Header: Jaime Navarro
The project, a façade in the Shopping Center of Mexico City, was designed by mta+v to be part of the Liverpool Mítikah complex, an aglomerade of apartments and offices. Due to its proximity to the Coyoacán metro station and Avenida Universidad, the façade is constantly appreciated by the many users and visitors that pass through it every day, most of whom are people travelling through the area for leisure and shopping purposes.
The façade converges on the curve that marks the end of “Mayorazgo” street, where the garden plaza is located at the back of the property. The façade is divided into several interior and exterior planes and volumes, formed by a grid of triangular modules with flat and low-relief pieces, which create a subtracted pyramid. By rotating this pyramid, multiple variables can be obtained, managing to convey a sensation of movement.
The texture rotates along the curved wall and is presented in a flatter and more cut way in the interior segments, but is clearly identified as a complement to the design language. As part of the design and the game of reliefs, the same geometry is subtracted by means of windows that frame some high points, allowing natural lighting inside and showing the use of space from the outside.
The intention of this façade is to confirm the basic module as part of the graphic recognition of the brand. This is the fourth façade designed for Liverpool within the Mexican Republic, an exercise that integrates figures by means of solar illumination and the generation of games of shadows and reflections. The scale of this project is much more urban, there is no direct connection with the user since there is no pedestrian circulation that can be referred to from the street. This is an almost floating façade, from the second to the fifth level.
The construction of the façade is made from precast white concrete on metal frames. This material requires minimal maintenance, and, as it is a designed piece, it allows the least number of adjustments in placement.