Hasta La Ideas

An aluminium canopy speckled with triangular perforations shelters the space between old and new buildings at Mexico‘s National Film Archive and Film Institute, recently renovated by Rojkind Arquitectos (+ slideshow).

Mexican firm Rojkind Arquitectos was tasked with upgrading the existing facilities of the campus in Xoco, south of Mexico City, as well as adding extra cinema screens, an outdoor amphitheatre and additional storage vaults for the film archive.

Rebranded as Cineteca Nacional Siglo XXI, the complex is used a cut-through from a local metro station, which prompted the architects to create a sheltered space at the centre of the campus that functions as both a public gathering area and a lobby for the buildings.

“We didn’t want it to feel like you’re in the lobby of a commercial cinema, we wanted it to feel more like a university campus, with everything floating in a park” said studio founder Michel Rojkind.

The aluminium-clad canopy curves downwards to form the facade of a pair of new buildings. These accommodate four extra screening rooms, bringing the overall total up to ten, and create a two-storey zone for shops, cafes and seating areas.

“The added amenities have turned the campus into a favourite gathering space not only for moviegoers but also for Xoco residents and workers who have appropriated the space as if it were their backyard,” said the design team.

Two archive vaults were added to the existing four, making room for 50,000 extra reels of film, and a museum dedicated to the history of Latin American cinema was constructed.

Car parking areas previously dotted  around the campus have been consolidated into a single six-storey building, creating space for planted landscaping and the new 750-seat amphitheatre.

Photography is by Paul Rivera, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s a project description from Rojkind Arquitectos:

Cineteca Nacional Siglo XXI

Located in the southern quadrant of Mexico City, the National Film Archive and Film Institute of Mexico is home to the most important film heritage of Latin America. Its campus occupied an underutilised site of considerable dimensions within the strangled town of Xoco. This historic town, once surrounded by agricultural land, now sits deep within the urban sprawl and faces extinction due to economic and political pressures from developers and municipal authorities which covet its privileged location.

The existing complex dated from 1982, when a fire destroyed part of the campus and most of its archive, and was a “temporary” facility never well suited for its purpose. Additionally, thousands of people cross the grounds daily as they walked to and from one of the city’s nearby metro station, Estación Metro Coyoacan.

Facing total renewal, Cineteca’s original project brief included the expansion and renovation of the existing complex incorporating additional vault space and four more screening rooms. But in response to the immediate urban condition, additional restorative work needed to be done to reclaim part of the site as public space, give relief to the dense new-development – filled surroundings of Xoco and accommodate the constant flow of pedestrians and casual visitors.

First, surface parking was consolidated into a six-storey structure freeing 40% of the site. Then the pedestrian friendly “back entrance”, located across the street from the historic town’s cemetery, was reactivated – 70% of Cineteca patrons use public transportation and arrive by foot. The reclaimed space now houses the new program organised along two axes, one perpendicular to the street of Real Mayorazgo becoming the main pedestrian entrance and the other perpendicular to Av. México-Coyoacán for both car and pedestrian access.

The axes intersection became a new 80m x 40m public plaza sheltered from the weather by a hovering canopy connecting the existing complex with the new screening rooms. Clad in composite aluminium panels, with varied size triangular perforations, the roof structure wraps around the new screening rooms and becomes their facade. The sheltered space functions as the foyer for the old and new screening rooms and can accommodate additional program options such as concerts, theatre, exhibitions, etc.

An outdoor amphitheatre, extensive landscaping and new retail spaces were added to the original program expanding the possibilities for social and cultural interaction and exchanges, and giving the complex a university campus feel.

The new screening rooms seat 180 each and the existing screening rooms were updated with current technology. Overall the complex can now seat 2,495 visitors in indoor theatres. The outdoor amphitheatre has a 750-person capacity. Two new film vaults were also added to the site, increasing Cineteca’s archive capacity by 50,000 reels of film. Parking capacity was also increased by 25% to a total of 528 cars.

The thousands of people that use the grounds everyday now find welcoming unrestricted public space: commuters still walk back and forth across the campus in the morning and evening, medical staff from a nearby hospital stop by to eat their lunches at noon, students hang out at the park in the afternoon, and moviegoers attend free outdoor events in the evening. The added amenities have turned the campus into a favourite gathering space not only for moviegoers but also for Xoco residents and workers who have appropriated the space as if it were their backyard.

Architectural project: Rojkind Arquitectos
Interior design: Alberto Villareal Bello, Esrawe Studio
Structural engineer: CTC Ingenieros
Roof structure engineer: Studio NYL
MEP: IPDS
Landscape consultant: Ambiente Arquitectos
A/V consultant: Auerbach Pollock Friedlander
Acoustical consultant: Seamonk
Lighting consultant: Ideas y Proyectos en Luz
Graphic design: Citrico + Welcome Branding

Program: Cultural
Construction Area: 49,000 m2
Location: Mexico City

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This shopping centre by Mexican firm Rojkind Arquitectos is nearing completion in Huixquilucan, Mexico.

The building for the Liverpool chain of department stores sits in the middle of a busy motorway intersection.

The façade is double-layered to protect stores and people from the car-dependant environment of Interlomas on the outskirts of Mexico City.

Light escapes between the layers of the folded façade at night.

The client, department store owners and operators Liverpool, are named after the city of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. In the 19th Century, much of the imported merchandise sold in the stores was shipped via the English port.

Other projects by Rojkind Arquitectos include the restoration of the National Archive museum in Mexico City, a new museum in Mexico City in collaboration with BIG, and A Nestle Chocolate Museum and a Skyscraper in Mexico City.

Here are some more details from Rojkind Arquitectos:

Liverpool Department Store

Understanding the new role shopping centers play in today’s society, in which they have become a magnet for social encounters and even cultural exchanges, Rojkind Arquitectos was commissioned to design a façade for the new 30,000m2 department store as part of a new era in the company’s pursuit for re-branding itself. Liverpool department stores, with a 164-year-old history, have for the most part always been one of the main anchor stores for large shopping centers in Mexico. Its strategic location plays an important role in the immediate urban context.

Located in the northern “car dependent” suburb of Interlomas on the outskirts of Mexico City, this relatively new suburb is characterized by a lack of open public space and a myriad of roads on which pedestrians are not welcomed.

The new facade responds to a fast pace of the everyday life in this isolated suburb, sitting in the middle of a very congested intersection of highways and overpasses, which give it a futuristic “Blade Runner-like” feel.

With an existing circular footprint, the customization process of fabricating directly from 3D models drove the ideas behind the façade design intent. Speed became a very important factor in the way the project is experienced. Flexibility, fluidity and dynamism drove the design process.

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The double-layered façade shelters the store and it’s users from its chaotic environment. It’s sleek stainless steel machine-like exterior, is intended to evolve in a very fluid way as the intense sun bathes it throughout the day. It’s a contradiction to the grit and chaos of its surroundings; a juxtaposition that becomes a new reference for this part of the city.

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At night the hollow cavity between the layers of the façade will be engulfed in light that will subtly escape through the fine reliefs formed at the folds in the skin. The façade transforms at night from its solid monochromatic appearance during the day to a dynamic form accented by light.

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As part of this new endeavor by the client, multiple design firms were selected to participate in the various parts of the project: the interiors were done by FRCH, the rooftop garden by Thomas Balsley and the gourmet space by JHP.

In the initial workshops sessions, it became clear that the main central interior space needed to reflect the dynamic nature of the exterior so the client retained Rojkind Arquitectos to design this space as well.

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As the visitor enters, they are met by a three-story atrium full of movement and filtered daylight that encourages the visitor to move throughout the department store.

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The curved backlit balconies are intended to be a reminder of the fluidity of the exterior façade but at a more human scale as opposed to the urban scale of the exterior façade. This play between the inside and outside is intended to create a sense of discovery for the user that culminates at the roof garden.

The roof terrace will contain a park-like setting that can be enjoyed not only by the store visitors but also by the surrounding local community, thus enhancing the social role that the department store will play.

The complexity of the project combined with a very tight schedule and a difficult urban site condition, required the combination of a highly skilled design team and collaborators in which the interconnectivity and digital design tools have radically transformed the way we design and construct buildings today.

Project: Liverpool Department Store
Architects:rojkind arquitectos Michel Rojkind [Founding Partner] Gerardo Salinas [Partner] Program: Retail ConstructionArea_ 30,000m2
Status: In construction
Design Date: July – December 2010
Construction Date: March – October 2011
Location: Huixquilucan, State of Mexico
Client: Liverpool

See also:

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