The architecture of cultural centers in Mexico has gained relevance in recent years. There has been a growing interest in providing spaces for recreation and education, transforming them into urban landmarks that attract visitors from all over the country year after year.
Jaime Navarro
Cultural Centers, Museums, and Galleries: Ancient Buildings Transformed into Art Spaces in Latin America
Many buildings often fall into disuse due to our cities' constant economic, social, and technological changes. The programmatic inconsistency of current times demands great versatility and adaptability from our infrastructures, increasingly leading projects to become uninhabited, and left to abandonment and decay.
Next, we present a series of 20 Latin American projects in which old warehouses, homes, prisons, mills, and markets were recovered and transformed into Cultural Centers, Museums, and Galleries.
Community Development Center / CCA Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica
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Architects: CCA Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica
- Area: 1240 m²
- Year: 2022
Pumas Clubhouse / DF Arquitectos
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Architects: DF Arquitectos
- Area: 3700 m²
- Year: 2023
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Manufacturers: Gridas by YPASA, Interceramic
Community Development Center in the old Rastro Municipal / Laboratorio de Acupuntura Urbana
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Architects: Laboratorio de Acupuntura Urbana
- Area: 2614 m²
- Year: 2023
Ruiz Community Center / bgp arquitectura
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Architects: bgp arquitectura
- Area: 1169 m²
- Year: 2021
Casa Patios / Ricardo Yslas Gámez Arquitectos
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Architects: Ricardo Yslas Gámez Arquitectos
- Area: 1200 m²
- Year: 2023
Manantial House / Apaloosa Estudio de Arquitectura y Diseño
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Architects: Apaloosa Estudio de Arquitectura y Diseño
- Area: 119 m²
- Year: 2023
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Manufacturers: CEMEX TUXTLA, CORDOVA vitrum, Interceramic | 16 Poniente Norte #519, beGO
Park Pavilion / MATERIA + Gustavo Carmona
Newton 207 Building / ARQMOV Workshop
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Architects: ARQMOV Workshop
- Area: 22540 ft²
- Year: 2022
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Manufacturers: AlfredoGalicia Max, Blue Sky Facades, Bodega de Aluminio, Cristal JMA, Faktor Luz, +5
Cooling Interiors Will be the Architectural Challenge of the Future
According to the UN, more than 7000 extreme weather events have been recorded since 2000. Just this year, wildfires raged across Australia and the west coast of the U.S.; Siberia charted record high temperatures, reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit before Dallas or Houston; and globally, this September was the world’s hottest September on record. As the effects of the climate crisis manifest in these increasingly dire ways, it is the prerogative of the building industry – currently responsible for 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions – to do its part by committing to genuine and sweeping change in its approach to sustainability.
One of the most challenging aspects of this change will be to meet mounting cooling demands in an eco-friendly way. Cooling is innately more difficult than heating: any form of energy can become heat, and our bodies and machines naturally generate heat even in the absence of active heating systems. Cooling does not benefit equally from spontaneous generation, making it often more difficult, more costly, or less efficient to implement. Global warming and its very tangible heating effects only exacerbate this reality, intensifying an already accelerating demand for artificial cooling systems. As it stands, many of these systems require large amounts of electricity and rely heavily on fossil fuels to function. The buildings sector must find ways to meet mounting demand for cooling that simultaneously elides these unsustainable effects.
Nakamura House / Fausto Terán + Toro
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Architects: Fausto Terán, Toro
- Area: 361 m²
- Year: 2021
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Manufacturers: CASTEL, Cemex, Comex, Polyform
ArchDaily X Pavilion / Rojkind Arquitectos + Think Parametric
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Architects: Rojkind Arquitectos, Think Parametric
- Year: 2022
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Manufacturers: Cempanel