Bosque Esmeralda / ROW Studio

By — Filed under: Architecture News , , , ,
 
a

© ROW

With a shopping center already under construction, ROW Studiowas asked to design the for the center in Zona Esmeralda, in Mexico City. The clients asked for an interesting, and almost contradictory mix of requirements: the façade must be both dynamic and eye-catching, while still blending into the surrounding forest line.

More images and more about the facade after the break.

080911_ROW_V-02

The studio’s metallic façade covers the concrete structure of the building and creates an array of irregular geometric volumes which cascade across the front. The jagged masses smooth out as they stretch further down the street toward the forested area.

main-facade

The metallic panels are adapted to the different uses of the shopping mall. On the parking level, the panels are perforated to allow natural light and ventilation to the interior.  For the stores, the panels are solid with a bright coating on their outer face.  The metallic panels would be replaced with glass when covering restaurants and circulation spaces to provide views of the forests, hills and mountains.

The facade also includes the creation of a green wall covering the containment wall of the base.  The wall runs the full length of the access ramp thus helping the structure blend with its surroundings.

Architects: – Álvaro Hernández Félix, Nadia Hernández Félix, Alfonso Maldonado Ochoa.

Use: Shopping Mall, Facade Redesign

Client: Grupo GDI.

Architect of Record: INMOSUR SA de CV – Arq. Álvaro Hernández Cabada.

Location: Location: Mexico City

Contributors: Carlos Marín, Ariel Rojo.

Date of the Project: October 2008

 
 
Thumb up Thumb down 0
shadi osyli says:

nice blending though that i don’t think that a shopping center should look like that .

 
# December 11, 2009 at 12:40
Thumb up Thumb down 0
Cesar Castro says:

I miss the old Archdaily layout!!!

 
# December 11, 2009 at 13:47
Thumb up Thumb down 0
jaime says:

sketchup?

 
# December 11, 2009 at 14:21
Thumb up Thumb down 0
Tosh says:

Really not sure why you guys are so proud with this..

 
# December 11, 2009 at 15:46
Thumb up Thumb down 0

The example seen here belongs to the so-called green architecture specimens, this particular creature inhabits the rough borders of Tex-Mex landscapes, known for its hybrid climate with traumatic side effects such as conceptual dizziness and loss of cultural orientation, symptoms invisible beneath happy and banal facades. After taxonomical studies, its diet renders clearly discernible, consisting of canned and plastic concepts, s-ketchup, tropical blue heavens and an occasional BMW.

 
# December 11, 2009 at 16:08
Thumb up Thumb down 0
Malia says:

Isn’t it ironic that a Walmart, in particular, would be placed inside of this very, almost too overtly ‘green building’?

 
# December 11, 2009 at 17:26
Thumb up Thumb down 0
Aa9 says:

like concept its ok.. but yo need to do more than a couple of sketchup outlines to persuade those clients

 
# December 17, 2009 at 15:48
Thumb up Thumb down 0

11:11 AM Dec 11th

Bosque Esmeralda / ROW Studio: With a shopping center already under construction, ROW Studiowas asked to design th… http://bit.ly/7LnqPJ

Thumb up Thumb down 0

11:11 AM Dec 11th

ArchDaily: Bosque Esmeralda / ROW Studio http://bit.ly/5X7ipG

Thumb up Thumb down 0

11:18 AM Dec 11th

Bosque Esmeralda / ROW Studio: With a shopping center already under construction, ROW Studiowas asked to design th… http://bit.ly/7LnqPJ

Thumb up Thumb down 0

11:56 AM Dec 11th

Wal-Mart com uma demão bem safada de verde: http://www.archdaily.com/43442/bosque-esmeralda-row-studio/

Thumb up Thumb down 0

11:00 PM Dec 14th

#Arquitetura e #Ambiente – Bosque Esmeralda / ROW Studio http://ow.ly/LECF #green #building

Leave a Reply »

 

Latest Comments »

I think you`re referring to old architects here. the new ones aren`t...[+]
Saying this is starchitecture is realy a lazy coment, if...[+]
awful lighting, it seems the Hard Rock Cafe[+]
Ow nooooo, it’s the bastard child of Zaha Hadid and Santiago...[+]
Decoracion de Interiores on Casa Mar / Coleman-Davis Pagan Arquitectos
Very nice and modern design. It’s simple but it...[+]

Upcoming Architecture Events »

got events? invite us! click here

Architecture Books & Magazines »

Louis Kahn Drawing to Find Out / Michael Merrill

Louis Kahn Drawing to Find Out / Michael Merrill

We recently featured the companion to this book, Louis Kahn On the Thoughtful Making of Spaces. This large format book draws together over two hundred—mostly unpublished—drawings of Kahn’s Dominican Motherhouse. It offers a fascinating look into Kahn’s design process…

 

Louis Kahn on the Thoughtful Making of Spaces / Michael Merrill

Louis Kahn on the Thoughtful Making of Spaces / Michael Merrill

From previously unpublished material and new analytic drawings this book explores Louis Kahn’s Dominican Motherhouse, his unbuilt masterpiece. Kahn pushed and prodded modern architecture into a crisis that questioned aspects of space that modernism had proudly banished from its…

 

Architectural Modelmaking

Architectural Modelmaking

“The representation of creative ideas is of primary importance within any design-based discipline, and is particularly relevant in architecture where we often do not get to see the finished results, i.e. the building, until the very end of the…

 

Our partners »

AD on iPad via Pulse

Browse by date »

Browse by category »

Friends »