Two large, terracotta-coloured architectural pyramids stand out among the green fields on the edge of the central Mexican city of Salvatierra. They belong to a complex called Módulo de Riego (Spanish for ‘irrigation module’), which forms the headquarters of the local Association of Agricultural Producers. Conceived as a cultural centre to celebrate balance and sustainability between humans and nature, while promoting the Guanajuato region's economy, produce, and connection with the land, the dramatic architecture is the brainchild of emerging architecture studio 3ME Arquitectura.
‘The organisation seeks to provide certainty to crop production by generating jobs and agricultural products, strengthening an interest in the land, and reaffirming identity in a conscious attempt to curb migration,' explain the architects, who looked at the region's agricultural building typologies and traditional hacienda structures for inspiration.
Enter the two large pyramidal volumes that frame the entrance to the site. ‘They are reminiscent of old grain silos that are scattered throughout the surrounding countryside, and give the building a sense of agricultural scale and meaning,' says the team.
Walking through the pyramids, visitors enter a large open courtyard, which is carefully paved and planted. A path leads into the various structures around it, containing space for offices, a training room, auditorium, reception area and product display, as well as ample on-site parking. Inside the pyramids, tall, white geometric halls provide flexible exhibition areas and multifunctional facilities for the community.
Working with familiar shapes and typologies, and memory and experience of the link between humans and nature, the architects also infused their design with contemporary references. Its strong shapes recall the Jesuit chimneys of Mineral de Pozos, a small town in Guanajuato; the drawings of Sigurd Lewererentz for an unbuilt crematorium in Malmo, Sweden; and the pyramidal structures of the Museo Casa das Histórias de Souto de Moura in Portugal.
The team hopes this centre will help revitalise the strong links this region has to agriculture. ‘It is only through the experience of the space that we rediscover the value of the utilitarian and vernacular buildings characteristic of this territory,' say the architects.
INFORMATION
-
This cult Los Angeles pop-up restaurant now has a permanent addressChef Brian Baik’s Corridor 109 makes its permanent debut in Melrose Hill. No surprise, it's now one of the hardest tables in town to book
-
French bistro restaurant Maset channels the ease of the Mediterranean in LondonThis Marylebone restaurant is shaped by the coastal flavours, materials and rhythms of southern France
-
How ethical is Google Street View, asks Jon Rafman in CopenhagenIn 'Report a Concern - the Nine Eyes Archives' at Louisiana Museum of Art, Copenhagen, Jon Rafman considers technology's existential implications
-
A cubist house rises in Mexico City, its concrete volumes providing a bold urban refugeCasa Ailes, a cubist house by Jaime Guzmán Creative Group, is rich in architectural expression that mimics the dramatic and inviting nature of a museum
-
Serenity radiates through this Mexican home, set between two ravinesOn the cusp of a lakeside town, Mexican home Casa el Espino is a single-storey residence by Soler Orozco Arquitectos (SOA)
-
Mexican landscape architect Mario Schjetnan's Grupo de Diseño wins 2025 Oberlander PrizeThe 2025 Oberlander Prize goes to Mexican landscape architect Mario Schjetnan and his studio, Grupo de Diseño, highlighting the creative's motto: 'We have a human right to open space'
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthThis September, Wallpaper highlighted a striking mix of architecture – from iconic modernist homes newly up for sale to the dramatic transformation of a crumbling Scottish cottage. These are the projects that caught our eye
-
A Mexican clifftop retreat offers both drama, and a sense of placeCasa Piscina del cielo, a clifftop retreat by Zozaya Arquitectos, creates the perfect blend of drama and cosiness on Mexico's Pacific Coast
-
Broken up into six pavilions, this brutalist Mexican house is embedded in the landscapeSordo Madaleno’s brutalist Mexican house, Rancho del Bosque, is divided up into a series of pavilions to preserve the character of its hillside site, combining concrete, curves and far-reaching views
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthWallpaper* has spotlighted an array of remarkable architecture in the past month – from a pink desert home to structures that appears to float above the ground. These are the houses and buildings that most captured our attention in August 2025
-
Estudio Ome on how the goal of its landscapes ‘is to provoke, even through a subtle detail, an experience’The Mexico City-based practice explores landscape architecture in Mexico, France and beyond, seeking to unite ‘art and ecology’
