​We blogged about geometry in urban architecture in one of our previous posts; actually, it was more about the architecture of density, where Michael Wolf, fascinated by China’s complex urban dynamics, presents his view on living in Asia.

This time, ​​Jared Lim caught our eye with his photographs of urban geometry, lines and patterns.

Jared’s photography series “Urban Exploration” shows the urban geometry of cities he visited around the world. Jared likes to photograph architecture, capturing the repetitive building elements on large scales and manipulating the apparent depth of his work.

Without the irregular traces of human in his work it becomes hard to gauge the scale of his work, or sometimes even guess what you’re looking at. But the half-opened windows and window dressings make it clear that we are looking at the facade of a building, even if much of his work has us stuck on the outside, looking in.

Grow, Catch, Prepare, Eat… Repeat.

By / Por: Romana Lilic
Photos / Fotos: LA76 Photography

I come from a family with a specific focus on food. Both of my grandfathers were cultivating bees and making honey; my grandmother was raising livestock: pigs, rabbits, poultry and goats; my father loves to fly fish, cook and bake; and we all were in charge of cultivating the gardens. It is no surprise then, that I love to eat. Eating fresh and quality food was always crucial in my upraising. We didn’t call it farm to table then, but these days, when a chef proudly exclaims “This beet was in the ground 23 minutes ago!” while bringing to the table the appetizers of the day, I get that warm and homey feeling, again.

With my grandparents passing away, and living about 10,000 miles away from my parents, I found myself getting back to my roots: planting my first organic Baja garden, preparing creative meals with friends and eating out have become some of my favorite pastimes.

The awareness of eating well and healthy in southern Baja is extremely high. We frequent organic markets to be able to prepare delicious meals at home, many restaurants buy produce directly from farmers, and many farmers have opened their doors to guests, eager to have a meal while almost literally watching it come out from the soil. Farm to table concept here is complimented with “ocean to table”; the rich waters of the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean are our supply of daily fresh seafood.

With a touch of water Baja’s desert comes to life and organic farms sprout up all around the state, powered by oases, underground waters and estuaries. One of the farms, connected with the San Jose del Cabo’s Estuary is certified organic farm Huerta Los Tamarindos. The property dates back to the 19th century, when they used to cultivate sugar cane, being the area’s major export during that time. In 2003 they focused on the cultivation of organic produce. Today they grow more than 100 different plants, and are one of the major producers of herbs in Mexico. Locally the farm sells products to restaurants and to residents at the organic markets, while the majority of their production goes to the United States and Canada. At my recent farm tour the farm owner Enrique Silva showed me the property with more than 100 year old mango trees, a banana plantation, eight different varieties of aubergines, tomatoes, a rich variety of herbs and so much more.

Besides cultivating organic produce, the Huerta (farm) offers farm tours, entertaining and educational cooking classes, and a ranch house style restaurant, with magnificent green vistas over the fields. While visiting, you can purchase the products produced at the farm, including different organic sauces, herb salts and infused oils.

“Farming in a desert is an art. It needs to be very well structured, in order to use as little of water as possible. At Flora Farms we use 1/10 of water as it is used in the regular environment,” explained the farm’s owner Gloria Greene.

Flora Farms is nestled in the foothills of the Sierra de La Laguna Mountains in San Jose del Cabo. Gloria started the farm more than 10 years ago, when she opened an organic restaurant, Flora, but realized that there was no organic produce in the area to begin with. Her dream was to have all organic produce at the same place, where she could grow the food, raise the animals and prepare meals. Once a 10 acre farm, it  has expanded to 50 acres with a focus of reaching 100% local consumption. The Farm supplies its own restaurants including Flora’s Field Kitchen, Flora’s Grocery, the Culinary Cottage owners, and selected local restaurants.

There is always something going on at Flora’s Farm: the restaurant and bar are often fully booked, so be sure to call in advance and reserve your seat. Live music, jazz concerts, family style evenings, cooking classes, gallery exhibitions, events and weddings, are only some of the activities happening at the farm. This summer, I am looking forward to new additions: a vintage ice cream trailer, home made beer and coffee roasting. Don’t miss trying their special cocktail “farmarita” or farm julep, a watermelon mojito served in a glass jar and decorated with edible farm flowers.

When in Baja, visit our organic farms, enjoy the exquisite meals created with local produce and the freshest seafood. Talk to chefs and farmers, ask questions, learn new things; they love to share their secrets with you.

Romana wrote this article for ESCAPES magazine, issue 8, 2012.

Farm to Table, organic farms – Images by Romana Lilic @LA76

Tonight, September 15, 2012, the entire Cabo San Lucas, as well as the entire country, will be celebrating 202 years of Mexican Independence from Spain.  Mexican Independence and Mexican Revolution, which we celebrate in November, are two events in Mexican history that led to the formation of governments and laws that guarantee the rights of freedom, education, health and job for everyone in Mexico.

For the occasion we did a photo shoot at Capella Pedregal with the Mariachi Quartet, who will be entertaining guests with traditional Mexican songs in the celebration of this important holiday.  You can see the entire Mariachi photo gallery here, and read the story about Mexico’s Independence Day below. ¡Viva Mexico!

Mexican Independence.  On the evening of September 15th 1810, the bells at Dolores Hidalgo rang loudly while a group of Mexican idealists summoned their fellow Mexicans to rise against the Spaniards.  This event, known as the Grito de Independencia, lead to a series of events that lasted 11 years, but at the end showed the way to Mexican Independence from Spain.

Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was the mastermind and leader of this movement.  With a group of intellectual Mexicans they all dreamed of a free and independent nation.  Months after the movement began, and after several victories of the insurgent army, during a battle the Spaniards arrested several leaders, including Hidalgo, and executed them in 1811.  Prior to their capture, Hidalgo had instructed the priest Jose Maria Morelos to lead the movement in the South, resulting in success during the following years.  By the end of 1815, Morelos was captured, prosecuted and executed.  Nonetheless, the movement continued with the patriots Guadalupe Victoria and Vicente Guerrero, who rallied Mexicans and Creoles (Mexican-born but of Spanish descendants) to their cause.

Almost towards the end of these fighting years, General Agustin de Iturbide resigned from the Spanish ranks to support the insurrecting army, and at the beginning of 1821, met with Vicente Guerrero.  Together they proclaimed the Iguala Plan, a plan whose interest focused on 3 important points: to establish the Independence of Mexico from Spain, declare the Catholic religion as the sole religion and to integrate all the social groups.  The result of this plan and of the past years of insurrection concluded with the marching of the Trigarante Army (Army of the Three Guarantees) into Mexico City on September 27th 1821, the day when Mexico was declared an independent country.

See the entire photo gallery with mariachi band here.

Petatlán is a small town a few miles east of Zihuatanejo.  We visited it for the first time in March 2012, when we visited Capella Ixtapa and the Food & Wine Festival Ixtapa Zihuatanejo.  We have heard much about Petatlán and its fame and decided to visit.  Roughly speaking, Petatlan is known for three things: typical Mexican street scene, the church, and its gold market.  The city was founded in 1550 and was previously inhabited by Cuitlatecos, Chumbias, Pantecas & Mexica tribes.  “Petatlán” comes from the Nahuatl ‘Petatl’ (Petate: The woven from the fibers of the Palm) and ‘Tlán’ (next to) meaning then: “Next to Petate”.

This August, we wish to visit Petatlán again, as they celebrate their famous “Fiestas del Santo Patrono de Petatlan”!  Petatlán has become a major pilgrimage site in the Guerrero state of Mexico.

The story of the “Holy Patron of Petatlan” comes from the 1500s, when a statue of Christ complete with a cross was found in the Petatlán River.  This was considered a miracle by the locals, and the Church of the Father of Jesus de Petatlán was built to house the statue.  The city suffered an earthquake, which called for a reconstructed church today that is both a modern and classic design in the heart of this small town.

One day before the day of the patron (August 6th), many pilgrims of all ages arrive from other parts of the state and most of them spend the night sleeping in the atrium of the church, the priests and people of the church usually offer them coffee & sweet bread, pozole and fresh fruit waters without distinction and free of charge.

During the Fiestas it is the tradition that people come from all over the area to ask the Petatlán Christ statue for help.  They leave photographs and needs pinned on boards behind the area where the statue is housed, in hopes of getting some sort of answer or solution to their needs.  Pictures of babies who are ill, the ponytails of girls after their ‘quinceañera’, and university diplomas cover these boards.

According to the tradition the entire first week of August visitors celebrate the main fiesta of the Holy Patron of Petatlán, and appreciate folk dance shows who give a representation of the conquer of Mexico by the Spaniards.  These groups dance the whole night of August 5th until the morning of the 6th, when very early in the morning the entire town goes to sing Las Mañanitas (a birthday song) to the Jesus of Petatlan.

Every afternoon of the festival occur typical pilgrimages by different sectors of the local population (taxi drivers, barrios, gold traders, etc.) and they all conclude in a mass service which occurs every night at 7 pm.

At the main town square street vendors offer typical Mexican sweets & food.  You can watch firework shows with typical Mexican characters as the “torito” & “castillos”, a truly not to be missed spectacle of traditional artisan fireworks.  Only in Mexico the brightness of color and festivities transcend to the brightness of faith.

Petatlán is well known for being a major gold market.  Just outside the pilgrimage site, you will find vendors and shops selling every piece of gold jewelry you can imagine at available prices.  Take advantage of it during your visit.

See the entire Petatlan photo gallery here:

Petatlan, Mexico – Images by Romana Lilic @LA76

In March of 2012, Daniel Kukla was awarded an artist’s residency by the United States National Park Service in southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park. While staying in the Park, he spent much of his time visiting the borderlands of the park and the areas where the low Sonoran desert meets the high Mojave desert. While hiking and driving, he caught glimpses of the border space created by the meeting of distinct ecosystems in juxtaposition, referred to as the Edge Effect in the ecological sciences. To document this unique confluence of terrains, he hiked out a large mirror and painter’s easel into the wilderness and captured opposing elements within the environment. Using a single visual plane, this series of images unifies the play of temporal phenomena, contrasts of color and texture, and natural interactions of the environment itself.

Daniel Kukla’s website

“I believe in an emotional architecture.”, once said one of Mexico’s most influential architects, Luis Barragán. Barragán reinvented Mexican modern architecture with sensuous aesthetics, vivid colors, attention to spaces and light, while accentuating the building’s natural surroundings. Emotional or sensual architecture is just how we could describe the style of San Jose del Cabo’s new contemporary home by acknowledged Mexican architects Javier Gutiérrez Toscano and Antonio Piá from ColectivoMX.

LA76‘s Romana Lilic wrote this article for ESCAPES magazine #7. Photographs by LA76, see the full photo gallery here.

Casa Gavión evokes an emotional reaction at your first encounter. The impact of its massive proportions, volumes, forms, textures and colors will not leave you unmoved, guaranteed. Before continuing to explore its spaces indoors and outdoors, we recommend that you take off your flip flops, as this home is best enjoyed barefoot. Then stretch your arms, open your hands, and get ready for a flood of sensations. Casa Gavión is literally a sensational home.

In an awarded architectural studio ColectivoMX, well known for their regionalism in home design, they had four principles in mind during the creation of this impressive nature conscious home; passive pollution of the area by using regional materials and local labor force during the construction, sensibility of the materials by using different textures and reinterpreting their usage, integrating the indoor and outdoor spaces, and thus maximizing the usage of the space, while keeping the home user friendly with low maintenance costs.

The concept of the home is based on its residents and the enjoyment of all the spaces, where exterior becomes equally important as interior, complimenting the great weather of 
Baja California Sur. All the spaces in Casa Gavión are looking to the exterior, with each room having its own garden or terrace.

Dining and living room open to the large terrace and patio with the pool and lounge area. Bedroom on the ground level looks to the cardon cactus patio, and the kitchen opens to the stone patio and the garden. Both master bedrooms on the 1st floor each have their own terrace, and on the 2nd floor there is a large terrace with 360 C views of the Sea of Cortez, adjacent golf courses and the majestic mountains, ideal for sipping wine at sunset and star gazing.

The key characteristic of this home and the essence for its name is the rock wall, “gavión”. While you will notice gavión at the sides of the federal highway between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, the architect reinterpreted its use and its excellent isolation features to protect the spaces in the home from the sun while at the same time making it function as blinds, letting the air through the wall and cooling the area.

The advantage of owning a home in Baja is being able to live inside and outside at the same time. When walking around, you will notice that this home is without windows: pocket doors have been built throughout the home, so when you are in, you can have them wide open and enjoy the fresh breeze, the salty ocean smell and the birds singing. Windows in Casa Gavión function as a security asset: you use your windows when you are not using your home. The orientation of the home, cross ventilation, pergolas and a rock wall ensure isolation within the home and eliminate the need to use the air-conditioning.

Eternal summer was one of the reasons for different textures, implemented in this home. Rock wall, pebble stones, gypsum, stucco, rustic plaster, fine plaster and wood are only some of the materials you will enjoy while walking around barefoot. In the main patio alone you can experience fine grass, beach sand, water, stucco and rustic plaster, which you can enjoy depending on your feelings and desires. Let your children play in the house and see how impressed by the textures they will be. The architect’s daughters are walking around barefoot with their hands stretched out, touching and feeling everything that surrounds them with great joy.

In the past, hearing the term “ecological home” we used to think of high construction and high maintenance costs. Luckily, with  advances in technology, acceptance of the eco standards world wide and with it also lower implementation prices, Javier Gutierrez confirms that the construction costs of this home didn’t exceed the construction cost of any regular home.

The home has been planed and prepared to help you save energy and money, while protecting the nature at the same time. Prepared system for solar energy will help greatly reduce the consumption of electricity. Grey water usage system is installed and ready to use. Ingenious planning of the pool, consisting of dipping pool, swimming pool and jacuzzi reduces the water consumption generally used in homes with pools. Besides that, the roof, which is the largest source of heat to any house, is isolated with thick high density foam, thus reducing the need for AC.

Hard to comprehend for anyone having experienced the summers in Baja, but proven true, is that in Casa Gavión you don’t need to use air-conditioning, even in the hottest summer months. The cross-ventilation, isolation, the mix of indoor and outdoor spaces, open pocket doors, ventilators and breeze assure a fresh wind through all the living areas. Even though, air-conditioners are set for days or moments too hot to handle.
Casa Gavión is truly a sensational home. It will tickle your senses and bring out emotions, every day, guaranteed.

Welcome to the fantasy world of Spanish artist Dara Scully. Her photos blend the lines between facts and fiction, and each of them is loaded with rich narrative potential. Acting frequently as the protagonist, Dara places herself in a storybook-like world where she plays with Bambi and baby elephants, has tea parties with bears, and plays hide and seek with wolves. Her bike flies with hot air balloons and her adventures rival those of Alice in Wonderland.

We love Dara’s dreamy photographs, and I hope we’ll soon see her images published in some storybook for children or for dreamers like us.

More of Dara’s work: website, flickr, Facebook. Until December 25, 2011, you can buy her prints (great Christmas present I’d say).

Around October 31 and November 1, a lot of people tend to get nationalistic in Mexico regarding the difference between the celebrations of the Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos) and Halloween. But what if I tell you how popular is these days to set up an offering altar for the day of the dead in the States?

It is widely known mexicans make fun of dead in every opportunity they have. And it is also said that “chicano” community allies with dead to laugh of “gringos”, but in the markets, in the offerings, in the stores and department stores across Mexico a ghost always floats: the ghost of Halloween.

Both the Day of the Dead and Halloween have common origins but very different social functions. To be able to analyze it without prejudices we will have to know first the history behind both holidays, and how these have transformed through the years.

Almost without exception, Mexicans (and a lots of foreigners as well) think that Día de los Muertos is a pure Mexican tradition that should remain intact, far from Halloween, trying to forget the old and ancient relationship between Mexico and the States. Some come, some go, merchandise and ideas move on both territories, as an untraceable quantity of signs that make the imaginary collective even more complex.

Halloween is a holiday that surfaced as we know it today in the United States, and today is related with plenty of commercial activity: massive costume sales, candies, horror movies and any other kind of exotic and dark paraphernalia related to death and “the world of the dead”. However, it’s origins trace back to the Celts and Druids (in France, Ireland, The U.K. and part of Spain), who in the last days of October (Oct 31 to Nov 2), celebrated “Samhain” or the end of the summer and the start of winter, a time of the year related back then to the dead of people due to cold weather.

Halloween shares dates with “Día de los Muertos”, because it was believed that in these dates the boundaries between live and dead blurred. Spirits wandered, and the entrances of houses had vegetables carved with scary faces to keep away the bad spirits. Because of tradition, people visited each house in the community and gave away food in exchange of praying for the souls. Streets used to get filled with candles to guide good spirits, and the people used costumes to disguise from the evil spirits.

Christians, always syncretic, grouped Samhain and started to call it “All Hallow’s Eve” or “All Saints Eve”, where a mass service was given in honor of the dead. Popular culture in The United Kingdom and Ireland continued the tradition to celebrate Hallowe’en on the night of October 31st, and here is where a lot of legends’ manners and traditions surfaced: the carved pumpkins, the costume and the famous “trick or treat”. Time after, this tradition traveled over the Atlantic and not only settled but flourished in the States.

Now getting back to Mexico, where the cult of the death is one of it’s more cultural characteristics. Origins go back to pre-columbian era, where in the ancient Mexican beliefs, the soul of men was immortal, and depending on which way the person died, they would go to specific places of the underworld (Omeyocan- for those killed in combat; Tlallocan- for the water-related dead; Mictlan- for those dead by natural causes). Those died by natural cause, had to travel a long 4 year journey to Mictlan. They where buried with a dog to be their companion in the trip and most of their belongings, useful for the long journey to Mictlan.

In the 10th month, ancient Mexicans celebrated “Ueymicaihuitl”, when they remembered the dead. When the Spaniard Colonization arrived, Cristianism again applied its very own syncretism to this festivity, transforming it into “Día de los Muertos”, on November 1st and 2nd, together with the “Día de Todos los Santos”.

Today “Día de los Muertos” is not an exclusive religious celebration, even completely non-religious groups set up offerings and altars to remember the dead. And let’s keep in mind that in Mexico each element of the altar has a symbolic and specific function: Candles- to guide the dead; Cempasuchitl flower- to symbolize light and glory; “Pan de Muerto” (Traditional sweet bread of Dia de los Muertos)- food and to remember the corporal remains; and Copal- to indicate solemnity and the openness to the mystic world.

Reality is Mexican traditions for the Day of the Dead and Halloween have merged because of globalization and intercultural exchange. For many, one represent resistance and the other dominance. However, Mexican offerings integrate more and more Halloween elements; media and marketing have done the same. Globalization and Halloween undermine the ancient Mexican cultural heritage? We don’t believe that, and at the same time we don’t consider them that antagonistic. Both are different forms of showing tribute and respect to death and the dead; they both celebrate the only possible certainty of humans: Death.

Ironic or not, every year it is more and more common to see traditional “Día de los Muertos” offerings in the United States. Both celebrations complement each other. More pumpkins in Mexico and more “Pan de Muerto” in California. And while Mexicans are the ones who take away their traditions, these are not rare to get popular like tacos, mariachi, and so on… Traditions are open to time: they generate new aesthetics with orange and purple colors, paper decorations and costume parties with tequila. Popular culture is alive, and that’s why it constantly changes.

We loved this minimalist photography, bright colors and geometrical compositions by German photographer Leontjew and wanted to share it with you.

See more by Leontjew on his Flickr stream.

This tequila article is published originally in ESCAPES magazine #7, of which I am the Editor in Chief. The article is written by my colleague Cristina, agave photographs are by LA76.

There are as many legends of Mexico as there are Mexicans and lovers of this beautiful and rich country. There is one legend though, that we all have in common and love to share with the world: the story of the legendary spirit, tequila. This is how it goes.

Many centuries ago in Mexico, there was a big thunderstorm and a lightning hit an agave plant field, burning them down to their core. Once the storm had passed, a soft and sweet smell lingered and people discovered a syrup-like liquid within the agave’s core. Someone tasted the liquid and enjoyed it, and then stored it later. He set it aside and over time saw that there was thick foam on it. After ditching the foam, the liquid had developed a richer and stronger flavor, and he drank it. Legend says it changed his personality, which led the people to believe that it was a gift from the goddess Mayahuel, a symbol of ancient fertility and drunkenness. This drink was then reserved for the lords and priests for use in different religious events and festivities. Later, after the Spaniards conquered Mexico, they decided to distill the drink and it came to be called aguardiente, in a little town in New Galicia (later called Jalisco). Local producers of the area continued to refine, age and produce the drink, increasing its popularity, and it began to be known for its birthplace’s name, Tequila.

The alluring fragrance of tequila has seduced many over the years, and countless love songs and heartbreaking poems have been written inspired by this unique drink. But what makes it so popular and such an icon of the Mexican culture? It is said that during the Independence War, Mexican Revolution and many other battles, Tequila was the drink of choice of the men. Tradition grew as to celebrate victories with it… and over time, it became a drink of celebration for all Mexican festivities. Probably, and because of this tradition, no other word is so intimately associated with fiestas, traditions, colors, flavors… and Mexico itself.

This much appreciated drink is distinguished by its production and aging process, its region and the choice of plant from which it comes. In order to be tequila, it must be distilled from Agave Tequilana Weber Variedad Azul (blue agave), as it is the variety of agave suited for its production within some municipalities of the designated tequila area: Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacan, Tamaulipas and Nayarit. Its production begins with the harvesting of the best agave plants. Only its core can be used to produce the drink. After boiling, fermenting and distilling the plant, and depending on the type of tequila that is desired, it is stored in different barrels for fixed times to give tequila its distinguishing flavor.

Although basically there are two categories of tequila, the industry has created different varieties to please all palates, these being the most commonly known:

• White or Silver. Un-aged tequila bottled no more than two months after its distillation and with the characteristic blue agave flavor.
• Young or Gold. It is the preferred choice for a Margarita, and has been softened with flavors such as caramel.
• Reposado or Rested. White tequila that has been left aging from two months and up to a year in oak barrels.
• Añejo or Aged. Aged from one to three years in small oak barrels, with a woody flavor and amber color.
• Extra-Añejo or Ultra-Aged tequila has been aged for a period of at least three years, in direct contact with the wood of oak.

Both white and young tequila tend to be harsher and bold in flavors, while the rested and (ultra) aged varieties offer a smoother and more complex flavor.

There are probably four elements or traditions that unquestionably relate to tequila: a caballito, a classic small glass used to drink it. It is said that years ago, landlords would go out to the fields with a jug of tequila and a lamb horn cut into a v-shaped glass into which the tequila was poured as to drink it fast and straight, while riding the caballito (while horseback riding). Another tradition is to drink it with salt and lemon, to smooth tequila’s artisanal strong flavor.  There is also the Sangrita, an original drink from Chapala, Jalisco, that used to be the perfect tequila companion, originally made with oranges, salt and chili but throughout the decades, the recipe has evolved and it is now commonly found made with tomatoes. And probably the most iconic element associated with tequila is the Margarita, a fresh and sizzling drink that, rumor has it, began in Acapulco when socialite Margarita Sames was experimenting in its hacienda’s bar for a drink that would refresh her invitees in a hot evening. She ended up mixing lime juice with tequila and triple sec, served it in a salt-rimed glass and well… the rest is history.

Drinking tequila is a feast for all senses: from admiring its shiny colors to smelling the oak in which it was aged and tasting the sweet caramel or spices sometimes used. This drink is greatly appreciated in Mexico and other countries, as it is a gift from Mexico’s ancestors to the world.

Did you know?

• The word agave means noble or admirable in Greek.
• Tequila is an Appellation of Origin; it indicates that has to be made within some municipalities in Mexico and has to contain at least 51% of blue agave, the rest can contain both fructose and glucose. Some of the best tequilas are made of 100% agave.
• All distilled spirits from the agave are called mezcal, only the ones made with blue agave are called tequilas.
• When drinking tequila, experts recommend serving it in a proper glass: for white use the caballito, drink rested from a sherry glass and aged from a cognac glass.
• Rested and aged tequilas are best enjoyed straight.
• It is not true that tequila has a worm. If you do get one, it is a caterpillar of a moth that producers intentionally put in the bottle.

For the tequila margarita recipe, please see ESCAPES magazine, page 33.