serial consign

I came across a dynamic architecture project this week that excited me on several levels. The Nestle Chocolate Museum near Mexico City's Paseo Tollocan was recently completed by Rojkind Arquitectos. The project is characterized by a playful, faceted geometry, inexpensive materials and clever detailing. This linear and expressive form programs a museum along the trajectory of a zigzagged hallway, which is wrapped by a series of continuous folded surface. The exterior is clad in corrugated metal and the detail demarcating the edges between adjacent faces alludes to a digital wireframe aesthetic. The volume expands and opens up to accommodate key display and theatre spaces inside the museum, and also allows for direct access to an adjacent Nestle factory.

It is great to see this lively energy permeate the entire project. The polygonal geometry is fully taken advantage of in guiding creative detailing within the interior. Angular handrails and a staccato rhythm of fluorescent light fixtures trace out the seams of the form and inspire comparisons to some moments within the FOA designed Yokohama Ferry Terminal. One large vertical surface frames a panoramic view of the adjacent countryside while actings as a billboard to advertise the activity within the museum. You can view more photographs of this excellent project here.

Rojkind Arquitectos have only been around since 2002 and they already have a few celebrated projects under their belt. In 2005 they were named to the Architectural Record's Design Vanguard and a residential tower design proposal for Santa Fe received a lot of notice by the architectural press. The studio was also shortlisted for a tower competition in Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto) last year. This is definitely a firm to keep an eye on in the coming years.

[project info and images via funforever]