PAMPA - HABITACION 116: TODAY, OUR NORTH IS THE SOUTH.
Mexico City, February 2026
Pampa is an exhibition presenting the new collection by the architecture and interior design studio Habitación 116, represented by UNNO Gallery, inspired by the creative process and mindset of the Llanura region.
Pampa is composed of seven basic pieces that explore the vernacular techniques characteristic of traditional Pampean furniture.
Pampa continues Habitación 116’s creative process, in which, through repetition around a single theme and the exploration of different techniques, materials, scales, and forms, they shape their pieces and collections.
The exhibition was presented to the public from February 4 to 8, 2026.
Habitación 116 presents PAMPA, born from the open and austere landscape of the plains. A territory where dwelling has historically been resolved from the essential.
There, furniture emerges as a direct extension of the body, of labor, and of everyday life: pieces constructed from available materials and knowledge passed down through craft.
The collection takes as its starting point the Argentine handwoven rawhide strap technique, a vernacular method characteristic of basic Pampean furniture, present in pieces such as the matera chair. In this tradition, leather—softened and hand-stretched—functions simultaneously as structure, surface, and support. More than a constructive resource, the weave constitutes a material memory: a system in which resistance, repair, and permanence define the relationship between object and user.
From Mexico, Habitación 116 approaches this heritage not as formal reproduction, but as a contemporary translation. The interlacing technique is reinterpreted through artisanal jute straps, a material likewise linked to manual labor, the rural sphere, and an economy conscious of its resources. This material shift does not seek to replace leather, but to establish a dialogue between territories, crafts, and cultures, transferring a vernacular logic into a new geographic and symbolic context.
“Brothers, stand united,
for that is the first law;
let there be true union
at all times, whatever they may be…”
“Los hermanos sean unidos,
porque esa es la ley primera;
tengan unión verdadera
en cualquier tiempo que sea...”
The weave thus becomes both a constructive and metaphorical gesture: union, tension, and balance. A structure that refers to a shared cultural trunk in Latin America, where the hand is a tool, matter is narrative, and the object accompanies everyday life.
About Habitación 116
Mexican interior architecture studio based in Mexico City, under the creative direction of architects Rafael Rivera and Javier Claverie. Focused on the development of interior design and furniture projects, the studio seeks to create unique spaces and concepts that endure over time, characterized by pure lines and abstract designs.
H116’s professional experience stems from collaborations with various architecture studios, luxury brands, chefs, museums, and private clients in Mexico and abroad. Their work ranges from consultancy to the construction and fabrication of specific interior architecture projects, including furniture and accessories produced in their own workshops.
PAMPA is a project supported and managed by UNNO Gallery. It is the fifth project in an ongoing collaboration between both entities, centered on historical research focused on the relationships and influences between Mexican and international artists, architects, and designers of the first half of the twentieth century in Mexico.
As a complement to this collection, H116 and ENCRUDO, a ceramic studio based in Guadalajara, present a series of utilitarian ceramic drums.
Handcrafted, they incorporate the new glazes developed by Encrudo, establishing a meeting point between both visions around materiality, craftsmanship, and everyday use as a shared territory.
About UNNO Gallery
Unno is a platform by and for Latin American young designers whose aesthetic concept portrays the conjunction of strong poetic statements and deep life experiences with fresh ideas that constantly defy the status quo and rekindle shape and materials. We nourish our inspiration from the abstraction of the visual language inherited by the first inhabitants of our homelands: the maestros who decoded life’s mysteries through the unfading dialect of myth, the proud narrators who crafted stories out of limestone and jade.
The pieces that occupy this sacred space, which is devoted to art, will always pay homage to the sacred origins envisioned by our forefathers and embody the core aspect that amalgamates our different styles: experimentation and elevated materials that grant every shape, color and image a distinctive identity.
Proyect Credits:
Design team: Rafael Rivera, Javier Claverie, Théo Clément, Francisco Valdez.
Photography: Alejandro Ramirez.
