In 2018, the MEXTRÓPOLI Festival of Architecture and City presents its fifth edition, consolidating itself as a key event in the cultural agenda of Mexico City and as an important architectural event on a global scale. With its high curatorial quality MEXTRÓPOLI promotes the voices of architects, artists, mayors, and humanists who are globally recognized in their respective disciplines while offering affordable prices to students and anyone interested in the present and future directions of cities. MEXTRÓPOLI is a platform that allows you to experience the city, as well as to reflect on its political, civilian and aesthetic aspects.
This edition of the festival, which will take place from March 17 to 20, 2018, will also be held within the context of the 20 year anniversary of Arquine, the official media partner of MEXTRÓPOLI, whose efforts to create links between culture and architecture have enabled the diffusion of topics that are of urban and public interest. In its fifth consecutive edition, MEXTRÓPOLI is positioned in the global panorama as one of the most important platforms allowing the discussion of tangential issues regarding the future of cities:
- Six months after the events of September 19, 2017, MEXTRÓPOLI proposes to review the reconstruction of the city and the areas affected by the earthquake with the help of the real estate sector, officials and citizens.
- For the third time, the Arquine Contest will unveil a Pavilion built in Alameda Central, which will be a playful structure to inspire social relations in the public space. In addition, more than 20 public space installations will be presented, designed by institutions such as UNAM, Ibero Puebla, Anahuac University, Querétaro, Sci-Arc (Los Angeles), and Maristas (Mérida), among others.
- The Catalan firm RCR Arquitectes, winners of the 2017 Pritzker Prize, will be part of the conference program. In addition, the El Rule Cultural Center will host an exhibition of the drawings which form part of the creative process of the Prize-winning trio. In the words of editor Luis Fernández-Galiano, "in just two decades they have built a set of projects with a unique language that brings together the romantic impulse of communion with nature and the search for the sublime." Among their most emblematic projects are La Cuisine Art Center (2014), the Bell-Lloc Winery (2007) and the Sant Antoni-Joan Oliver Library (2007).
- On March 16 at the Old School San Ildefonso the exhibition of the work of Swiss architect Valerio Olgiati, La idea de arquitectura / The idea of architecture, will open. The show will include 11 project models in various formats, such as museums and housing. The models will be accompanied by photographs and drawings taken by the architect, who will also be part of the lecture series.
- As in every edition, MEXTRÓPOLI presents editorial novelties that seek to enrich the understanding of architecture, in addition to expanding the offer that Arquine has built over 20 years. On this fifth occasion, MEXTRÓPOLI will present a catalog of the drawings from RCR Arquitectes, monographic books by the architects Felipe Uribe and Guille Hevia, as well as a publication from the (D)escribing the city meetings organized by Arquine and the Embassy of France, and The limits of design, a collection that brings together the thoughts of the invited speakers to this new edition of MEXTRÓPOLI.
- The Colombia house of culture will be the host of an exhibition of models by the architect Felipe Uribe. In the show, you will be able to see a selection of 20 of his main projects.
- Other speakers that will be part of the program will be Stefano Boeri, Barozzi / Veiga, and the Mexicans Gabriela Carrillo + Mauricio Rocha.
WINNERS OF THE MEXTRÓPOLI 2018 PAVILION
For the third time, The MEXTRÓPOLI Architecture and City Festival held the Arquine No. 20 contest. In a successful invitation, all registered proposals were submitted, and after deliberation by the jury, formed by Isaac Broid, Jachen Duri Sleich, Loreta Castro Reguera Mancera, Gabriela Carrillo and Emmanuel Ramírez, the following winners were selected:
FIRST PLACE: Lorenzo Majer y Anna Merci | France
The proposal is distinguished by its spatial quality, achieving an innovative interior using only one material, with a decisive constructive choice that takes advantage of the plastic qualities of water and light.
SECOND PLACE: Thiago Benucci, Vitor Pissaia, Guilherme Paschoal y Camila Farah | Brazil
The pavilion goes beyond the idea of architecture as an object, proposing an experience that frames the environment while generating a meeting place that is visible from a distance. In addition, it is a space that can be used in emergencies because of its ease of transportation and assembly.
THIRD PLACE: Valentin Bansanc y Mike Fristch | Netherlands
Two purposes are fulfilled: a pavilion that serves as a public space during the festival, offering flexibility of use and material usage in its primary state; and, with the beauty of a toolbox, it can generate a space of coexistence with great flexibility.
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