SITE
Mexico City, Mexico

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STATUS
Conceptual Project 

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PROGRAM
Auditorium

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TEXT

A walkway meanders through a subtropical botanical garden, arriving at a set of steps leading into a sunken auditorium space. In the underground hall, botanists, artists and scientists of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) give lectures to students and faculty.  A vegetated roof creates the illusion of an invisible architecture.

 

The auditorium itself is built from the volcanic rock, dug from the pit in which it sits. The suppression in the landscape existed previously for equipment and was further extended to make space for the auditorium. Volcanic stone construction, both rubble and ashlar blocks, are a vernacular method of construction found throughout Mexico City. The employed method of construction will result in a cooler interior and create a dialogue with the immediate terrain.