Houses of Los Cabos

Rating:
Summary: Sparkling text, stunning photographs
Review: HOUSES of LOS CABOS is a magnificent book for coffee table or gift-giving, presenting as it does eighteen spectacular homes on the Southern Baja California coast, in Rigoberto Moreno's truly breathtaking color photographs and with commentary by both architects and homeowners. But the large, lushly-produced book is more than that: its presentation page and wonderful Introduction are written by respected Mexican authors, and in its Prologue Mauricio Martínez, whose Amaroma Editions has published many of Mexico's most important art and photography books , gives the reader a glimpse of the passion his team shared over the course of the project.

Poet Raúl Aceves alludes first to the contrast between the desert, high cliffs and dazzling beaches of Los Cabos, and to its magic: "Some men become eagles/as some eagles become men./Others become salt in the sea/and carry legend away on the tides."

Then, in a surprisingly sparkling introductory text, Francisco Javier Ibarra documents the region's centuries of magic in a chronicle that extends from prehistory to current political events, from legend to little-known but memorable facts, from descriptions of Los Cabos as a distinctive ecosystem to Los Cabos as the setting for lively ancient and modern memoirs. By the time the English-speaking reader has perused the opening sections, (s)he realizes that this fine art book is also a glimpse into Mexico's Pacific coastal culture, that its writers are most generous in sharing their intimate view of what is sometimes considered Mexico's "Land's End"; (s)he will also be struck by the unusually careful translation, which allows full access to words as well as images, and hope that other international publishers follow Martinez' lead in this realm.

Opening HOUSES OF LOS CABOS, the first of Moreno's photographs one sees are brilliant angles of the massive cliffs and sea. This will be a book to engage one longer than most architectural/photographic tomes, as the eye cannot possibly take in even the natural details alone, in one sitting. The book's countless varied images also delight in their artful balance -- they are arranged in fine rhythm between interiors and exteriors, paeans to the landscape, to domestic architecture within the landscape, and to the inner life of luxe homes. The construction of architectural planes is celebrated throughout in gorgeous color, and described with substance and precision, to please the armchair traveler as well as the professional architect: architectural touches range from whimsical to majestic, allowing readers to avidly glean design ideas or to imagine themselves as honored houseguests.

Rating:
Summary: Architecture Of The Sublime
Review: Houses Of Los Cabos is first and foremost a photographic examination of the architecture of magnificent dwellings in an intensely rugged and beautiful setting. But this wonderful book also provides a fascinating, well-integrated view in both image and text of the community and landscape which inspired the creation of those homes. So it is a comprehensive look at an exotic locale as much as an extraordinary study of the houses which were constructed to take maximum advantage of a remote aerie at land's end, Baja California. The book itself is uniformly of the highest caliber. Thus the printing, binding, design and presentation of the text and photography leave nothing to be desired. Each time one opens the covers and begins to turn the pages new delights await. But I would be remiss if I failed to emphasise in this review the sheer brilliance of the photographer, Rigoberto Moreno. Because it is his contribution which elevates a remarkable work to the level of the sublime. Which means that in addition to a superb volume which details the imaginative use of a supernal setting for house construction, we have as well a portfolio of photographs that are worthy of collection in their own right. Houses Of Los Cabos is a treasure that provides the reader with a feast for the eyes and the imagination. In my opinion, it is one of the finest recently published books to address cogently the development of architectural innovation at the end of the twentieth century.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Cabo !
Review: I live in Los Cabos for 10 years and I discover day by day the incredible architecture and richness of Baja in their houses, landscaping and magnificent views. I can reconize some friends' homes, they were developing as splendid designs with love and dedication in all their details. Please take the time to travel along this book to discover a part of Land's End and enjoy it yourself the magic of Baja.