONDESA df hotel, I wanted to create a place that is more than a just a hotel, more than a restaurant, not quite a home, but a pleasant place to be in. I wanted to introduce the feel of Europe to Mexicans and the feel of Mexico to foreigners in an understated place that can grow in synergy with the neighbourhood”.

The hotel's peaceful location contrasts with the city's cliché image of smog, traffic and over-population. With its wide, jacarandá-lined streets dotted with bars, art galleries and boutiques, Condesa is emerging as a neighbourhood stylish enough to rival the fashionable Polanco in the trend stakes. The 1928 French neo-classical building, listed as cultural heritage by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, is hip without being haughty, encompassing functional originality from rooms to rooftop and incorporating a range of local materials and elements including custom-made furniture and stone tile flooring. An unassuming door leads to a discrete and informal reception area, welcoming guests and visitors to an oasis of style. Perhaps the most prominent interior characteristic is the hotel’s inner courtyard, which is surrounded by handmade floor-tile corridors that resemble the ones of a “Hacienda”. For architect Javier Sánchez, it is the most important part of the project. “While rooms are given the necessary intimacy, the patio is where people can see and be seen”, he adds.

Everything revolves around the central Patio and some rooms open to it. The room walkways face this central area where guests play a game of visual hide and seek by passing along the many shutters that are open by day and closed at night.

According to Mahdavi, the idea was to re-interpret the work of revered Mexican architect Luis Barragán and design tranquil and restful lodgings like “monks rooms”. The rows of white shutters create geometric patterns across three floors leading to open sky. Thriving green foliage, turquoise walls and brown textiles dismiss any impression of minimalism. Fibreglass lamps shaped like balls of wool hang in the bar, while inviting alcoves are decorated in rich walnut panelling and retro furnishings. Most of the furniture has been designed by India Mahdavi herself. Other contributions include chairs by Cherner and Patricia Urquiola and lamps by Moooi.

With a slick back to basics ethic, the hotel is imbued with Mahdavi’s whimsical interpretations of modernity and irresistible lightness in design. The original architectural features interact perfectly with more contemporary accents. Forty airy bedrooms are attractively designed in moss green, cream and chocolate brown tones, spiced up with retro lamps and indigenous touches such as hand woven rugs from Oaxaca. The suites open up to a wooden terrace amidst treetops, standing in mild contrast to the tones of pure white of the shutters, walls and curtains. On the nightstand, an iPod waits to entertain, programmed – very appropriately – with lounge music. Smooth and soft lighting with dimmers allows for ideal mood preferences in the rooms.

In the charmingly titled Myself area, a hammam, wet areas and a gym invite guests to indulge in serious relaxation. The emblematic décor used here adds to a clever touch of cosmopolitan urbanity. A floral theme persists throughout the property, from the cushion covers down to the personalised chopstick wrappers accompanying the sushi served at the rooftop La Terazza bar, available only to guests and affording views over the adjacent Parque de España and the Castillo de Chapultepec. For the architect, the terrace with its panoramic views crowns the project in what has been a challenge considering the integration of old and new constructions. The basement bar epitomises the energy of CONDESA df with its weightless furniture design and airy spaces.

Conceptualised by Jonathan Morr, the CONDESA df’s ground-floor El Patio restaurant exemplifies the ideal of effortless style, flowing through a series of privacy-optional rooms, ringing a vivid, flora-filled courtyard, and promoting a constant flux and movement between the in- and outdoors. Dinners at El Patio, are at risk of running late into the nights, not only due to the exquisite and carefully compiled choice of dishes but also because of the magical atmosphere of the place. The triangular area of the restaurant has quickly become a place for people watching, redefining the concept of al fresco dining in the Mexican capital and bringing together the city’s biggest number of beautiful people per square meter.

The tone is simple and glamorous while remaining cool and pop, welcoming guests to what has become the perfect all around representation of the city’s new hip culture.