Beatriz Peschard Mijares is a Mexican architect. She founded the architecture firm Bernardi Peschard Arquitectura in 2000 and has focused mostly on "high-end" residential and hospitality projects. Her designs, such as the AA315 House in Mexico City, use motifs from iconic architects such as Mies van der Rohe. Many of Peschard’s designs, including the AA315 House, incorporate the surrounding landscape with an ultra-luxury modernist design. Peschard's combination of nature and modernism has received widespread acclaim. In 2020, she won the Créateurs Design Award for Best Residential Design for the Country HouseValle de Bravo. Peschard currently serves on the editorial board of Architectural Digest México.
Early Life and Education
Born in Mexico City, Peschard traveled frequently as a child. Citing global culture and art forms as primary influences, Peschard has observed that her trajectory toward architecture began when she was eight years old, designing a pool to be built in the empty lot next to her family's home. Peschard studied architecture in Mexico City at Universidad Anáhuac México and was taught by many of Mexico’s most famous 20th century architects, including Mario Pani, José Luis Calderón Cabrera, Héctor Bracho, and Sara Topelson. Her primary influences are Luis Barragan, Richard Meier, and Aldo Rossi, though Peschard has stated her inspiration from classic architecture is paired alongside creative ingenuity in order to "find the formula to do something new.”
Personal life
While a student at Universidad Anáhuac México, Peschard met Alejandro Bernardi, who later became her husband. Bernardi co-founded Bernardi + Peschard Arquitectura with Peschard in 2000. On being married to her business partner, Peschard noted that it brings “heart” into her work. Her family was a significant influence in the development of her style, as she stated, “In my family they always taught me how to work and that challenges make you learn, they enrich you.” This incorporation of the personal sphere into professional projects has resulted in a deep passion for seeking a balance between durability, neutrality and timelessness, rooted in Peschard’s own balance between “family life, being a mother, and her work.”
Career
Peschard has designed private homes, residential projects, and mixed-use corporate offices in Mexico since 1991. In interviews, she has stated that she believes Mexico City is a uniquely situated space for architectural experimentation. This profound belief in the importance of taking risks has resulted in her ultra-luxury modernist style, which incorporates a minimalist design seamlessly balanced with the surrounding natural environment. Her interior designs often "revolve around art," and her buildings have included high-end furniture pieces by Henge, Ceccotti, Minotti and Christophe Delcourt. According to Architectural Digest, the harmony of space in her designs is achieved "due to the application of a sober color palette, where gray tones and a contrast of natural woods converge." Peschard stated, "Efforts have been made to transmit feelings of tranquility and beauty in all areas of the project." Peschard has advocated for architectural design to best reflect the desires of its future occupants. She said, "Although the work may be signed by us, it is the client who will inhabit it, that is why we always have it in mind." In 2016, Architectural Digest described Peschard's work on a West Mexico City apartment, writing, "For Alejandro Bernardi and Beatriz Peschard, the interior design of this project should reflect a refined lifestyle. It is an apartment located to the west of Mexico City with an extension of 454 square meters and 150 meters of terrace, which serve as a canvas to capture the proposed objective, a perfect communion between interior and exterior." In 2017, Peschard stated that it’s important to “Try to invent new things, not to copy either the Mexican or the foreigner... search our history and combine what we find with technological and technical advances to create something personal and innovative.”
