Mexico City, Mexico
JSa and MTA+V’s Pedre embodies the harmonious assembly of architecture which folds compose functional structures, solid constructions, optimal materials, interiors that become exteriors, custom-made furniture, and landscape panoramic views that dialogue with the territory.
Pedre has been awarded a 2023 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Located in the vicinity of the Pedregal de San Ángel Ecological Reserve, Pedre not only recognizes the environmental value of the area by integrating itself to the already developed periphery that surrounds it, but also compliments the modernist architecture of the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s central campus, and the industrial past of the San Ángel and Loreto neighborhoods.
The architectural project weaves a balance between densities; and a positive balance between built and permeable areas.
Thirty percent of the free area corresponds to open spaces, circulations, lobbies, and recreation areas.
The average density of the building is consistent with the respectful vision of the surrounding environment, the history of El Pedregal, as well as the industrial, artistic, and cultural heritage of the area, its permanence and transformation.
The diversity of housing is extremely relevant, both for the solution of interior spaces and for the rhythm, proportion, and scale of the project.
Spread over 14 floors, 112 apartments—of 18 different typologies from 90 to 300 m2 on average—constitute the main structure of the building.
The radial core is the backbone of the space, giving way to three bodies with different organic projections that unfold and approach the city.
Finishes and materials in exposed concrete, aluminum, and glass merge architecture with structural engineering, turning minimums into maximums, favoring a sober, discreet, and elegant construction with a careful proportion between openings and solids.
In response to the physical and natural context, the project exalts the region’s natural deposits with a stone basement and endemic vegetation.
Access points, sidewalks, bays, lobbies, and public spaces belong to the public construction of the collective memory of the region.
The morphology, folds, insets, columns, balconies, undulations, and symbiosis between verticals and curves, bet on an emblematic building with meanings and signifiers beyond what is built.
Project: PEDRE
Architects: JSa and MTA+V
Lead Architects: JSa: Javier Sánchez and Benedikt Fahlbusch, MTA+V: Miguel de la Torre
General Contractor: Factor Eficiencia
Client: Elix
Photographers: Rafael Gamo
