{"id":2838,"date":"2024-11-03T10:31:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-03T02:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2024\/11\/03\/the-artisanal-apartment-laura-aviva-creates-a-mexico-city-showcase-for-her-design-collection\/"},"modified":"2024-11-03T10:31:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T02:31:33","slug":"the-artisanal-apartment-laura-aviva-creates-a-mexico-city-showcase-for-her-design-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/the-artisanal-apartment-laura-aviva-creates-a-mexico-city-showcase-for-her-design-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0e2d\u0e1e\u0e32\u0e23\u0e4c\u0e15\u0e40\u0e21\u0e19\u0e15\u0e4c\u0e2a\u0e44\u0e15\u0e25\u0e4c\u0e0a\u0e48\u0e32\u0e07\u0e1d\u0e35\u0e21\u0e37\u0e2d: \u0e25\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e48\u0e32 \u0e2d\u0e32\u0e27\u0e35\u0e27\u0e32 \u0e2a\u0e23\u0e49\u0e32\u0e07\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e23\u0e04\u0e4c\u0e42\u0e0a\u0e27\u0e4c\u0e40\u0e04\u0e2a\u0e43\u0e19\u0e40\u0e21\u0e47\u0e01\u0e0b\u0e34\u0e42\u0e01\u0e0b\u0e34\u0e15\u0e35\u0e49\u0e2a\u0e33\u0e2b\u0e23\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e04\u0e2d\u0e25\u0e40\u0e25\u0e01\u0e0a\u0e31\u0e19\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e2d\u0e2d\u0e01\u0e41\u0e1a\u0e1a\u0e02\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e40\u0e18\u0e2d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Laura Aviva collaborates with artisan workshops in Latin America to create L\u2019Aviva Home\u2019s lighting, textiles, and furniture. She approaches traditional craft as a springboard for sophisticated, entirely new designs and loves getting her collaborators to apply their skills in undreamed of ways.<\/p>\n

Her pieces land in impressive settings that are featured on the company website. But what kind of rooms does Laura herself envision them in? Based in NYC, she recently bought an apartment in Mexico City to officially declare CDMX her home away from home. And she transformed her new flat into both living quarters and a showcase for what she and her team does.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, we design products to shine in a range of contexts,\u201d Laura tells us. \u201cWith this space, we flipped our creative process and designed a Platonic ideal of where we would like them to live and how we would like to live with them.\u201d Join us for a tour.<\/p>\n

Photography courtesy of L\u2019Aviva Home (@lavivahome).

Above: Laura\u2019s apartment is in a 1950s tile-covered modernist building in La Condesa, which she describes as \u201cone of the most architecturally interesting and creative neighborhoods in the city.\u201d The entry is at the center of two halls, one leading to the kitchen\/living area and the other to three bedrooms\u2014that\u2019s essentially the original setup, but the resemblance ends there. Laura rejiggered the floor plan (the kitchen, for instance, had been a library) and reconsidered every element\u2014take a look at the Before shots below.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA goal of the project was to shine a light on all of the artisans involved and to create a space that feels considered and crafted by hand,\u201d says Laura. She worked with architect Gilda Valencia of Colectivo A on the transformation\u2014\u201dGilda was a dream collaborator: she oversaw the project as a whole and the construction\u2014because of seismic considerations, we needed structural engineers, too. Gilda made it all happen.\u201d Photograph by Maureen M. Evans.<\/p>\n


Above: The small kitchen now sits at the heart of the apartment divided from the living room by a mesquite screen carved by Isaac Casta\u00f1eda, a third-generation woodworker in his twenties from Guanajuato who Laura was introduced to by a friend. Wanting a space that was partially open, Laura was inspired by screens and latticework in Mexican churches and Barrag\u00e1n\u2019s architecture\u2014 \u201cthey\u2019re used as a way of creating divisions and filtering light.\u201d Photograph by Fabian Martinez.
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Above: All of the built-ins, including the kitchen cabinets of stained parota, were made by local carpenter Anastacio Ram\u00edrez . The counter is Porcelanato, porcelain panels that looks like stone \u2014Laura had hoped to use a local stone but says this ended up being a better solution: \u201cit takes heat, doesn\u2019t stain, it\u2019s a dream.\u201d Photograph by Fabian Martinez.,

Above: \u201cThere were some things I had my heart set on and people humored me,\u201d says Laura of the custom-cut hexagonal slate floor tiles made by a local stoneworker. Next to nothing in the apartment is off the rack: even most of the dishware on the open shelves are one-offs created for the space by L\u2019Aviva Home artisans. Photograph by Maureen M. Evans.
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Above: After Isaac Casta\u00f1eda made the kitchen screen and companion shutters for her bedroom, Laura enlisted him to fabricate the large oval dining tabletop; it rests on a travertine base made by the same master stoneworker who cut the hexagonal slate tiles. The Lava Woven Chairs are Habitaci\u00f3n 116\u2019s formal take on traditional Mexican seating. In place of straw, they\u2019re finished with durable paper cord of recycled paper that comes in a range of shades: Laura\u2019s choice of deep pink was a departure for her\u2014she\u2019s color shy and typically works in neutrals. <\/p>\n

 The pendant lights are L\u2019Aviva Home\u2019s blown glass Tobal\u00e1 Pendants made in Oaxaca.The collage was a commission made for the apartment by Laura\u2019s friend Maddalena Forcella of <\/span>Madda Studio, which specializes in naturally dyed textiles and rugs. As for the pine floor, it\u2019s original to the apartment\u2014\u201dit was that orangey yellow that pine gets over time,\u201d says Laura. \u201cI wanted it to feel earthy, so we tried staining it then realized we had to bleach it and start again. It took several tries to get the color right.\u201d Photograph by Fabian Martinez               <\/span><\/p>\n

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Above: The living room\u2019s wall of windows are original and are what sold the place for Laura: \u201cI wanted the feeling of a Mexican treehouse.\u201d The narrow terrace is now lined with custom copper-faced planters filled with Colocasia, also known as elephant ears. Photograph by Fabian Martinez.
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Above: The stoneworker who built the dining table base also created the living room banquette and table of travertine. The cushions are covered in Pampa, a cotton-jute from Laura\u2019s friend Zak Profera\u2019s Zak + Fox, The wall lights are L\u2019Aviva Home\u2019s Martillado Collection sconces of chiseled hardwood\u2014\u201dthey play like art.\u201d Photograph by Fabian Martinez.
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Above: What began as a kitchen screen led to L\u2019Aviva Home\u2019s just-launched Celos\u00eda Collection made by Isaac Casta\u00f1eda\u2014this hanging light of carved mesquite is a prototype. \u201cCelos\u00edas\u2014lattices\u2014filter the harsh Mexican light, so we thought it would be interesting to apply them to lighting,\u201d says Laura. \u201cLight filters from them beautifully.\u201d Photograph by Maureen M. Evans.,

Above: Laura purchased paint locally and tested \u201c800 different shades\u201d to get the right white for the walls. Shown here: a Habitaci\u00f3n 116 Lava Chair and L\u2019Aviva Home\u2019s Piedra Collection Sconce off the kitchen. Photograph by Maureen M. Evans.
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Above: More Piedra Collection sconces and ceiling lights of marble and onyx line the hall. Carved in Tecali, Mexico, they take their streamlined shape from pre-Colombian stone masks. Note the doors and door frames\u2014all redesigned by Laura. Photograph by Maureen M. Evans.
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Above: The ba\u00f1o hu\u00e9spedes\u2014guest bathroom set in the former maid\u2019s quarters\u2014has a terrazzo floor inlaid with Verdi Alpi marble, \u201ca stone that was extensively used on CDMX city center building fa\u00e7ades at the turn of the 20th century,\u201d says Laura. The companion sink of Verde Luana marble was also custom made. The Lola Vase is by Mexico City star ceramic artist Perla Valtierra. Photograph by Maureen M. Evans.,

Above: The seat off the entry, designed by Laura\u2019s friend Raul Cabra of Oax-i-fornia and made by Isaac Casta\u00f1eda, is a modernized version of a partera (birthing) chair. The vase is a vintage piece from Puebla. Photograph by Maureen M. Evans.
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Above: Laura commissioned Marina Santana, a ceramicist from Jalisco, to make her first tiles for behind the guest bed\u2014\u201dI don\u2019t like headboards, so this is my nod to one,\u201d says Laura. \u201cI asked for shades of blue to add depth.\u201d The Michoac\u00e1n Collection bedcover of woven undyed wool and the saddle leather Capa Pendant Light are L\u2019Aviva Home designs. Photograph by Fabian Martinez.
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Above: The custom-cut slate tiles reappear in Laura\u2019s bathroom.  Photograph by Fabian Martinez.,

Above: The bathtub\u2014\u201deach indentation is the stroke of a hammer\u201d\u2014by Sergio Velasquez, a fourth generation coppersmith in Santa Clara de Cobre. \u201cHe had never made a tub before,\u201d says Laura, \u201cwe designed it together; it\u2019s solid copper. There\u2019s a water shortage in Mexico City at the moment so I don\u2019t allow myself to take baths, but it\u2019s my single favorite possession.\u201d The Ban Stool is by Mexico City design studio Esrawe. Photograph by Fabian Martinez.
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Above: A Popotillo (wheat straw) Wreath by Oaxifornia hangs in Laura\u2019s bedroom next to a L\u2019Aviva Home Atzompa Collection pendant light. Isaac Casta\u00f1eda made the perforated shutters: for more hole-punch designs, go to our Trend Alert. Photograph by Fabian Martinez.
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Above: \u201cThis apartment took a year of my life,\u201d says Laura. \u201cIt\u2019s my favorite thing I\u2019ve ever done.\u201d Photograph by Fabian Martinez.,<\/p>\n

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Above: Working with architect Gilda Valencia of Colectivo A, Laura kept the apartment\u2019s basic flow but moved walls and restructured all of the rooms. <\/p>\n

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Above: The living room formerly flowed into a library, now the kitchen.
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Above: The kitchen was in a room of its own and had been updated over the years.
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Above: A bedroom offers a look at the multi-toned pine floors\u2014they required bleaching first to uniformly stain them. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been following L\u2019Aviva Home from the get-go. Here\u2019s a sampling:<\/p>\n