Mexico | The Pyramid | LAR / FERNANDO ROMERO

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LAR's design for a residential / office complex hark back to Mexico's past

The Pyramid project is located in Mérida, the largest city of the Yucatán Peninsula, and the twelfth in the country according to its population. It was built on the site of the Maya city of T'ho, or the city of the five hills, which referred to five pyramids, and has been considered as one of the oldest continually occupied cities in the Americas.

With such historical background, and being inserted in what had been a center of Mayan culture and activity for centuries, our project reflects the importance of this epicentre by drawing from the imagery of a traditional pyramid. It also reflects the current context where architecture tries to achieve an ecological agenda and an ironic return to the Mayan strategy of achieving a symbiosis with nature.

The form is created by taking the most advantage of the plot of land, and by tapering and stepping the terraces according to the program requirements, while connecting the building to its natural surroundings by having a variated façade. By doing this, the resulting desirable area that needed to be placed along the façade is increased.

It is based on offices and apartments. In a volatile market that is always changing LAR suggested a section that can work equally well for both work and housing so that, according to market absorption, the percentage of one or the other can be altered on demand. Vegetation on all terraces that reduces the building's cooling requirements, rainwater capture that reduces consumption, and solar panels in the façade are among the devices that make this structure an icon of efficiency in its consumption of natural resources, while also connecting to the silhouette of Mexico's past, the pyramids.

Fonte: World Architecture News