PUERTA

The Alameda Central, a green reservoir in the middle of the city, was once entered through a set of gates, which restricted but also staged the access to the park. By referring to those small architectures, Puerta proposes a contemporary reflection on this transition between two worlds. Situated on the edge pf the park, the pavilion belongs to the city, yet its compositional principle draws from the park experience: an upper layer made of a dense, opaque tree canopy, and an open sprawl of trunks below.

From the outside, the pavilion is presented as a dark blue strip standing against the foliage, propped up two meters high by a series of slender columns. A simple wood construction outlines an enfilade of four open rooms crossing the Alameda’s main axis. On the inside, one finds a succession of roofless interiors with intensified walls, painted in a vivid red, and a series of stepped objects on the ground. Partly contained by the rooms, partly sticking outside, these tiered volumes are clad in fragments of dark roofing material bound with white sealant that together create a stone-like impression, echoing the process of Mexico’s modernization; a constant confrontation to the resisting pre-Columbian ruins buried in the ground.

Competition 2019
100 m2
Mexico DF, Mexico
Team: Guillem Pons, Galaad Van Daele
Mark