Museo Mazatlan

Museo Mazlatan, a collaborative effort between FR-EE and Marinela Servitje (Siete Colores Ideas Interactivas), is an interactive public structure which ensures the experience of Mexico’s history and culture. The new building accommodates theatrical programmes, including a 350 person capacity IMAX cinema, as well as a restaurant, documentation centre, and workshop spaces, and is to be built in 2016.

mazatlan museum in mexico by fernando romero enterprise

Being orb-like in form resembling an oyster with a pearl in the middle, the building form is appropriate to its geographical context; the “Pearl of the Pacific” in which the port city is located. For this same reason, the steel structure is clad in humidity resistant materials that add to the internal atmosphere through creating a ventilating perforated skin. The structure is raised to accommodate the flood patterns of the region, reducing the risk of water damage, while simultaneously providing vantage of the surround scenery. Photovoltaic cells are incorporated into the facade, reducing the building’s carbon footprint.

mazatlan museum in mexico by fernando romero enterprise

On elevation, the building looks very futuristic. The clinical colour of the facade along with its delicate connection with the ground-level base, which blends into the landscape really, affords the structure with it appearing to have just landed from the heavens. The other buildings that surround the site of the new intervention don’t even feature in the visualisation of the project, its prominent shape dragging the eye across the new suggested skyline implied by the long observation deck.

mazatlan museum in mexico by fernando romero enterprise

The simplistic palette of the entire scheme allows the landscape to flourish, which makes me think of the possibilities of visually permeable points in the building to further accentuate the context without losing the robust presence of the proposed building. the layout of the building is also one that allows the interior atmosphere to be governed by the amount of people in and around the structure. The futuristic qualities of the building lead me to imagine the building to be an ominous presence on a quiet, gloomy day, which might add to the atmosphere on the marina.