Architecture news: Letter from Mexico

Architecture | 28 Apr 2011 | By

BNKR Arquitectura: Sunset Chapel, Acapulco, Mexico
BNKR’s sunset chapel is made to look like just another colossal granite rock atop Acapulco’s hills. By elevating the chapel five meters into the air, the architects took full advantage of the views while paying respect to the site’s vegetation
Photography: © Esteban Suárez

BNKR Arquitectura: Sunset Chapel, Acapulco, Mexico

FREE Fernando Romero: Museo Soumaya, Mexico City
FREE Fernando Romero’s brand new Soumaya Museum is a sculptural block in central Mexico City. Home to the expansive art collection of telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim (Romero’s father-in-law), the museum’s facade is composed of 15,000 aluminium hexagonal modules that wrap an economical substructure. A continuous ramp connects all the facilities, allowing you to make your way slowly through six floors of spectacular exhibition space
Photography: Adam Wiseman

FREE Fernando Romero: Museo Soumaya, Mexico City

Productora: Casa Valle de Bravo, Valle de Bravo, Mexico
Productora opted for three shallow rectangular volumes in its Casa Valle de Bravo. Stacked up in a zigzag composition, the volumes provide protected courtyards as well as large terraces that are completely open to Lake Avándaro
Photography: Rafael Gamo

Photography: Rafael Gamo

Productora: Casa Valle de Bravo, Valle de Bravo, Mexico

at103: Rehabilitation of Lecumberri Prison/National Archive, Mexico DF
at103 maintained and clarified the formal structure of the panopticon, seen in these renders, without using any allegoric elements. The introverted building is ’ripped’ open and provides free access to the gardens and open spaces of the former prison

at103: Rehabilitation of Lecumberri Prison/National Archive, Mexico DF

Arquitectura 911sc and Hector Esrawe: Sala De Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico DF
Working in collaboration with Hector Esrawe, Arquitectura 911sc transformed the facade and lobby of Sala de Arte Publico Siqueiros (SAPS), the former home and workshop of one of Mexico’s prominent muralists, David Alfaro Siqueiros. The murals are now visually connected with the street to emphasise the public character of the museum

Arquitectura 911sc and Hector Esrawe: Sala De Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico DF

Dear Architects: Casa de Uno, Monterrey, México
Each of the spaces in Dear Architects’ Casa de Uno are functionally independent, though the robust black exterior and gorges of light in the interior unite them together. A seemingly heavy steel plate door gives entrance to a ’cut of air’

Dear Architects: Casa de Uno, Monterrey, México

Tatiana Bilbao: Botanical Gardens, Culiacán
Architect Tatiana Bilbao was brought in to set things right in Culiacán’s lush botanical gardens. The new master plan is based on an abstract motif of the branches of a tree superimposed on the existing pathways’ forms. Twelve rocky pavilions house the art-interventions of 30 different artists

Tatiana Bilbao: Botanical Gardens, Culiacán

Fernanda Canales in collaboration arquitectura911sc: Coyoacán Cultural Center, Mexico DF
Fernanda Canales and arquitectura911sc are renovating a 19th century house into a cultural center in the South of Mexico City. A new glazed box stuck to the front façade prominently shows people the way to the library

Rojkind Arquitectos in collaboration with Hector Esrawe: Tori Tori, Mexico City
This new Japanese restaurant in Mexico City (pictured under construction) is another good example of how local Mexican craftsmen can realise digital design by simple means. The two-layer steel lattice covers the facade of an existing house and makes a reference to ivy growing on the existing walls behind it. Designer Hector Esrawe custom-designed all the furniture
Photograph: Paúl Rivera

Frida Escobedo in collaboration with Jose Rojas: Boca Chica, Acapulco
Frida Escobedo and Jose Rojas have brought an original hotel from the 1950s - designed by pre-eminent Mexican architect Antonio Peláes - back to life. Clean lines and strong geometric forms softened by a palette of vintage green and original terrazzo floors mark the 36 signature rooms in this new boutique hotel in the beach town of Acapulco
Photography: Undine Pröhl

Frida Escobedo in collaboration with Jose Rojas: Boca Chica, Acapulco

Richard Meier & Partners: W Santa Fe, Liberty Plaza, Mexico City
The New York-based Modernist has a monumental new work in the offing for Mexico City’s Santa Fe district. Liberty Plaza, a towering complex of three 15-storey towers, will include Starwood’s new W Santa Fe hotel, with far-reaching views from its rooftop pool complex

Richard Meier & Partners: W Santa Fe, Liberty Plaza, Mexico City

Richard Meier & Partners: W Retreat Kanai, Kanai Resort, Yucatan
Meier’s team is also overseeing Starwood’s new W Retreat Kanai, a serene sprawl of geometric precision. The 180-room hotel will be the anchor of the new Kanai Resort on the mangrove-covered Yucatan coast

Richard Meier & Partners: W Retreat Kanai, Kanai Resort, Yucatan

Architecture news: Letter from Mexico

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