Dissimulation is an activity very much like that of actors in the theatre, but the true actor surrenders himself to the role he is playing and embodies it fully, even though he sloughs it off again, like a snake its skin, when the final curtain comes down.
—Octavio Paz, "Máscaras mexicanas", in El laberinto de la soledad[1]
At first glance, the recently inaugurated La Tallera Siqueiros Museum, designed by Mexico City-based architect Frida Escobedo in Cuernavaca, Mexico, seems like a tribute to the country's past. The raw, pyramid-patterned concrete-block screen facade that masks its interior could be read as a salute to the distinct language of government-funded Mexican modernism — an architectural style that is deeply rooted in the country's collective imaginary. It could come across as a safe intervention meant to reiterate the ideals of the country's revolutionary past through its apparent "Mexican design". In other words, Frida Escobedo's La Tallera Siqueiros could be interpreted as a building that nostalgically clings to the country's history.
But there is something much more complex behind the building's "contextual" veil. What the new Tallera Siqueiros really represents is a transitional period in the production of contemporary Mexican culture; a new working strategy that is representative of a new generation of practitioners who disguise themselves in an attempt to radically break out of a legacy that no longer represents them.
![The two murals by
Siqueiros, together with a
third, were originally situated
in the courtyard of his atelier/
home. Escobedo turned the
court into a square The two murals by
Siqueiros, together with a
third, were originally situated
in the courtyard of his atelier/
home. Escobedo turned the
court into a square](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2012/11/19/modernist-masks/big_400508_9956_02_2012_09_Frida_Tallera_1321.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![La Tallera Siqueiros aims to recover
the cultural role of the legendary site, which during the late 1960s
and early 1970s was home to the late Mexican muralist and political activist
David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), by turning it into an active
“museum, workshop, artist residency and meeting point for the
production and criticism of art” La Tallera Siqueiros aims to recover
the cultural role of the legendary site, which during the late 1960s
and early 1970s was home to the late Mexican muralist and political activist
David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), by turning it into an active
“museum, workshop, artist residency and meeting point for the
production and criticism of art”](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2012/11/19/modernist-masks/big_400508_7574_03_2012_09_Frida_Tallera_10471.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
La Tallera Siqueiros Museum masks itself as modern to become contemporary
![The concrete pattern that
envelops the main structure
creates an uncertain border
between interior and exterior The concrete pattern that
envelops the main structure
creates an uncertain border
between interior and exterior](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2012/11/19/modernist-masks/big_400508_7036_04_2012_09_Frida_Tallera_14781.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![Besides providing a visual
link to the square, the
murals mark the volume
that houses the cafeteria on
the right and, on the left, the
archives and library block Besides providing a visual
link to the square, the
murals mark the volume
that houses the cafeteria on
the right and, on the left, the
archives and library block](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2012/11/19/modernist-masks/big_400508_2677_05_2012_09_Frida_Tallera_12531.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![A geometric concrete
grid composed of triangles
clads parts of the museum,
the initial core of which was
built in 1965 by Siqueiros.
As he once said, La Tallera
Siqueiros is “an idea that
Diego Rivera and I had in the
1920s: a workshop in which to
practise and teach everybody
the technique of murals” A geometric concrete
grid composed of triangles
clads parts of the museum,
the initial core of which was
built in 1965 by Siqueiros.
As he once said, La Tallera
Siqueiros is “an idea that
Diego Rivera and I had in the
1920s: a workshop in which to
practise and teach everybody
the technique of murals”](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2012/11/19/modernist-masks/big_400508_1788_06_P10100261.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![Frida Escobedo uses
materials and colours to
identify the different parts of
the museum: the pre-existing
structure, with the main
exhibition gallery, is painted
white, while the added parts
are in bare concrete Frida Escobedo uses
materials and colours to
identify the different parts of
the museum: the pre-existing
structure, with the main
exhibition gallery, is painted
white, while the added parts
are in bare concrete](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2012/11/19/modernist-masks/big_400508_4832_07_2012_09_Frida_Tallera_14571.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![The original support of the
murals, which the architects
reversed to create an access
through the square The original support of the
murals, which the architects
reversed to create an access
through the square](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2012/11/19/modernist-masks/big_400508_3059_08_PC200013.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
1. Octavio Paz, "Mexican Masks", in The Labyrinth of Solitude, Grove Press, New York 1985
2. According to the Sistema de Información Cultural's website
3. There were originally three large-scale murals — one of which faced the square — but only two of them were made available for use in the proposal due to lack of funds to restore the third