Mexico City, Mexico
Pelli Clarke &. Partners and PARKS have completed the Mitikah skyscraper for local developers Fibra Uno with its high-end curtain wall in shiny silver now the tallest in Mexico City.
The mega-development project, Torre Mitikah towers over the cityscape and scenery of Mexico City, dominating views from every direction with its dramatic profile and exquisite façade, providing a new epic landmark for the capital city of over 21 million.
This new residential tower was originally commissioned in 2007 as part of a master plan for the area that was also headed by Pelli Clarke & Partners.
In 2015, the tower was acquired by a new developer and the master plan completely changed.
The final arrangement features a reduced footprint for the complex, which includes a few smaller high-rise structures that interface with Mitikah on the ground floor.
Torre Mitikah has been recently awarded a 2023 American Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Located near the historic neighborhood of Coyoacán, the symmetrical, glass-clad tower rises from an urban fabric that comprises single-family homes and low-rises, so Mitikah is by far the tallest structure in the vicinity.
The tower relates to both to the cluster of skyscrapers miles away on Avenida Reforma as well as the dramatic mountains that surround the city on every side.
The structural system of Torre Mitikah takes into account the tower’s unique placement on the ancient soil of Tenochtitlan’s Lago Texcoco, combining advanced hybrid technology to ensure the tower’s functionality in the seismic zone it resides in.
The high-end curtain wall in shiny silver brings out the structure’s bravado.
The purity of form, elegant detailing, and sophisticated, slightly curved taper on the north and south notched facades towards the sky culminate in a “window to the heavens.”
The sophisticated, silvery curtain wall accentuates the quality of the design. Louvers for mechanical ventilation are functionally, yet seamlessly integrated into the curtain wall without disrupting the natural rhythm of the tower.
To better contextually connect the 62-story tower with the surrounding area, a series of canopies were included to create a graduated entry.
The architects maintained the graduated entrance canopies on Churubusco and emphasized the sky-ground connection by creating a focal point in the heavens with a terminus to a notch on the north and south sides of the tower.
The 11-hectare (27-acre), 3.6-million-square-foot mixed-use commercial center, a hub for world-class dining and amusement, Class-A private offices, and a state-of-the-art hospital.
There are multi-story townhouses at the tower’s base, spacious two- and three-bedroom apartments in the tower’s core, and opulent residences with internal gardens, private terraces, and direct helipad access at the tower’s highest levels.
A “window to the heavens” results from the north and south perforated facades‘ clean design, exquisite detailing, and subtle curvature leading upwards.
The timeless and solid nature of Torre Mtikah draws attention to its “axis mundi,” the vertical axis seen as a vital link between earth and sky across most cultures.
“We preserved the graduating entrance canopies on Churubusco and highlighted the sky-ground link by creating a point of focus in the skies with a terminal to a notch on the north and south sides of the tower,” states the firm.
“Torre Mitikah is the “Ventana al infinito” (window to infinity) that satisfies our desire to fly. The tower serves as a “hito” (milestone), serving as a connecting point in this sense.”
Project: Torre Mtikah
Architects: Pelli Clarke & Partners
Design Team: Cesar Pelli, Mitch Hirsch, and Celia Toche
Architects of Record: Parks desarrolladora s.a. de c.v.
General Contractor: Parks desarrolladora s.a. de c.v.
Client: Fibra Uno Administracion SA de CV (FUNO)
Photographers: Jason O’Rear
