AO TOWER
Jorge Hernández de la Garza
MANUFACTURERS
Herman Miller, Illux, Ilumileds, KONE, Tecnorampa
COLLABORATOR
Miguel Angel Loyola , Veronica Quitroz, Martin Mena
ENGINEERING
Mauricio Gutierrez
STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Miguel Angel Arriaga
DEVELOPMENT
GRUPO FG2
LOCATION
Ciudad De México, Mexico
PHOTOGRAPHS
Jorge Hernández de la Garza / Luis Young
CATEGORY
Office Buildings
Text description provided by architect.
Located in the heart of Roma Norte, the office building arises as part of a wave of reconstruction and citizen reactivation of one of the most pulsating areas of Mexico City, however, this area was severely affected by the 2017 earthquake.
The work is surrounded by galleries, restaurants, bars, bookstores, and other public spaces that nourish the neighborhood with life.
Hence, the building seeks to converse with the city and to think of the day-to-day life of the office as a life linked to the streets where people work. That is why the large openings and the terraces seek to converse with their surroundings as if the offices wanted to go out to the city or the city to look inside.
At the same time, there is a sense of solidity to the volume, a serious structural response to the seismic conditions that have caused damage to that area in the past. The concrete walls, as well as the steel beams and columns, express the strength of the structure and evoke the building's roots in its soil.
Reconstruction also means resilience, rooting, permanence. The route culminates in a terrace on the last level. The city surrounds on all sides, all north, and all south suddenly insight. From there, standing on this new building, the observer feels part of the city, anchored to its soil.
The work is already part of the city and fully participates in its permanent reconstruction.
