Museo Jumex
Mexico City, Mexico 2009–2013
Located on a triangular site within the Polanco area of Mexico City, this new museum
building exhibits part of one of the largest private collections of contemporary art
in Latin America – Colección Jumex – and is part of a wider urban redevelopment.
Overlooked by large commercial buildings, the constrained site is delineated by the
major street Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the Ferrocarril de Cuernavaca railway
line and an adjacent property to the east. The extremely individual quality of the
neighbouring buildings overrides any attempt to integrate the new museum within
this particular urban context. The absence of a discernible streetscape or coherent
aesthetic into which the project could be comfortably inscribed therefore offered
a rare opportunity to create a distinct building that simultaneously contributes to
the larger context. Heading the triangular park, the building can be described as a
freestanding pavilion that corresponds to the eclectic nature of the neighbouring
buildings, which include the Museo Soumaya and the underground Teatro Cervantes.
The mass of the building responds to the non-orthogonal plan of the site, which it
exploits to provide the maximum footprint while delivering the programme within
the constraints of local planning requirements.
The Fundación Jumex’s main administration and operative headquarters, as well
as the collection’s storage facilities, library, and an exhibition space will remain at
the existing premises in Ecatepec. The new building provides an exhibition space
for the collection closer to a wider audience in Mexico City. The museum will
present a programme of temporary exhibitions, including of works from the
ever-expanding Colección Jumex. As such, the gallery spaces are expected to
accommodate diverse display techniques to suit both in-house and guest curators
with differing approaches.
With an informal atmosphere, the building will not only house exhibitions but will
also provide a platform for discourse and educational activities. Catering for a range
of visitors – from those who have never visited a gallery to international scholars
and seasoned gallery-goers – it is for the enjoyment of both the local community
and destination tourists alike. Further activities including lectures, talks, debates,
conferences and film screenings will be conducted in the gallery rooms rather than
in separate purpose-designed spaces. The primary exhibition space is located on the
two upper floors and optimises the use of daylight for the top floor gallery. The lower
floors comprise a series of spaces that provide the more social and community-based
aspects of the programme. An open-sided multi-function loggia sits between the
upper galleries and the ground floor, and allows visitors to enjoy elevated views of
the landscape and the urban life of the street.
The format of the floor plates and the position of the building cores provide large
singular rooms that can be easily subdivided into two or more individual spaces.
A distinctive saw-tooth roof creates a rhythmic geometry that defines the third-floor
gallery. Consisting of a steel structure with west-facing roof lights and a horizontal
diffuser layer, the roof distributes light evenly to illuminate the artworks and
create an ambient light for the space. The light can be moderated to meet specific
curatorial requirements.
The lower ground floor houses the art storage facilities, plant rooms, administrative
offices and a multi-purpose room. Four further storeys below provide ample car
parking. Resting on fourteen columns the whole property sits on a raised plinth,
Museo Jumex
Mexico City, Mexico 2009–2013
allowing the ground floor to merge with the public plaza. This concept of maximising
publicly accessible space continues from the plaza into the loggia on the first floor of
the building. The plinth, the columns, the ground and first floor cores and the soffits
throughout are of exposed white concrete, while the façades, the roof and the floors
from the plinth upwards are made of locally sourced travertine from Xalapa, Veracruz.
All windows are full-height glazing with stainless steel frames. The continuity of
the travertine coating lends the building a solid character reminiscent of indigenous
sculptural traditions.
Project start
Completion / due
Gross floor area
Client
Architect
Director
Project architect
In collaboration with
Structural engineer
Services engineer
Facade consultant
Construction
management
General contractor
Building management
system
Photography
Museo Jumex
2009
November 2013
4,000 m2
Eugenio Lopez
David Chipperfield Architects, London
Andrew Phillips
Peter Jurschitzka
TAAU / Oscar Rodríguez
Arup / Alonso y Asociados
Arup / Iacsa
Soluciones en Piedra Franco
Inpros
PC Constructores
BMS i
Simon Menges
Museo Jumex