The shopping center with an area of 30,000 m2 is located in the northern suburbs of the Mexican capital. Due to its scale, it makes up for the almost complete absence of public spaces here, becoming a kind of center for all kinds of social contacts. Given these circumstances, Rochkind proposed setting up a public park on the roof of the department store.
The circular building is located almost in the center of the intersection overloaded with cars, which made the architect think about both a spacious parking lot (it has three lower floors) and a facade that isolates visitors as much as possible from an unfavorable environment. It is proposed to cover it with a double-layer polished stainless steel shell in the form of wavy ribbons. The rigidity of the material is smoothed out by the flowing shape and gloss imparted to it.
At night, colored light flows through the cavities in the folds of the facade, as well as through the glazed lower floor; the monolithic and monochrome mass of the building becomes more dynamic from this.
The interior is built around a three-story atrium with escalators under a skylight that filters light through a lattice ceiling. Floors wrap around curved balconies, culminating in an open landscaped roof terrace.
N. K.
