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The elegant dome of Los Monjas towers over its neighbors and marks the western edge of the immediate ‘Centro'. Part of this former convent became the ‘Bellas Artes,' one of the two art schools that were part of San Miguel's rebirth after its decline following closure of the Guanajuato silver mines. A young American, Stirling Dickinson, found San Miguel in a state of disrepair and abandon in 1937, yet the beauty of this place caught his heart. He later recounted, "I thought, My God, what a sight! What a place! I said to myself at that moment, I'm going to stay here." Dickinson stayed until his death in 1998 and is credited, along with Felipe Cossío del Pomar and Enrique Fernández Martinez, with San Miguel's rebirth into an international art destination. Within a few months of his arrival Dickinson opened the Escuela Universitaria de Bellas Artes in the languishing former convent, recruiting hundreds of young US servicemen to study under the GI Bill. The Bellas Artes continues as an art center with classes, exhibitions and lectures.
Located just a few blocks from San Miguel's center, the Instituto Allende is housed in a sprawling mansion that was home to the Canal family. A massive stone facade and enormous entry doors lead to a colonnaded courtyard with intricate stone fountain and mural covered walls. With the Instituto joining the Bellas Artes in San Miguel's renaissance, students flocked from all over the world, including post WWII US servicemen. The school flourished, attracting well-known Mexican muralists such as David Alfaro Siqueiros and Beat Era writers such as Jack Kerouac. Classes and workshops are available in painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, weaving, jewelry, photography, batik, lithography, paper-making, etching, monotype printing, silkscreen; and classes include language and art history. The Instituto and the openings it hosts are part of the core of San Miguel's art scene.
"Establish beautiful masses, present pleasing contrasts. Lighting effects will offer sufficient variety. The hours of the day and night alone present so many possibilities. What diversity, when the rising sun spreads its shadow over the earth! What flickering effects when the moon traces labyrinths of light on the building." Claude Nicolas Ledoux
Working as an architect in San Miguel has been an honor and a gift. To have worked with the amazing men of my construction team, their passion for the art of building and their willingness to figure out how to build things they have never imagined has given my work a voice it could never find in the US. House + House Architects is a bridge between a historic past and a respectful, sustainable future, between what has been and what is to come.
"I think that the ideal space must contain elements of magic, serenity, sorcery and mystery." Luis Barragan
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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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