The Chapultepec Performance Garden (CPG) was conceived as an organic extension of the forest and an extension to the neighboring forums, institutions, and educational centers. Envisioned as a campus that enhances and integrates the rich history of the Valle de México, CPG celebrates the area's diverse elements, including its vegetation, materials, historical legacy, and cultural dynamics.
Designed to respect and adapt to the existing natural conditions and the site's slope, CPG subtly elevates the forest, creating spaces for dance, theater, and music beneath its canopy without diminishing the vegetation footprint. This architectural approach exalts and amplifies the voice and movements of scenic art, reflecting the cultural plurality that defines Mexico City.
The materiality of CPG seeks to recover and integrate local materials essential to the construction of pre-Hispanic Mexico. Stone, timeless and a marker of the passage of time, serves as the foundational element, reconnecting the project with its historical roots. The project's longitudinal form integrates and emerges from the context, promoting a free plan that enhances mobility through the forest. The site’s boundaries are softened through soil slopes, seamlessly integrating the project with the transportation system and the National Auditorium. Landscape interventions facilitate connectivity, reducing and controlling the visual impact of adjacent roads. New pedestrian connections integrate CPG with the urban environment, enhancing accessibility.
As part of the Chapultepec Park recovery master plan, this project aims to make the park more permeable along the north-south and east-west axes, incorporating new main entrances and integrating existing theaters, schools, and offices. Chapultepec Forest Park is defined not only by its natural beauty but also by its social dynamics, shaped over centuries of the city's and the country's history. These dynamics are reflected in the project's design, tracing a route through its details that encourages social interaction and coexistence among diverse cultures.
The architectural and landscape gesture elevates the forest above the program, creating an artistic pavilion that leaves no trace on the site. As visitors walk through CPG, they discover the garden's multiple levels, from roots to treetops. A gentle ramp transforms into a viewing platform, offering panoramic views of the context, the garden, the pavilion, and the city. This elevated perspective encourages a renewed appreciation of our place within the planet's natural system.
