Page 176 - Libro Max Cetto

In Cetto’s Proximity Bettina Cetto

lot’s existing hollows to create ‘swimming pools’ for us, his three daughters. Using natural
materials, volcanic rock, mosaics, wood, etc., he built his house upon the rock, integrating
interior views with the surrounding landscape: on the southwest side, the Sierra de las Cru-
ces and Ajusco; nearby lots populated by ferns, cacti, palo bobo, succulents, estrellitas, tigridia.
Notable was the abundance of pirules –also known as the Peru pepper– from South America,
whose seeds had been blown so far by the wind that they formed part of the ‘original’ biota. 33
Taking advantage of the natural conditions –the sea of lava, the presence of rattlesnakes,
scorpions, tarantulas– to design and develop the garden was also an extraordinary challenge,
one in which my mother Catarina joined in, soon taking the reins.
The garden was not designed exclusively with endemic flora, but was a log of its creator’s
restless spirit. From every trip within Mexico, Catarina came back with cuttings, but when
traveling to her native Switzerland, she also managed to bring home seeds and piecitos. The
result is a kind of ‘botanical garden of the five continents,’ as it was described by an expert
from the Unam Botanical Garden. From the start, both Max and Catarina agreed that it
was best to have two grassy areas, a necessary recreational space, especially for the kids–that
is, the minimum amount of lawn space needed in a rocky environment, which, incidentally,
was fully respected.

Fig. 22 First stage
of construction of
the Cetto House
with Catarina in the
western garden,
1949. © Archivo
Max Cetto, UAM
Azcapotzalco,
Mexico.
As I have said, no volcanic rock was dynamited at Agua 130. The building emerges from
the lava bed, something that is particularly noticeable on the east facade. The importance
that the architect bestowed upon the stone walls is enormous, as he did not use volcanic
rock as mere decoration, but as a structural material that becomes visible both outside and
inside the house.
The first floor windows demonstrate that proper orientation and careful proportions
that always characterized Cetto’s work. The windows, modulated by vertically-oriented

33 Regarding the view, the Swiss architect and novelist Max Frisch would comment in 1954: “Now we are in El Pedregal,
a neighborhood of Mexico City in which only modern houses are allowed to be built. Our host, by the way, is a German
architect who emigrated to this country, Max Cetto. We’re on his roof, looking out over the Mexican altiplano. In the dis-
tance, we observe the white snowcap of Popocatépetl; a grandiose, rough landscape, yet a paradise at the same time. Around
us, the black and violet volcanic rocks, and among them, flowers of all the colors of the rainbow.” Marlene Rall reprodu-
ces this quote in Renata von Hanffstengel and Cecilia Tercero, El exilio bien temperado (Mexico City: Unam, 1995), 28.

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