San Miguel de Allende is an exquisitely beautiful, very well-preserved Spanish colonial town. Churches grace every neighborhood, their towers reaching for heaven. The intricately sculpted pink stone spires of La Parroquia de San Miguel Archangel feel as though they actually touch heaven. Visible from all parts of town, the pink stone facade was designed in the late 1800s by Indigenous stonemason Zeferino Gutierrez, inspired, they say, by postcard images of Belgian and German Gothic churches, sketching the design in the sand for his construction crew.
The rhythms of day and night are modulated by the deeply resonant sounds of church bells as they ring out the quarter hours, sometimes softly, other times insistently, waking residents, sharing news, calling for prayer, announcing a celebration, or inviting peaceful meditation. Their rhythmic sounds connect everyone into the web of humanity that occupies this beautiful town. The tones vary with the meaning of the message, the intensity with the meaning of the call. Sometimes just one church will ring its bells; sometimes all of the churches’ and chapels’ bells work in harmonic sequence to alert residents to a particular message. With every hour they ring out life. They are the music and centerpieces that hold the townspeople together. A cacophony of barking dogs, roosters, and twittering birds, sometimes the explosion of fireworks, accompany the bells as this music of life penetrates every corner.
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Part 2
San Miguel de Allende: the soul of mexico is available from your favorite bookstores including Aurora Books and La Biblioteca Tesoros in San Miguel, or from many of your favorite internet sites including Schiffer, Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and Thrift Books. If you would like an autographed copy of our new book, please send us an email request and you can buy it directly from us at steven@houseandhouse.com.
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Cathi and Steven House, the founders and principals of House + House Architects, have received over 50 design awards for their work in California, Mexico, Africa and the Caribbean, and have been featured in prestigious publications throughout the world including two monographs, House + House Architects: Choreographing Space and Houses in the Sun: light movement embrace. Their studies of vernacular architecture have been published in Mediterranean Villages: an architectural journey, and in Villages of West Africa: an intimate journey across time, which document the people, villages and unique architecture. Cathi and Steven lecture extensively and created CASA, The Center for Architecture, Sustainability + Art, a study abroad program based in Mexico.
House + House Architects' work reflects Cathi and Steven's passion for soulfully designed buildings intimately responsive to their site and to their inhabitants.
www.houseandhouse.com
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