SOUMAYA MUSEUM - FERNANDO ROMERO

“THE FACADE IS COMPOSED OF 15,000 ALUMINIUM PLATE HEXAGONS, MADE UP OF 1,000 DIFFERENT FAMILIES THAT VARY IN THEIR DIMENSIONS” -fernando romero

Romero’s design breaks away from the the standard volumetric boxes that often become art galleries. Scripting and parametric thinking and technologies has enabled the design and fabrication of this project.

Scripting has allowed Romero to design the hexagonal plates in 1,000 different families that make up the facade. The use of parametric technologies has allowed the streamlining of this process and the Soumaya Museum could be termed as using scripting for productivity and scripting to the answer.

“THE SHELL OF THE BUILDING IS CONSTRUCTED WITH 28 STEEL CURVED COLUMNS OF DIFFERENT DIAMETERS, EACH WITH ITS OWN GEOMETRY AND SHAPE” - fernando romero

Romero set out to produce a contemporary building using the latest technologies to create a memorable structure. To do this he has employed the use of computer aided design (CAD) and has used parametric modelling and design tools to determine the cladding system of hexagonal plates.

Parametric design technologies have likely increased productivity for this project, as the 1,000 plate families that have been used can be changed quickly and easily to achieve a new result.

THERE ARE THREE SCRIPTING CULTURES- scripting for productivity- scripting to ‘the answer’- scripting for a voyage of discovery - mark burry

“ITS AVANT-GARDE MORPHOLOGY AND TYPOLOGY DEFINE A NEW PARADIGM IN THE HISTORY OF MEXICAN AND INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE” - fernando romero

The Soumaya Museum is part of a new culture of design that is furthering the influence of technology in architectural practise.

Parametric thinking and technolody has enabled beauitful, complex structures to be achived with relatively simple components. This is expressed in the hexagonal plates of the facade in this project which appear relatively uniform.

The complexity achieved and the simplicity of the form makes this project iconic.