Azul y Verde exhibition by Lanza Atelier x AGO Projects – Photography is by Santiago Ruiseñor.

Design. Mexico City gallery AGO Projects presents Azul y Verde (Blue and Green), a solo exhibition by Mexican architecture studio Lanza Atelier—the team behind this year’s Serpentine Pavilion in London. The show draws inspiration from a fascinating linguistic quirk: across cultures and throughout history, from Ancient Greece to the Maya Empire, a single word often described both green and blue. In many cases, the ‘blue’ word simply didn’t exist. It’s a brilliant reminder that language and culture can dissolve perceived contrasts, fundamentally shaping how we think and see the world.

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Building on this idea, the studio playfully explored contrasts through material experimentation and form. At the heart of Azul y Verde sits an expressive quarter-circle rug, dramatically split between green and blue. According to the studio, the carpet embodies the notion of “colour as a fluid concept, shaped by perception and culture rather than fixed definitions.”

Sustainability runs throughout, with every piece crafted from reused materials. Atop the rug, an angular, powder-coated steel sofa and armchair are upholstered in crisp white upcycled boat-sail fabric—a lovely marriage of maritime heritage and contemporary design.

Wooden chairs with wicker seats and intriguing double backs play clever perceptual tricks, particularly when turned on their side. Along one wall, shelves fashioned from simple wooden boards evoke industrial scaffolding with refreshing honesty.

Nearby sits a striking high-gloss Black Flower table, its gear-like top surrounded by matching chairs that, when pushed in, complete a perfect circle. Also on display is a polished aluminium coffee table with a glass top that opens from one side like a mouth, creating a vitrine for objects placed beneath.

Against the back wall, a series of metal works includes a lamp with a sinuous wrought-iron stem suspending a delicate paper lantern—the robust rebar and fragile paper beautifully illustrating the exhibition’s central meditation on contrasts.

Azul y Verde also challenges the boundary between architecture and design. “We approach furniture as architecture at a different scale, rejecting rigid boundaries between disciplines,” Lanza Atelier explains—an ethos that resonates throughout this thoughtfully curated exhibition.

All photos are by Santiago Ruiseñor.