Through architecture, interior design and furniture, STUDIOROCA portrays a distinct Mexican aesthetic, where sophisticated, elegant designs become bold statements of strong masculine lines and dark moody shades that contrast dramatically with elongated curves and highly textured surfaces.
Based in Mexico City, the studio has, since its inception, offered much more than simple design solutions, its impetus always being to meaningfully improve lives through design. By promoting, supporting and offering a platform for other Mexican designers in its two stores in Polanco and Condesa, STUDIOROCA has been at the forefront of the modern-day Mexican design movement for over 15 years.
The studio’s ability to artfully blend its own architecture and interior design with both local and international product is testament to its global outlook. While proudly Mexican and inherently influenced by the country’s culture and craftsmanship, its designs talk to a cosmopolitan, international sense of style.
STUDIOROCA’s respect for the environment and reverence of traditional skills has led to the pursuit of sustainable practices, while its affinity for collaboration and promotion of artisanal skills has seen the studio produce work in conjunction with countless talented designers and crafts people.
Its confidently utilitarian designs are the result of risk-taking, boundary-pushing processes that emerge from STUDIOROCA’s constant quest to establish innovative solutions, while simultaneously respecting each of its projects’ unique locations, incorporating the surrounding environment into the design language. Working closely with clients, a personal rapport ensures delving into the core of every design requirement, leading to the ultimate achievement of deeply embedded needs.
Ultimately, what STUDIOROCA presents is a fresh iteration of Mexican design, a version which is at once moving, intoxicating and comforting.
STUDIOROCA’s focus on sustainability has seen the company establish itself as a trailblazer in the realization of buildings and furniture pieces that are produced with a sense of conscience and responsibility, taking into account the full production chain, from material source to distribution of wealth.
The studio has done away with environmentally harmful varnishes on its furniture pieces, and now only use FSC-certified hardwood. It also pledges to keep materials to a minimum, a consideration most appreciated in its 77 range of furniture, where only the necessary functional structures have been designed, and where small leftover pieces of wood from bigger cuts are utilized, rather than sourcing new pieces.
This approach continues in its architecture and interior designs, with 80% of materials sourced locally. This, coupled with its use of solar panels, the harvesting of rainwater, and the inclusion of indigenous gardens in its projects, has led to STUDIOROCA’s application for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, which is currently under review.
For the studio, sustainability has a much further reach than the natural environment, however. Its projects take into account social, cultural and economic sustainability too, by ensuring its production chain – from the craftspeople producing hand-worked elements, to its low-environmental-impact manufacturing line – all sits within Mexico so that the communities benefiting financially are those who have been an integral part of the process.
Combining its deep respect for handcrafted, artisanal product, and its future-forward approach to technology and innovation, STUDIOROCA’s range of furniture places emphasis on high-quality offerings, producing its ranges in low quantities, often customized to suit the specific requirements of its varied projects. Veering away from industrialized production lines, it employs sophisticated hand-worked machinery, in line with its approach to sustainability and simplicity.
