To most eyes, Ezequiel Farca’s 1970s-style concrete home in Mexico City looked like a teardown. Even the lot itself—shallow and crammed against a steep hillside—wasn’t particularly alluring. But Farca saw through all the restraints to create a spa-like refuge in one of the world’s most energetic cities. "It’s is such a hectic place. You’re bombarded by so much information the moment you step into the streets," says Farca, who first gained prominence as a furniture and interior designer. "So we envisioned this house as a retreat, a kind of a temple." The rooftop courtyard is lined with a verdant mix of indigenous plants, including banana trees, palm trees, lion’s claw, Mexican breadfruit, and native vines. The chaise longues were designed for Farca’s EF Collection.

In the outdoor dining room, wire chairs by Harry Bertoia for Knoll surround a mango wood table made by a local carpenter, Diego Madrazo.

Known for furniture and interior design, Ezequiel Farca transformed a 1970s-style concrete home in Mexico City into a tranquil sanctuary. The temple-like retreat blends into the hilly Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood with its pale gray-green hue and strategic plantings, which soften the boundaries between house, garden, and street. The Recinto lava stone patio accessed through the living room holds teak outdoor furniture designed by Farca himself.

"The longer I work as an architect, the more I want to deepen my skills as a gardener," says Yuri Zagorin Alazraki, founder of the Mexico City firm ZD+A. In building his own house in Mexico City’s Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, his commitment has produced results that appear miraculous. In fact, they grow out of a carefully choreographed series of bravura design moves.

An Almond bathtub by Porcelanosa is accented by a tub filler from Hansgrohe.

In an effort to create an abundance of light and air flow throughout the space, the home follows an L-shaped floor plan that wraps around outdoor areas. “We designed several open spaces, each with a different feel: the garden and pool, the terrace, and the back patio,” says Cesarman. “The idea was to reduce the area to the most basic and essential [elements].”

“A building can have far greater impact than the space it stands in.”—William Carpenter, architect and resident

The idea behind Endémico is "luxury camping." Set on 40 acres of gorgeous, unspoiled terrain, there are 20 bungalows and a shared pool for guests to take a dip in. The Encuentro Guadalupe winery offers guests access to local wines as well as a peek at how they are processed through winemaking courses. Encuentro's restaurant will feature dishes that incorporate local flavors as well as a cooking school where people can learn how to prepare creative meals with the guidance of talented young chefs.

New zoning allowed for a zero-lot-line structure, but required a public storefront, which Carpenter uses as an art gallery.

Solid European oak flooring by DuChateau runs throughout the home. The sculpture is by Jorge Yázpik.

Farca furnished the living room with a Serge Mouille three-arm floor lamp, custom sofas from EF Collection, and Surface tables by Vincent Van Duysen for B&B Italia.

A couple—he an entrepreneur working in logistics, she a stay-at-home mother—bought an 8,500-square-foot house here and approached JSa, a Mexico City-based architectural firm, with the idea of remodeling it. The house was poorly sited on its lot in a manner that drew very little natural light. The architects sized it up and quickly realized that the best solution would be to tear it down and start from scratch.

Oak veneer lines the stairwell in between the master bedroom and the children’s wing.

The master bedroom, painted in Whisper by Comex, sports a bed that Farca custom-designed as part of his EF Collection.

In the sitting area, two leather Paulistano chairs by Paulo Mendes da Rocha top a rug by Yerra; the wall paint is Comex.

Farca also designed the custom millwork throughout the house, such as the swinging door leading into the dining room. The leather Siren dining chairs are by Holly Hunt.

Mexico City, population 22,200,000. Mexico City is the largest metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere.

Photo courtesy of JSa.

The house features several courtyards, conveying an ever-present sense of indoor-outdoor living. Concrete walls are lined with yellow jasmine, and the wall sculpture is taken from Manuel Felguérez’s fence for the National Anthropology Museum.

The striking master bath is lined from floor to walls in silvery gray marble.

A vintage Lightolier pendant and sleek Arclinea cabinets by Antonio Citterio stand out against a wall paneled in reclaimed pine in the kitchen. Seating is a mix of Bertoia wire chairs and armchairs by the Mexican designer Hector Esrawe.

A window in another bedroom overlooks protected woodland.

In the dining room, antique wooden busts and a machiche cross designed by Farca are arranged on a resin countertop by Monica Calderon. The bar conceals a service area with an espresso machine.

Estadio Azteca (Mexico City, Mexico: 1970 and 1986 World Cups) It’s easy for this classic stadium to be overshadowed by the incredible football that’s taken place on its pitch, from the “Hand of God” goal and 1970’s “Game of the Century” between Italy and West Germany to a pair of electrifying World Cup finals. Architects Pedro Ramirez Vasquez and Rafael Mijares studied stadiums overseas for years, eventually creating an iconic venue that, with it’s sound trapping overhangs and incredible altitude, has functioned like a 12th man supporting the Mexican national squad, which has rarely lost here.

The master bedroom is shaded by exterior slats in cumaru, a sustainable tropical wood. Alazraki designed the custom bed frame.

Chairs in the second-floor playroom are by Lievore Altherr Molina for Andreu World. Oak sliding doors can close off the playroom to minimize din.

A stone path leads from the backyard, up the hillside, and arrives at the streetside entryway. The rhythmic pattern of the concrete garage, as well as the pedestrian walkway, are front and center. The privacy of the living and sleeping areas, seen at the left through floor-to-ceiling windows, are shielded from public view by the hill and the stone wall.

Lucha Libre "The lucha libre (professional wrestling) at the Arena Mexico is an event not to be missed on a visit to Mexico City if you happen to be here on a Friday night. A mix between a sporting event and a circus performance, it’s the ideal place to get all your work week’s stress out by yelling at the rudos (bad guys) or the tecnicos (good guys), and be amused by the interaction of the crowd with every member in the ring."

Two art studios adjoin a central volume at this work/live residence built from terracreto (sustainable concrete), glass, and painted steel just outside of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Residents Austin and Lida Lowrey, retired design and museum professionals, collaborated with their two daughters—Sheridan, an artist, and Elizabeth, an architect—to design the structure as a place for creative contemplation.

Suzanne and Brooks Kelley at the back of their 1,100-square-foot guest cottage.

A collection of flea-market finds and personal keepsakes sit perched upon a shelf in Austin’s studio.

The owners toured this home, which surrounds a mature tipu tipu tree, while visiting relatives for the day. The brick is original to the 1947 construction.

Sliding doors by Quantum were made to look like the original panes that couldn't be saved, and they lead to a fire pit outside.

Museo Anahuacalli "Though Diego Rivera’s studio in San Angel is very well-known and visited, few people visit the Museo Anahuacalli, which Rivera designed. Intended to be a gift to the city, this was his last project before he died and had to be completed by architect Juan O´Gorman. It is an unusual museum charged with Diego’s vibe and an eclectic mix of architectural elements."

Just as the stairs use movement to change how residents experience the space, the walls also provide a new and subtle awareness: concrete ridges—seen right—cast changing shadows that mark the passage of the sun. Features like these, in the words of Carmona, “manipulate your experience, bring [a] different consciousness,” and elevate your awareness of the space.