October has arrived and with it comes Mexico City’s annual Design Week. It's accompanied by a new pavilion by architects Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Müller of Studio MC, set within the Tamayo Museum’s contemporary arts gardens in the heart of Chapultepec Park. Called ‘Museum of Immortality’, the work is part of the pair’s ongoing interest in and research on museums, and particularly on the relation between objects and people.
Every year during Design Week Mexico, the museum opens its gardens to celebrate creativity and this year it was the Frankfurt-based duo’s turn to be invited to build their proposal for an eight metre-tall pavilion, exploring the concept of death through architecture. The structure’s circular geometry poetically leads the eye towards the sky, while its overall form is something of a hybrid of minaret, mausoleum and modern-day space capsule.
The team was inspired by the philosophical world of Boris Groys, who developed the concept of the Museum of Immortality as a metaphysical space dedicated to permanence and resurrection for both humans and objects; an immortal space for everyone and everything. The architects’ earliest investigations into the theme included a namesake exhibition in Beirut, curated by artist and E-flux co-founder Anton Vidokle.
The Tamayo pavilion is an abstract prototype, a speculative large-scale model featuring steel and Plexiglas elements that evokes display boxes typically used in exhibitions. It can be experienced as a standalone focus within the park, or as an extension of the museum. Nearby, a video by Vidokle and Oleksiy Radynski explores the project’s theoretical premises.
With the Museum of Immortality, Design Week Mexico opens a discussion on key issues of art, architecture and the urban realm; a fitting theme as Mexico City heads towards becoming World Design Capital in 2018.
The structure is part of the capital's annual celebrations for Design Week Mexico
Made out of steel and Plexiglas elements, the pavilion is an exploration into concepts of death and immortality
The project is also the product of the architects' ongoing research into the world of museums and the relationship of man and object; the Plexiglas elements, for example, were designed to evoke gallery display cases
INFORMATION
For more information visit the Studio MC website and Design Week Mexico’s website
Photography: Alberto Jurtega
-
Sotheby’s is auctioning a rare Frank Lloyd Wright lamp – and it could fetch $5 millionThe architect's ‘Double-Pedestal’ lamp, which was designed for the Dana House in 1903, is hitting the auction block 13 May at Sotheby's.
-
Naoto Fukasawa sparks children’s imaginations with play sculpturesThe Japanese designer creates an intuitive series of bold play sculptures, designed to spark children’s desire to play without thinking
-
Japan in Milan! See the highlights of Japanese design at Milan Design Week 2025At Milan Design Week 2025 Japanese craftsmanship was a front runner with an array of projects in the spotlight. Here are some of our highlights
-
Tour the wonderful homes of ‘Casa Mexicana’, an ode to residential architecture in Mexico‘Casa Mexicana’ is a new book celebrating the country’s residential architecture, highlighting its influence across the world
-
The Yale Center for British Art, Louis Kahn’s final project, glows anew after a two-year closureAfter years of restoration, a modernist jewel and a treasure trove of British artwork can be seen in a whole new light
-
A barrel vault rooftop adds drama to these homes in Mexico CityExplore Mariano Azuela 194, a housing project by Bloqe Arquitetura, which celebrates Mexico City's Santa Maria la Ribera neighbourhood
-
You’ll soon be able to get a sneak peek inside Peter Zumthor’s LACMA expansionBut you’ll still have to wait another year for the grand opening
-
NYC's The New Museum announces an OMA-designed extensionOMA partners including Rem Koolhas and Shohei Shigematsu are designing a new building for Manhattan's only dedicated contemporary art museum
-
Explore a minimalist, non-religious ceremony space in the Baja California DesertSpiritual Enclosure, a minimalist, non-religious ceremony space designed by Ruben Valdez in Mexico's Baja California Desert, offers flexibility and calm
-
La Cuadra: Luis Barragán’s Mexico modernist icon enters a new chapterLa Cuadra San Cristóbal by Luis Barragán is reborn through a Fundación Fernando Romero initiative in Mexico City; we meet with the foundation's founder, architect and design curator Fernando Romero to discuss the plans
-
Enjoy whale watching from this east coast villa in Mexico, a contemporary oceanside gemEast coast villa Casa Tupika in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico, is designed by architecture studios BLANCASMORAN and Rzero to be in harmony with its coastal and tropical context
