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| Diego had a pair of house designed in the "Modern" style by Juan O'Gorman, circa 1928. |
The houses are famous for being a "his & hers" pair, connected by a bridge at the rooftop level. |
They are also famous for the cacus fence that Diego had planted. |
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Frida's house was smaller, and painted blue. |
Diego's house was painted red and featured a large studio with great northern light. |
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Massive concrete buildings stay cool in the blazing midday sun... |
Frida's house only had access to the rooftop and the bridge via outside stairs that led directly from her bedroom window. |
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Diego's study, with a socialist political journal still open on his desk. |
A short hallway leads from the study to a mezzanine overlooking the studio. |
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The studio is filled with giant paper mache figures used in Mexico's Day of the Day festivals. |
All concrete post & beam construction, with concrete and brick floors cast in place, now sagging a trifle. |
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The street in front, now named after Diego, leads though the quiet plant-filled neighborhood of San Angel. |
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A short taxi ride to the adjacent suburb of Coyoacan takes you to the neighorhood of Frida's family home, the Casa Azul. |
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| Casa Azul is actually more a "compound" than a "house". Now it is a museum of Frida's art and life. |
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More paper mache Day of the Dead figures greet visitors in the entrance hallway. |
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| Frida even had a miniture Aztec pyramid built in the courtyard of Casa Azul. |
Pre-Columbian artifacts decorate the walls of the buildings inside the courtyard. |
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A small cafe affords a quiet shady place for visitors to rest their aching tourist-feet. |
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Traditionally, these "Judas" characters are made to resemble authority figures like police and judges, and are filled with fireworks and exploded into a cloud of paper scraps and smoke. |
In between feuds and fallings-out, Diego and Frida did live here together for a number of years. |
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| The bright primary colors at first seem garish, but mingled with the bright Mexican sun and the deep shady courtyard spaces, they quickly grow on you. |
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| Windows to light Frida's studio. |
The Judas figures see you out the door and back into the streets of Coyoacan. |