Archivo is the only project in Mexico dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and rethinking design and architecture.
Archivo is focused on researching and advocating design, as well as in exploring its history and evolution, questioning its principles, and exploiting its potential as a tool for everyday transformation.
Through our permanent collection—consisting of 1,800 objects, a specialized library, and a dynamic program of research, exhibitions, and activities, Archivo has established itself as a pioneering space and an essential reference for design and architecture in Mexico and abroad.
(ESPAÑOL) TRANSPORTE
general
DIRECTOR
ASSISTANT CURATOR
PROJECTS MANAGER
RESEARCH
Our collection is a resource that we extend to all public as a research tool. We’ll share information about its relocation soon. For the library, we recommend that you make an appointment by sending us an email where you specify the topics you are looking for.
VOLUNTEERING
Archivo seeks volunteers all year. If you are passionate about design and want to be part of the team, check our programs here.
WEB CREDITS
design: Alejandro Olávarri
realization: dupla.mx
Archivo is not your typical archive. Instead of simply organizing and preserving documents that are only accessible to specialists, we want to produce new readings, perspectives, and ideas regarding material culture in its broadest sense, without restricting ourselves to categorical definitions or expert knowledge.
We are not a repository of records and documents, but of artifacts, testimonies, activations, and any sort of exploration about design. Archivo is an open archive: our storage rooms are accessible and our catalog is open; we share our resources, and we make our processes public.
We see Archivo as the raw material for learning and experimenting with design and architecture, a source of inspiration for designers, where curiosity, knowledge, and critical thought are instilled.
Archivo reasserts the relevance of design in our daily lives. We are pioneers in researching and exhibiting design in Mexico and we offer a unique study collection of everyday design. We’ve broken down our SPACE and work into three areas of activity:
From our foundation, Archivo has focused on acquiring, cataloging, and preserving a permanent collection of popular and industrial design as well as limited edition objects from the 20th and 21st centuries. Convinced that there is a difference between interacting with an object and seeing a representation of it in a book or website, we decided to open our archive in 2016, through Archivo Abierto—our open storage, consultation, and exhibition area, allowing anyone to see our collection up close and to interact with the pieces.
The other half of our permanent collection is the Archivo library, which specializes in architecture, art, and design. It is divided into two: the Personal Collection of Enrique del Moral (CEM) and the Archivo Collection (CAD). Both can be perused in our Reading Room.
You can also explore our entire collections (both the object collection and the library) in our online catalogue.
Design and architecture are meant to be used and experienced, not displayed in a museum or gallery space. So, how and why do we exhibit design?
For Archivo, the answer to this question changes and adapts as time pases and according to different scenarios, but we generally believe that the practice of exhibiting design is important to rediscover histories, make processes public, and to go beyond the surface of a finished product. Our purpose is to strip design from any sense of mystery trying to tie it to a broader discussion regarding cultural and collective processes.
Our exhibitions delve into these concerns and attempt to push their boundaries: they question the nature of authorship in design and the relevance of process; they reveal the engineering logics behind a common artifact or blur the object-based focus of design; they reactivate historical memories, and seek to redefine the relationship between design and contemporary life in Mexico.
You can explore a complete history of our past exhibitions, learn more about our current shows, or discover the ones we have planned for the future.
Archivo seeks to inspire and encourage people to think design in non-traditional ways, to break disciplinary boundaries, and to create a broader view of the practice and its contexts, processes, histories, uses, and impacts.
Archivo is both a practical and educational resource for students and professionals, as well as a space that introduces a broader audience to design and material culture.
We generate and promote original and informed perspectives through a range of formats that are accessible to everyone: research projects and publications, opinion pieces, workshops and collaborations, and even informal gatherings and other kinds of activities.
Archivo is an exhibition space, as well as a research and gathering space; entrance is free of charge and open to the public. We want you to visit Archivo, but we especially want you to use Archivo. We want you to see our exhibitions and spend the day reading our books in the Reading Room or in the garden, having a coffee. We invite you to use our archive for your research or school project, or to participate in one of our conversations and workshops.
We may be a small, independent space, but we offer a considerable variety of resources and activities, as well as an ambitious program, and original, quality cultural offerings.
You can collaborate with Archivo through our volunteer program. If you are part of the design community in Mexico and you have a project or a collaboration proposal that involves Archivo, you can also contact us.
Sometimes we offer spaces for private events. If you are interested in hosting a photo shoot, a book launch, a dinner or a private event in Archivo, you can request information through our e-mail: info@archivo.design.
Archivo is the only project in Mexico dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and rethinking design and architecture.
Archivo is focused on researching and advocating design, as well as in exploring its history and evolution, questioning its principles, and exploiting its potential as a tool for everyday transformation.
Through our permanent collection—consisting of 1,800 objects, a specialized library, and a dynamic program of research, exhibitions, and activities, Archivo has established itself as a pioneering space and an essential reference for design and architecture in Mexico and abroad.
Archivo is not your typical archive. Instead of simply organizing and preserving documents that are only accessible to specialists, we want to produce new readings, perspectives, and ideas regarding material culture in its broadest sense, without restricting ourselves to categorical definitions or expert knowledge.
We are not a repository of records and documents, but of artifacts, testimonies, activations, and any sort of exploration about design. Archivo is an open archive: our storage rooms are accessible and our catalog is open; we share our resources, and we make our processes public.
We see Archivo as the raw material for learning and experimenting with design and architecture, a source of inspiration for designers, where curiosity, knowledge, and critical thought are instilled.
Archivo reasserts the relevance of design in our daily lives. We are pioneers in researching and exhibiting design in Mexico and we offer a unique study collection of everyday design. We’ve broken down our SPACE and work into three areas of activity:
From our foundation, Archivo has focused on acquiring, cataloging, and preserving a permanent collection of popular and industrial design as well as limited edition objects from the 20th and 21st centuries. Convinced that there is a difference between interacting with an object and seeing a representation of it in a book or website, we decided to open our archive in 2016, through Archivo Abierto—our open storage, consultation, and exhibition area, allowing anyone to see our collection up close and to interact with the pieces.
The other half of our permanent collection is the Archivo library, which specializes in architecture, art, and design. It is divided into two: the Personal Collection of Enrique del Moral (CEM) and the Archivo Collection (CAD). Both can be perused in our Reading Room.
You can also explore our entire collections (both the object collection and the library) in our online catalogue.
Design and architecture are meant to be used and experienced, not displayed in a museum or gallery space. So, how and why do we exhibit design?
For Archivo, the answer to this question changes and adapts as time pases and according to different scenarios, but we generally believe that the practice of exhibiting design is important to rediscover histories, make processes public, and to go beyond the surface of a finished product. Our purpose is to strip design from any sense of mystery trying to tie it to a broader discussion regarding cultural and collective processes.
Our exhibitions delve into these concerns and attempt to push their boundaries: they question the nature of authorship in design and the relevance of process; they reveal the engineering logics behind a common artifact or blur the object-based focus of design; they reactivate historical memories, and seek to redefine the relationship between design and contemporary life in Mexico.
You can explore a complete history of our past exhibitions, learn more about our current shows, or discover the ones we have planned for the future.
Archivo seeks to inspire and encourage people to think design in non-traditional ways, to break disciplinary boundaries, and to create a broader view of the practice and its contexts, processes, histories, uses, and impacts.
Archivo is both a practical and educational resource for students and professionals, as well as a space that introduces a broader audience to design and material culture.
We generate and promote original and informed perspectives through a range of formats that are accessible to everyone: research projects and publications, opinion pieces, workshops and collaborations, and even informal gatherings and other kinds of activities.
Archivo is an exhibition space, as well as a research and gathering space; entrance is free of charge and open to the public. We want you to visit Archivo, but we especially want you to use Archivo. We want you to see our exhibitions and spend the day reading our books in the Reading Room or in the garden, having a coffee. We invite you to use our archive for your research or school project, or to participate in one of our conversations and workshops.
We may be a small, independent space, but we offer a considerable variety of resources and activities, as well as an ambitious program, and original, quality cultural offerings.
You can collaborate with Archivo through our volunteer program. If you are part of the design community in Mexico and you have a project or a collaboration proposal that involves Archivo, you can also contact us.
Sometimes we offer spaces for private events. If you are interested in hosting a photo shoot, a book launch, a dinner or a private event in Archivo, you can request information through our e-mail: info@archivo.design.
Archivo is the only project in Mexico dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and rethinking design and architecture.
Archivo is focused on researching and advocating design, as well as in exploring its history and evolution, questioning its principles, and exploiting its potential as a tool for everyday transformation.
Through our permanent collection—consisting of 1,800 objects, a specialized library, and a dynamic program of research, exhibitions, and activities, Archivo has established itself as a pioneering space and an essential reference for design and architecture in Mexico and abroad.
(ESPAÑOL) TRANSPORTE
general
DIRECTOR
ASSISTANT CURATOR
PROJECTS MANAGER
RESEARCH
Our collection is a resource that we extend to all public as a research tool. We’ll share information about its relocation soon. For the library, we recommend that you make an appointment by sending us an email where you specify the topics you are looking for.
VOLUNTEERING
Archivo seeks volunteers all year. If you are passionate about design and want to be part of the team, check our programs here.
WEB CREDITS
design: Alejandro Olávarri
realization: dupla.mx
Archivo is not your typical archive. Instead of simply organizing and preserving documents that are only accessible to specialists, we want to produce new readings, perspectives, and ideas regarding material culture in its broadest sense, without restricting ourselves to categorical definitions or expert knowledge.
We are not a repository of records and documents, but of artifacts, testimonies, activations, and any sort of exploration about design. Archivo is an open archive: our storage rooms are accessible and our catalog is open; we share our resources, and we make our processes public.
We see Archivo as the raw material for learning and experimenting with design and architecture, a source of inspiration for designers, where curiosity, knowledge, and critical thought are instilled.
Archivo reasserts the relevance of design in our daily lives. We are pioneers in researching and exhibiting design in Mexico and we offer a unique study collection of everyday design. We’ve broken down our SPACE and work into three areas of activity:
From our foundation, Archivo has focused on acquiring, cataloging, and preserving a permanent collection of popular and industrial design as well as limited edition objects from the 20th and 21st centuries. Convinced that there is a difference between interacting with an object and seeing a representation of it in a book or website, we decided to open our archive in 2016, through Archivo Abierto—our open storage, consultation, and exhibition area, allowing anyone to see our collection up close and to interact with the pieces.
The other half of our permanent collection is the Archivo library, which specializes in architecture, art, and design. It is divided into two: the Personal Collection of Enrique del Moral (CEM) and the Archivo Collection (CAD). Both can be perused in our Reading Room.
You can also explore our entire collections (both the object collection and the library) in our online catalogue.
Design and architecture are meant to be used and experienced, not displayed in a museum or gallery space. So, how and why do we exhibit design?
For Archivo, the answer to this question changes and adapts as time pases and according to different scenarios, but we generally believe that the practice of exhibiting design is important to rediscover histories, make processes public, and to go beyond the surface of a finished product. Our purpose is to strip design from any sense of mystery trying to tie it to a broader discussion regarding cultural and collective processes.
Our exhibitions delve into these concerns and attempt to push their boundaries: they question the nature of authorship in design and the relevance of process; they reveal the engineering logics behind a common artifact or blur the object-based focus of design; they reactivate historical memories, and seek to redefine the relationship between design and contemporary life in Mexico.
You can explore a complete history of our past exhibitions, learn more about our current shows, or discover the ones we have planned for the future.
Archivo seeks to inspire and encourage people to think design in non-traditional ways, to break disciplinary boundaries, and to create a broader view of the practice and its contexts, processes, histories, uses, and impacts.
Archivo is both a practical and educational resource for students and professionals, as well as a space that introduces a broader audience to design and material culture.
We generate and promote original and informed perspectives through a range of formats that are accessible to everyone: research projects and publications, opinion pieces, workshops and collaborations, and even informal gatherings and other kinds of activities.
Archivo is an exhibition space, as well as a research and gathering space; entrance is free of charge and open to the public. We want you to visit Archivo, but we especially want you to use Archivo. We want you to see our exhibitions and spend the day reading our books in the Reading Room or in the garden, having a coffee. We invite you to use our archive for your research or school project, or to participate in one of our conversations and workshops.
We may be a small, independent space, but we offer a considerable variety of resources and activities, as well as an ambitious program, and original, quality cultural offerings.
You can collaborate with Archivo through our volunteer program. If you are part of the design community in Mexico and you have a project or a collaboration proposal that involves Archivo, you can also contact us.
Sometimes we offer spaces for private events. If you are interested in hosting a photo shoot, a book launch, a dinner or a private event in Archivo, you can request information through our e-mail: info@archivo.design.
Enrique del Moral (1905–1987) was a key member of the modern movement in Mexico, and someone whose work combined architectural avant-gardism with a deep understanding of the vernacular. Specifically, my text will refer to the reactivation of del Moral’s personal library located inside Archivo Diseño y Arquitectura and bound to a new exhibition space (2013), where in the architecture books will produce a parallel narrative to trace his intellectual interests and his life’s history. This project is a series of explorations that take an admittedly utopic backwards glance at del Moral’s perspective on art, history, archeology, and modern architecture.
Furthermore, the initial idea to reactivate del Moral’s library as a potential reading room or even a space for dialogue has become a journey into his professional and personal life. Reactivating del Moral’s library by creating a reading room which includes the architect’s books brings together different aspects of his personal library in a open-ended arrangement and relationship aimed at creating new meanings and connections. Del Moral’s library will demonstrate the persistent use of the book not only as container for ideas, but also as a material object. Del Moral’s modernist ouvre is alluded to in this project through the design of the bookshelves, and the library’s display and object reference system, which is in an open ended dialogue with modern art, literature, and architecture. The exhibiton will propose the following question about libraries as new exhibition models: can del Moral’s library serve as a new paradigm for how we interact
with and use libraries as architectural structures?
Moreover, del Moral’s library (which will be open to the public by appointment) will serve as a reading room rather than a lending library. As a library dedicated to del Moral’s books, the collection suggests multiple meanings and possibilities by using the graphic design (design of dust jackets for the books and signage for the library) and the precariousness of the library’s architectural structure: the reading room’s design (its bookshelves, vitrines, and working tables) consists of flexible structures made of cheap materials such as Plywood whild del Moral’s books and archival material work as the core elements. This reading room focuses on books both as a representational strategy, that is, to produce a complex identity to stand in for del Moral, and as a descriptive tool, where older books experience a hypothetical resurrection (conceptually and physically) by creating new ways of relating readers to books. The project’s goal is to construct and establish the architect’s library as a public apparatus that is dependent upon the community’s participation.
For many years, artists have been developing projects around the reformulation of the library’s role in society. One example is Martha Rosler’s private library exhibition tour (2005). Rosler’s private library has been presented at the e-flux exhibition space, where the library served as a reading room rather than a public library. A photocopier was available for making black and white and color copies so the public could replicate fragments of Rosler’s personal books.[1] Rosler’s practice consistently brings familiar objects and ideas under close examination, using text both as a representational strategy and as an explanatory apparatus. Strategies such as Rosler’s are possible paradigms for encouraging new ways of relating readers to books. Making reading rooms potential platforms upon which to approach libraries in the contemporary age presents new methodologies for storage space, archiving, and the creation of resources for the public to interact with, browse, read, and reproduce books. These reading rooms presented in an exhibition format allow the viewer to become not a passive spectator but a participant in an ongoing dialogue between the reader, the book, and society. The reactivation of Del Moral’s library took on what Alberto Manguel’s famous book The Library at Night describes as the vitality and functionality of libraries: “books lend a room a particular identity that can, in some cases, usurp that of their owner ––a peculiarity well to oafish personalities who demand to be portrayed against the background of a book-lined wall, in the hope that it will grant a scholarly luster.”[2] Following Manguel, why does the impulse to reactivate someone’s library persist in contemporary times?
[1] Elena Filipovic, “Martha Rosler Library”, Afterall, Summer 2007. http://www.eflux.com/ announcements/ martha-roslerlibrary-5/ (accessed December 21, 2011).
[2] Manguel, Alberto. The Library at Night. United States: Yale University Press, 2008.
Rodrigo Ortiz Monasterio makes an introspection about the opening to the public of Enrique del Moral’s library, considering the meaning books could give us about the identity he possessed. The author tells us about a functional library model through interaction.
Rodrigo Ortiz Monasterio is a student inside the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, inside of the Masters program for Curatorial Practices. He studied his bachelor in Film, NYU and considers himself an artist.