Mexico in the World - PAAX KUXTAL Pavilion

Project idea

PAAX KUXTAL pavilion purpose is to represent mexican culture internationally, and show music's importance in México.
Functioning as a small movie theater for charro movies and gallery , PAAX KUXTAL alludes to mariachi's variations in ryhthm and metrics, with its dynamic composition and curves, as well as with its expositions about musical genres in mariachi music.

Project description

Represents Mexican culture in Dublin, Ireland.
As mexicans, we have noticed our culture has been wrongfullly perceived as tacos, parties, and sombreros (the iconic mexican or charro hat). And although it is true that this elements are important part of our culture, Mexican culture is so much more rich and wonderful than that.

This is why, for this project, we selected a concept that we know is important in Mexicans' day to day: music.
Mexican music is more an experience than a thing, it is present in our everyday lives, when we are happy or at a party, when we declare love with serenades, when we are sad, or telling stories about ancestors and popular icons. Mexican music, or mariachi music, is a way to express feelings.

The morphology of this projects derives from a popular mexican song: "Si nos dejan", which is a romantic song that expreses the author's desire to be next to his beloved and reach for the sky, which is why there is a high point in the project, as well as a point where all stripes meet. Also, this song and almost every mexican mariachi song, include instruments such as violins and guitars, and each stripe of the project represents the variations in rhythm and metrics.

The spaces included in PAAX KUXTAL are: a small showcase for instruments used in mariachi music, a cinema for 30 people where charro movies will be shown, a gallery with illustrative images and infogrpahics for a better understanding of mexican music and several of its genres, an outside area with a bench, and lastly, a small balcony fromw which you can see the outside fountain and wall where a hologram of mariachis will be projected, so you can get to live the experience of having a serenade.

Technical information

Construction: steel, glass and concrete.