Behind Closed Doors: Restoring Mérida’s Historic Soul — What stories live behind the grand old doors of Mérida’s Centro?
Join us for a special MEL Talk with Pia Rosado, landscape architect, designer, and co-author of Mérida a Puertas Abiertas / Behind Closed Doors, a stunning bilingual book that explores 18 beautifully restored homes in Mérida’s historic center. Told through personal anecdotes and intimate design journeys, the book — and this talk — reveal how abandoned ruins have been brought back to life, and how Centro has become a magnet for transformation.
Pia’s approach is warm and conversational, sharing not just what changed, but why it matters — culturally, emotionally, and architecturally.
Co-authors Eva Lucía Reyes and Pia Rosado
About the Speaker
Maria Pia Rosado Vega is a UC Davis–trained landscape architect and former Fulbright Scholar. She founded A Pleno Sol, Mexico’s first all-women landscape architecture firm, and spent over 30 years designing high-end residential and corporate projects. After retiring from landscape design, she turned to interior design and authorship, publishing Verde Mexicano (2016) and Mérida a Puertas Abiertas (2024).
Though born in Mexico City, Pia’s Yucatecan roots run deep — and her return to Mérida’s Centro over a decade ago marked a “full circle” moment in her life. She now divides her time between CDMX and Mérida, painting, traveling, cooking, and continuing to explore the hidden beauty behind Mérida’s doors.
About the Co-author
Trained as a graphic designer trained at Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan, Eva Lucía Reyes has made books her creative territory for more than three decades. Her work - recognized in México and Spain - includes Haciendas de México, Pintura de los Reinos: Identidades Compartidas and the collection Grandes Maestros de Arte Popular. Since 2018, she has made a restored old house in Mérida her second home.
Pia will offer copies of her book for sale after the talk for MX$1800, and will make a generous donation to MEL for each copy sold. You can read about Pia and her book here, and secure a copy of the book online in the MEL Shop. The perfect one-size-fits all holiday gift, for friends and family or even as corporate gifts for clients, employees ,Airbnbs and rental homes, etc. Get one while they last!