Home decor by Atlawa, Casa Mineral, Ricardo Casas Design and other small studios are featured in a retail exhibition in Colorado that aims to promote designers from Mexico's capital.
The pop-up shop is part of Made in Mexico City, an exhibition of food, decor and clothing at Zeppelin Station, a mixed-used building with a market hall in Denver's art district. Every few months, the building showcases cuisine and merchandise from a different spot around the globe.
The latest edition presents a range of homeware that embodies the diversity of Mexico City's design scene. The pieces were selected by Zeppelin's retail director Mathieu Mudie, who worked closely with CDMX Design – a distributor that promotes Mexican designers in the international market.
Many items feature geometric shapes, clean lines and a creative use of materials.
Among the studios featured is Atlawa, a resin-casting company started by designer Justino Lopez in 2003. He uses a proprietary process to create handmade pieces that are "innovative yet accessible".
His work includes bowls, spoons and cups offered in shades of red, yellow, purple and grey. Lopez also uses resin to form large bowls and platters that resemble black-and-white terrazzo.
Casa Mineral – a studio led by designers Daniel Cruz Maldonado and Maritza Lara Cáceres – uses marble to create its homeware. Displayed in the Denver shop are streamlined bowls and trays made of vein-laced marble in black, white and grey.
Designer Ricardo Casas established his eponymous studio in 2009, after working for Mexican designer Hector Esrawe. Casas specialises in designing products, furniture and interior spaces.
Among his standout pieces are two-toned, concrete vases that are made through two separate pours. No piece is identical due to the designer's fabrication process.
The Denver show also features bookends by Casas made of concrete and walnut components, which are joined together with chrome bolts.
Also on view is decor by Rococo, a studio founded in 2010 that produces rugs, cushions, wallpaper and ceramic objects. Its design approach merges vintage and futuristic motifs, with a nod toward Mexican heritage.
Rococo pieces in the pop-up store include a glossy, ceramic stool that comes in varying hues, and the Decimal jug – a tall, slanted vessel that takes cues from Mexico's Art Deco period in the 1930s and 1940s.
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Also presented are aluminium pitchers and cups by Enrique Arellano for the brand Utilitario Mexicano. The drinking set comes in a range of hues, from light pink to cherry red.
The Made in Mexico City exhibition continues through early November.
Mexican designers and artisans are increasingly gaining international attention for their work. Other recent pieces include black-stained wooden furniture by Esrawe Studio, stools and tables made of used coffee grounds by Xavier Loránd, and lamps by Davidpompa that consist of copper and pink volcanic rock.
During the 2018 Design Week Mexico, sustainable materials and long product lifespans were among the prevailing trends at the Inédito exhibition, which features work by emerging designers.
Photography is by the designers and Zeppelin Station.