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2016 MCHAP

Cineteca Nacional

Rojkind Arquitectos

Mexico City, Mexico

January 2014

PRIMARY AUTHOR

Michel Rojkind

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR

CLIENT

Fideicomiso para la Cineteca Nacional

PHOTOGRAPHER

Jaime Navarro Paul Rivera

OBJECTIVE

First, surface parking was consolidated into a six story structure freeing 40% of the site. Then the pedestrian friendly “back entrance”, located across the street from the historic town’s cemetery, was reactivated –70% of Cineteca patrons use public transportation and arrive by foot–. The reclaimed space now houses the new program organized along two axes, one perpendicular to the street of Real Mayorazgo becoming the main pedestrian entrance and the other perpendicular to Av. México-Coyoacán for both car and pedestrian access. The axes intersection became a new 80m x 40m public plaza sheltered from the weather by a hovering canopy connecting the existing complex with the new screening rooms. Clad in composite aluminum panels, with varied size triangular perforations, the roof structure wraps around the new screening rooms and becomes their façade. The sheltered space functions as the foyer for the old and new screening rooms and can accommodate additional program options such as concerts, theater, exhibitions, etcetera. “We didn’t want it to feel like you’re in the lobby of a commercial cinema, we wanted it to feel more like a university campus, with everything floating in a park” says design principal Michel Rojkind.

CONTEXT

The existing complex dated from 1982, when a fire destroyed part of the campus and most of its archive, and was a “temporary” facility never well suited for its purpose. Additionally, thousands of people cross the grounds daily as they walked to and from one of the city’s nearby metro station, Estación Metro Coyoacan.

PERFORMANCE

The new screening rooms seat 180 each and the existing screening rooms were updated with current technology. Overall the complex can now seat 2,495 visitors in indoor theaters. The outdoor amphitheater has a 750-person capacity. Two new film vaults were also added to the site, increasing Cineteca’s archive capacity by 50,000 reels of film. Parking capacity was also increased by 25% to a total of 528 cars. The thousands of people that use the grounds everyday now find welcoming unrestricted public space: commuters still walk back and forth across the campus in the morning and evening, medical staff from a nearby hospital stop by to eat their lunches at noon, students hang out at the park in the afternoon, and moviegoers attend free outdoor events in the evening. The added amenities have turned the campus into a favorite gathering space not only for moviegoers but also for Xoco residents and workers who have appropriated the space as if it were their backyard.

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