In a time where walls evoke worrying threats in collective imagination, the Pirámide Voladora aims to harbour a protected space in the urban chaos while avoiding any solid boundary. Its welcoming shade is the only subtle threshold that defines its borders.
In the Pirámide Voladora, the fabric enclosure, one of the four fundamental elements of architecture of the primordial hut theorised by Gottfried Semper, doesn’t need to enclose in order to protect and is therefore elevated to a large shading canopy made of light, translucent yellow fabric: an iconic landmark on the Alameda Central.
Continuity with the urban context is also preserved on the ground: the use of standard scaffolding elements for the structure not only ensures great transparency, but also avoids any ground platform through its punctual, non invasive connection to the pavement. Moreover, the structure itself becomes inhabitable through integrated seating and can be enriched with exhibition panels. In case of emergency situations, it can easily be transformed to host assistance counters, first aid material storage, community meetings, while its canopy would stand as a recognisable assembly point in the city.
The scaffolding elements are assembled in four L shaped structures arranged in a 9 x 9m square with four accesses. This shape is reminiscent of the orthogonal layout of historic Mexico City as well as of its central sacred spot, the Templo Mayor, and it conveys varied forms and scales of organized or spontaneous gatherings, being at the same time centripetal and scattered.
The Pirámide Voladora’s life can span way beyond the time of the festival: its light structure can easily be dismantled and rebuilt, transported in a minimal volume and rebuild cheaply. Its structure is potentially rentable and therefore nearly waste-less. Once dismantled, nothing remains of the Pirámide Voladora, apart from the memory of the shade it once projected on the Alameda.
