Cultural Center Lago Algo / Naso

Cultural Center Lago Algo / Naso

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Text description provided by the architects. Lago Algo is a cultural center created and managed by CMR and OMR, located in el Bosque de Chapultepec, Mexico City. The architectural project consisted of the reprogramming of the existing building initially designed by Leónides Guadarrama and Alfonso Ramírez Ponce in 1964, then renovated by Javier Sordo Madaleno in 1998.

The urban objective of the project is to regenerate the second section of the Bosque de Chapultepec by proposing a new public programming emphasizing contemporary art and sustainable food, thus forging new tensions within the recreational infrastructure and existing culture of the park.

We have noticed that, throughout the building’s archaeological history, the architectural objective of the initial project of 1964 was the confinement of different contiguous spaces – which together formed a restaurant – by a hyperbolic parabolic ceiling. The main objective of the spatial renovation of the 90s was to offer different spatial possibilities for the production of private events, on the one hand by adding new spaces adjacent to the original structure, and on the other hand by dividing the dining space existing in three independent spaces, which meant that visitors could not appreciate the full hyperbolic parabolic ceiling.

The main objective of our architectural design was to fully understand the original project and its various modifications so that we could transform the building into a public gallery space and a restaurant. Our approach was to develop a plan that would enhance the free-standing structure of the building to incorporate distinct open spaces that could provide the flexibility required for the building to host different types of exhibits.

During our search to recover the hitherto fragmented ceiling, we decided to reformulate the spatial limits between the different spaces by integrating distinct floor levels and low walls. The goal was to integrate particular thresholds to separate the different programs while linking them visually. This way, the visual interaction is still maintained with the continuous hyperbolic parabolic ceiling which is considered as the main architectural feature of the whole space.

The aesthetic language of our project shows the roughness of the original structure affected by time as well as the architectural features of the subsequent renovation. It strips and shows all its elements with the intention of generating an educational space where it is possible to appreciate the distinct constructive processes of the building and its ceiling. At the same time, the roof clearly shows the various scars that expose the traces of the multiple spatial partitions generated by economic, political and social forces throughout the building’s history.