10/14/2026
How can tradition shape modern design?
At Edith Farnsworth House, we celebrate the women whose ideas have challenged conventions and shaped the built environment. In Fertile Ground: Crossroads of Design in Mid-Century Mexico, discover the work of Clara Porset, a pioneering designer who looked to Mexico’s material culture to create a distinctly modern design language.
One of Porset’s most well-known designs, Butaque, drew on a form with both pre-Columbian and Spanish influences. She studied its regional variations, structure, and use of materials, then reimagined its proportions and experimented with woven fibers to meet modern needs for comfort. Rather than treating tradition as something fixed in the past, Porset used it as a foundation for innovation.
The result? A design that connects modern living to Mexico’s history, climate, craftsmanship, and sense of place.
See Clara Porset’s work in Fertile Ground at Edith Farnsworth House. MUAC Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo
Plan your visit: edithfarnsworthhouse.org/
Photos 1 and 2: Erin Law
Photo 3: Interior of Juan Sordo Madaleno’s Home, 1952, Archivo Histórico de Sordo Madaleno
