Openhouse magazine, ISSUE 20Inma BuendiaEnglish

CASA BERNAL

Openhouse magazine, ISSUE 20Inma BuendiaEnglish
CASA BERNAL

A FLOWER AMIDST THE RUBBLE

As if they were heroic deeds, history extols the actions of individuals who – despite adverse circumstances – find success during their lifetime. While society acknowledges their perseverance and strength, intuition – that mental state that allows our senses to pinpoint the moments when we must act and the opportunities we must not squander – is rarely mentioned. 

Marcos Ruiz is one of those individuals with good instincts, delighting in the process of construction and self-construction. I meet with him at his home in Mexico City. Sparsely furnished, one can sense the meditated decision behind the few items found in the house. They all make a statement, have an extraordinary presence and are imbued with great character. We take our seats on the majestic sofa, where he begins relating the journey of his profession – past, present and future. I discern common features throughout: a refined aesthetic taste and a sincere interest both for the history of humanity and for the objects that have adorned it throughout time until the present day. “I believe that interior design is like collecting because it’s a form of expression. At the end of the day, you’re telling a story; it's a language in itself – albeit a very abstract language – but it serves to tell a story.”

Born and raised in Querétaro, Marcos has resided in Mexico City for more than fifteen years, although he has temporarily lived in other places. “When I moved here, I began acquainting myself with the city’s art galleries.” Little by little, he learned how to be a curator, a collector, acquiring the artistic eye that would lead him to construct his own creative universe. Despite coming from a different background, he has always admired architecture, design and art. “I’m fascinated by the creative process of bringing an idea to life. And I find interior design extremely exciting. It’s one of the things I most enjoy.” And so, when his family decided to rid themselves of the pile of rubble that Casa Bernal had become, Marcos decided to save it and restore it. A symbol of a key period in Mexico’s history, the house was once of great use to the local community: “It’s in a very small village where there was nowhere like the Bank of Mexico where you could take out or keep your money. All the mining companies in Huasteca Potosina used it as a stopover before going on to Mexico City and they'd keep everything inside the house, which operated as a sort of bank. But, after the revolution, it was looted and abandoned.”

In order to make the Casa Bernal project come true, Marcos turned to Emmanuel Picault and his architecture firm, Chic by Accident,. “It was a very motivating and enriching experience. He's got an impeccable eye and a stage design aesthetic that’s reflected in the house.” Marcos speaks from his own experience. Emmanuel had handed him the keys shortly before the pandemic hit. Mexico City was deserted, so he decided to move to Bernal temporarily. “We spent about four or five months there with just two mattresses. There’s nothing quite like enjoying a house by experiencing it. It’s a very small village, very beautiful but very quiet. I’d go out in the morning in my pyjamas to buy eggs and there was nothing. It was crazy.”

The result is extraordinarily bold because, in many ways, both Emmanuel and Marcos allowed the house to express itself. “We did a great job with the landscaping, particularly with the old outer shell. Actually, [the house] has no roof or anything; it’s like a really manual abstraction. The back of the plot – where the stables once were – was empty, so we decided to do this crazy thing. Entering this old shell, with plants and cacti growing alongside the walls, is like walking into another dimension. You don’t know what’s going on. Suddenly, you reach this pool with views of a giant rock, the third largest in the world after Gibraltar. Emmanuel has managed to make you feel as if you're in the middle of nowhere.”

Marcos’s idea was always to turn the house into a space to entertain family and friends. “My nephews and nieces are always asking me if they can bring their friends here. The house really has given me everything I wanted. I knew it was a beautiful place that could be given a new lease of life. That's been achieved, and I’m very happy with it.”

While the pool could be considered the true hero of the space, the way the entire project has evolved has made Casa Bernal a truly admirable creation, in addition to being incredibly liveable. The structure converses with the landscape, accompanies it, is nourished by it, and together they create a picture that radiates with life, like a splendid flower that subtly finds a way to bloom amidst the rubble.