16 Ephemeral Installations Designed by Mexican Architects

Written by Mónica Arellano
May 04, 2019

As we have seen throughout the history of architecture, ephemeral installations and pavilions are important tools for talking about specific moments in architecture in an almost immediate way. While it is true some pavilions have been so relevant that they broke with their ephemeral quality to become permanent, such as the German Pavilion in Barcelona, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, most are documented in photographs, plans and experiences to be rewritten in future projects.

These conjunctions, often between art and architecture or art and urbanism (among others), are a reflection of society in their time and some have even come to be considered a manifesto for specific generations.

Mexico is one of the countries that increasingly promotes this type of architectural language to understand new urbanities and new ways of living and moving around the world. These exercises range from Frida Escobedo's acclaimed Serpentine Pavilion in London to the MoMA PS1 YAP 2016 - Weaving the Courtyard by Escobedo Soliz in New York City. Read on to learn about ephemeral pavilions designed by Mexican architects.

Community Central Pavilion / TO Arquitectura, LANZA Atelier y Alberto Odériz

'Central Community Pavilion' was a response to an invitation to design a variety of temporary pavilions by different creators as a part of Arch Days CDMX and Design Week 2018. For the occasion, three up-and-coming architectural firms have joined forces to design and construct a single pavilion with a common theme. The design process between TO Arquitectura, LANZA Atelier, and Alberto Odériz reinforced the idea of a generation plagued with a certain collective curiosity and concern.

Mictlán Pavillion / Allan Pulido y Paulina Castro

The Mictlán Pavillion Contest was born due to the framework of activities in the program of the Mictlán 2018 Festival, which is organized year after year in the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. This event seeks to ennoble the traditions of the All Souls Dead in this municipality, especially in the area that is located in the Ribera de Cajititlán.

Tamayo Pavillion / Fernanda Canales

The Open Museum was a project designed by the Mexican architect Fernanda Canales that emerged within the framework of the Arch Days CDMX and Design Week 2018 activities, which consisted of three patios of different sizes to extend the museum to the park and generate a new meeting point on the side of the Museo Tamayo. The shape of the pavilion follows the natural flow of routes in the area and introduces a new experience based on chained spaces that frame the existing trees, the sky and the side slope of the museum that became a new agora.

Monumento / Dérive LAB

'Monument', sought to serve as an ephemeral observation tower in the Center of Querétaro, Mexico created as a celebration for the 487th birthday of the city by dérive LAB. The intervention consisted of a tower 12 meters high, covered with white cloth, which was erected in the Plaza Fundadores as a geographical landmark; Inside, a pink vertical tunnel served as a geographical marker representing the city, its location and territory.

'Refugio 2018' Pavillion / Fernanda Canales + Claudia Rodríguez

'Refugio' is a place that you can make yours; It gives a sense of freedom and shelter. The gardens are made for that and throughout history thousands of shelters have been built in forests with the wood found on the site. This refuge recycles the materials used in the Refuge created for the first FYJA in 2017 and proposes a new form of appropriation. This edition the refuge changed place to take us to know the less used places of the forest, and also changed the way to generate new alternatives of use, rest, contemplation and play.
- Fernanda Canales

UR Pavillion / T O

Each year FICA seeks innovative proposals, both for the contents and for the design of the Fair. This year the winning design of the contest was in charge of the architectural office TO, which was chosen between 61 nominations and five finalists. The project, entitled UR, was inspired by the common development of different civilizations around the world. For the Sumerians UR meant city, in Latin it gave rise to the word urbs (hence our word urbe) and in Germanic languages it is a prefix that it calls the concept of origin; a universal syllable that represents something essential: making a city.

Núcleo / Ana Nuño y Luis Young

To the outside, it consists of a circular structure covered with flowers of the same species in segments of different colors. The result is an abstract and hermetic volume, which is interrupted only by access to the inside of it. A low and narrow corridor, covered by a ceiling of flowers, empties into the central space, from which all direct relation to the exterior is lost. Núcleo presents an invented ecosystem; an oasis of tropical plants of different types, with shapes, textures, colors and aromas that mix together. The texture of the partition walls, as well as a bench made with the same material, complement the plants and flowers, and contribute to generating an atmosphere that is not related to the context of the park.
- Equipo de diseño

Pabellón de las escaleras / guadalajara90210 (several authors)

Guadalajara 90210 presents "pabellón de las escaleras", an exhibition that consisted of a series of installations made by artists from different disciplines - architecture, contemporary art and industrial design. The headquarters consists of an ongoing building located in Santa María la Ribera, one of the neighborhoods that has recently experienced an effervescence of cultural events, artistic installations and architectural proposals, with some parts in the open sky, concrete labyrinth and apparent pipes.

COMEX Pavillion / graciastudio

The installation is based on a low-caliber, self-supporting, prefabricated metal structure. It works based on a circular architectural plant whose diameter is seven meters. This structure is created on the basis of ten modules, where each of these houses a panel of recycled material of products of the COMEX brand on its exterior and a reflective surface inside.
- graciastudio

Tezontle Ludens / SUMA Estudio

Tezontle Ludens is the name of the winning project of the Arquine Contest No.21 | Mextrópoli 2019 Pavilion which was inaugurated on March 8th at the Alameda Central in Mexico City along with a series of pavilions that sought to activate the public space. The pavilion built by Factor Eficiencia and designed by Suma Estudio | Roberto Aguilar, Diego García, Fernando Franco, Diego Aguilar and Jalil Miguel were described by the jury as "a simple, well-narrated play experience that materializes in a light space and a commitment to subtlety. that same clarity, without discursive excesses or justifications. "

Pabellón Lacustre / TAP (Taller de Arquitectura Pública)

Pabellón Lacustre was born from the idea of creating a space for continuous reflection on our lacustrine past, that historical memory of the city, which some fragments of it can still observe, feel, touch and live. Like the analogy to a microscope, the pavilion is an artifact that will allow us to observe the lacustrine horizon buried by the city.
- TAP

House of Switzerland Pavilion / Dellekamp Arquitectos

House of Switzerland Pavilion emerges with the celebration of the seventy years of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Mexico, Dellekamp Arquitectos began to work on the project without a defined program and site, so a modular system was designed based on a triangular grid that allows adaptation to different locations and changing needs of the program, which allowed transformations during the design process. This adaptability feature allows it to be itinerant and a location to multiple sites without damaging the environment.
- Dellekamp Arquitectos

Campanario / TO

Campanario –the winning project of the 2018 Eco Pavilion– was designed by TO and proposed to configure a flexible space constructed from metal rods and circular copper plates (produced in Michoacán, Mexico) installed in such a way that they created a partial roof in the playground. In turn, this device became a musical instrument that broadens the spectrum of architectural work and manages to establish a relationship with viewers through interaction with this structure of particular simplicity in its artisanal manufacture.

Aros / PALMA

Aros is the winning project of the "Urban Toys" contest that was convened by the Laboratory for the City and the Government of Mexico City. This contest consisted of developing a game proposal within the Plaza Loreto, in the first quadrant of the Historic Center of Mexico City.

MoMA PS1 YAP 2016 - Weaving the Courtyard / Escobedo Soliz Studio

Escobedo Soliz was selected to construct the temporary installation for the PS1 warm ups in summer 2016 through the YAP Program 2016 of MoMa Ps1. Weaving the courtyard is not an object nor a sculpture standing in the courtyard of the PS1, but a series of simple but powerful actions on the preexistence that generate new and different atmospheres in every space of the courtyard.

Serpentine Pavilion 2018 / Frida Escobedo

My design for the Serpentine Pavilion 2018 is a meeting of material and historical inspirations inseparable from the city of London itself and an idea which has been central to our practice from the beginning: the expression of time in architecture through inventive use of everyday materials and simple forms," explained Escobedo. "For the Serpentine Pavilion, we have added the materials of light and shadow, reflection and refraction, turning the building into a timepiece that charts the passage of the day.
- Frida Escobedo