Display publications of multi-disciplinary genres. The process they use is the opposite from how the internet works: leaving space for researchers
Transforming the publishing scene in Mexico City
Mexico City: a destination for museums, galleries and institutions. It had a cultural scene, but a bookstore in art and design was missing. That is when Jorge de la Garza and his business partner, Rafael Prieto, stepped in and founded Casa Bosques. A side project of their creative studio Savvy, directed by Prieto. The duo opened Casa Bosques – named after the neighborhood in which Savvy studio was located, Bosques Del Valle, in Monterey. In Mexico, access to international magazines and independent publications from the world was limited. They wanted to find a way to break this limitation.
They had the aspiration to concentrate on the local independent publishing scene. It was shared between galleries, artistic spaces and institutions. The reference concept of the bookstore clashed with the wishes of consumers. Casa Bosques offered books on subjects and artists that were not available before. People found themselves alienated in front of what they did not recognize and publications they hadn’t seen before. The bookstore then started to include editions familiar to the local audience.
Obtaining books to differentiate themselves
Today, Casa Bosques is a landmark in the local and international independent publishing field. What assures the bookstore this selection is the Index Art Book Fair. It occurs annually in Mexico City in September. It is organized by a group of four colleagues, including de la Garza and Prieto. A program open to the public in conjunction with the fair is a resource to find publishers to collaborate with. The network gravitating around the fair and the process of selection is sustained from listening to the members of the community.
Creating contrast with the books on offer
Having a bookstore means having to exclude. «If you want to do a job that lives up to your standards, you need to focus on disciplines and time periods». The bookstore stocks contemporary art and design subjects. They have included modernism and modern art. Following the political climate of today, themes of migrations, feminism, communities and resistance are part of a book selection.
One can count on encountering: Anarchy explained to children by José Antonio Emmanuel, Imprimir es resistir about posters concerning the 2020’s protests in Chile or Muxelandia by María Elena Valdés, Renata Juárez and Chino Castillo, a photo book documenting a third gender community in the south of Mexico. Apart from the criteria of the sections, they display publications of multi-disciplinary genres to trigger a bouncing motion between one book and another. The process they use is the opposite from how the internet works: websites are made up of categories and subcategories that channel the user into a targeted research process, leaving no room for discovery.
The building design is complimentary to the books
Walking in the neighborhood of Roma, at Cordoba 25 there is a light box on the side wall with the names Casa Bosques and studios and shops that live inside the building. The signboard is brought inside every night. There is no shop window overlooking the street. The building that gives home to Casa Bosques is ‘catalogada’, a ‘so-called’ house in Mexico, describing a construction that cannot be modified.
The house dates back to the beginning of the Twentieth century and has absorbed influences from Europe and the United States, generating a style that belonged to the period of Mexican dictator, Porfirio Diaz. The staircase is brutalist and the windows are associated with Frank Lloyd Wright: they are original.
The interiors of Casa Bosques
What has been restyled by Savvy Studio is the interior design. The first to be located in the building having its office upstairs, followed by the shops and galleries whom it supports in creative direction. In order to assure continuity and unity between the studio and the shops, the interiors of the house are painted white.
The treatment has been afforded to the bookstore where the backdrop helps the books contrast and become protagonists. They are colorful and their aesthetic is what people focus on. The shelves are meant to be invisible, excluding a wooden one, designed in collaboration with Jorge Diego Etienne. The wooden wall is conceived as a system, made up of blocks that can be pushed backwards and forwards, changing the shelving once a month. The material – wood, styled with carpets and reading corners contributes to the attitude of comfort, considering the bookstore is located in what used to be the living room of the house. The set design consents to the space flexibility, making it adaptable to hold book launches, talks, signings, performances and screenings from Kim Gordon to Devendra Banhart and Dora Garcia to Cally Spooner.
When art and food collides
A Mexican tradition of diversity and inclusivity follows the path on the shelves of Casa Bosques as one finds a piece of pottery next to a book. This happens when objects are exhibited in the bookshop as with ceramics of the artist Pella Valtierra. The project to introduce chocolates started when the collaboration was first supported by Savvy studio, and then incorporated into Casa Bosques. Each chocolate is recommended with a ‘good-match drink’. The process behind the choices start from the cacao source and the ingredients grace the packaging and graphic works, promoting collaborations with artists and chefs: the next one will be with artist Laurence Wiener.
Publishing and artistic expression
The interaction between publishing and artistic expression has its roots in the background of Jorge de la Garza. He trained in London as a visual artist and then as an editorial designer at an art magazine. He experimented with installations, archive videos or fragments of books that translate into collages.
Every corner of the store is populated with plants. It is related to the concept within the identity of the brand: from wood and plants to paper and books. Casa Bosques is not plastic-friendly, the packaging is recycled, except in some cases. Book promotions end up in a discount section while magazines are sent to a recycling center near the building.
The neighborhood; Roma
Characterized by cultural places and connected services, it was inhabited by Mexicans from wealthy families. From the beginning of the Twentieth century, however, immigrants concentrated in the area, until an earthquake in 1985 upset the layout. After the natural disaster, the neighborhood started to be repopulated by a crowd. They felt connections to the DNA of the place, where artists Leonora Carrington and writer Jack Kerouac used to live. Artists, designers, architects, writers, publishers, collectors have a reason to walk into Casa Bosques.
Casa Bosques
Córdoba 25, col. Roma norte, Alcaldía cuauhtémoc, Mexico City, Mexico
