No need to tear down walls, says James Eddy ... "You're able to use specific (Mexican) colors and concepts in most any space," says Steven House, of House + House Architects in San Francisco.

and there are whole walls painted in fierce pink, yellow or purple—all good Mexican colors. The bedrooms are unusually large —some 23 ft. by 14 ft.—and the corridors are 10 ft. wide.

Police in Mexico City have gone from hunting vandals down to escorting artists whose work thrives on the streets to walls where they can paint free of the pressures of illegal activity.