Casa Estudio Max Cetto

Why it matters. Max Cetto, the German architect who settled in Mexico, built this house and studio for himself at the end of the 1940s —and it was the first house built on the land Luis Barragán had bought for the Jardines del Pedregal development. That makes it the opening statement of one of the twentieth century's most interesting experiments in domestic architecture: how to live on a field of volcanic rock.

What is interesting about it. The plot is rectangular and oriented north–south on its short side, at one of the entrances to the development, and Cetto designed the house around the lava rather than clearing it: the volcanic rock enters the building and becomes wall, floor and garden. It demonstrated that the Pedregal could be inhabited at a time when the lava field was considered waste ground, and it set the vocabulary that Barragán and others then developed.

Be realistic about visiting. This is a private house in a walled residential district, not a museum. There is no ticket office and no regular opening; access, when it happens at all, is through architectural tours and academic visits arranged in advance. From the street you will see a wall. If modern Mexican architecture is what you came for, the Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo in San Ángel and the Anahuacalli are both open to the public.