espacio cero dedicates mausoleums for barragán, goéritz and reyes in mexico

emotional architecture, born in the 1950s, is a style that embraces space, color and light — creating buildings that encourage meditation and reflection. it was conceived by mexican architect luis barragán and sculptor/painter mathias goéritz, both frustrated by the cold functionalism of modernism. in 1954, barragán and goéritz published ‘the emotional architecture manifesto’ in which they argue how architecture needs to be spiritually uplifting. the torres de satélite (satellite tower), mexico’s first urban sculptures, perfectly reflects emotional architecture and had its first planning in 1957— led by luis barragan, painter jesús reyes ferreira and mathias goeritz. with this in mind, espacio cero –mexican architectural practice–  proposes to use the interior forgotten space of the torres de satélite as mausoleums for barragán, goéritz and reyes — commemorating their great artistic legacy.

 
original authors of the project

for each tower of the urban sculpture, espacio cero assigned an internal function that does not alter its artistic and social nature but that activates a sequential procession through the square. the lower structure (tower of silence) contains a chapel that keeps the mystical-religious spirit of its creators. three towers (red, blue and white) are dedicated as mausoleums for barragán, goéritz and reyes (tower of remembrance) where their urns are located. the tallest one (tower of sound) offers a place where people can see the entire city as symbol of mystical ascent.

 
the inner space

the tower of silence

tower of sound

the tower of remembrance

construction process of the towers

proposed program for espacio cero’s towers

mystical ascent: the top

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom