Guadalajara

Iconic modernist architecture and a thriving local creative scene are but some of the reasons to visit Guadalajara

The tree-lined streets of Colonia Americana and Lafayette are home to some of Guadalajara's most fashionable restaurants, bars and hotels, including Design Hotels ™ member Casa Habita, where smartly dressed tapatíos, as the locals are called, can be found lunching on the terrace. A casual wander around the neighbourhood also reveals a trove of architectural treasures, including early gems by Pritzker Prize winner and Guadalajara native Luis Barragán, Mexico's most acclaimed architect. It's one of many surprises in store in this highly underrated cultural heartland, home to mariachi and tequila as well as some of the country's greatest talents.

Barragán, who later moved to Mexico City, co-founded Guadalajara's Escuela Tapatía de Arquitectura, a regionalist movement that mixed Mediterranean and Moorish influences with indigenous styles. Among the houses that can be seen are Barragán's sunfloweryellow Casa ITESO Clavigero (built in 1929), which now functions as a cultural centre run by the city's Jesuit University, and Casa Cristo, completed the same year, housing the state's College of Architects. Several blocks away is Casa Franco, occupied by the city's leading contemporary art gallery Travesia Cuatro, and almost next door is the elegant Art Deco Casa Quiñones, designed by Barragán's contemporary Pedro Castellanos.

These can be discovered on foot during walking tours guided by David Lozano, a local architect who promotes Guadalajara's architectural heritage through his modernist-focused digital platform MoMo GDL (Movimiento Moderno Guadalajara). His favourite buildings include Casa Orozco, the home and studio of the great muralist José Clemente Orozco, which was completed in 1938 and whose designer is still unconfirmed, being either Orozco or his friend Barragán; and the sprawling Mercado San Juan de Dios, Latin America's largest indoor market, designed by Alejandro Zohn and inaugurated in 1958.

The market is located in Guadalajara's historic centre, blessed with atmospheric plazas, neoclassical landmarks, a neo-Gothic cathedral and the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Hospicio Cabañas. This early 19thcentury former hospital houses a magnificent series of frescoes by Orozco, whose politically charged work from the 1930s depicts tales of colonial Spanish and indigenous Mexican culture. It's essential viewing, as are his murals at the Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace).

But for all this history, Guadalajara is also very much in the present, with a thriving tech sector and vibrant creative scene partly spearheaded by José Noé Suro, a central figure in the city's cultural life. Suro says luminaries such as Barragán and Orozco left because of the lack of opportunities, but the city has rebounded creatively since the 1990s, when artists, designers and entrepreneurs decided to stay, or moved there, attracted by a higher quality of life compared to Mexico City.

Suro's ceramics workshop, Cerámica Suro, was founded by his father in 1951, though José Noé has made it the go-to for an international roll call of renowned artists, architects and interior designers. The workshop, in the district of Tlaquepaque, is a must-visit, its orange-tiled facade standing out in the grey industrial zone. ‘You don't need an appointment, just knock on the door and if I'm not there someone else will show you the factory,' Suro says. What's more, his team of artisans can custom make any order — the perfect memento by which to remember this under-the-radar city.