The Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, designed by FREE
Museo Soumaya
West façade
North and west façades
Defined by its mushroomlike form and its skin of locally sourced hexagonal aluminum tiles, the Museo Soumaya is located in the Plaza Carso—developed by billionaire Carlos Slim and largely designed by his son-in-law, architect Fernando Romero.
Museo Soumaya and the neighboring plaza.
Plaza Carso
Reflections off of the tiles at night.
Museum Entrance
The museums second-floor lobby is column-free, save for one slanted support that cuts into the gallery above.
Main stairway from lobby to gallery floors.
On the upper floors, many of the artworks are shown either in display cases or on stands situated among crafted circulation paths.
Tiered circulation paths
Since art cannot be hung off of the curving, elastomeric-coated interior walls, paintings are hung on freestanding partitions.
Sinuous circulation ramps lead from floor to floor and gallery to gallery.
Seventh-floor galleries.
A curving ramp leads from the seventh floor to the cavernous eighth-floor gallery. A venue for showcasing Slim's large collection of Rodin and Dalí sculptures, the gallery is the only publicly accessible space in the museum with natural daylight, which filters in through a skylight.
Skylight detail
The hexagonal tiles seen from the green roof of a neighboring building.
Façade diagram
