Museo Jumex by David Chipperfield opens in Mexico City
An art gallery designed by David Chipperfield Architects to showcase the largest private art collection in Latin America opened this weekend in Mexico City (+ slideshow).
Museo Jumex presents a selection of pieces from the Colección Jumex, an assemblage of over 2000 artworks by contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons, Olafur Eliasson and Tacita Dean, as well as Mexican artists including Abraham Cruzvillegas and Mario García Torres.
London firm David Chipperfield Architects collaborated with local studio TAAU on the design of the building, which features walls of concrete and locally sourced white travertine, as well as a sawtooth roof that brings natural light into the top floor galleries.
Fourteen columns raise the base of the structure, allowing the ground floor to open out to a surrounding public plaza.
The new museum more than doubles the exhibition space of the collection's existing home and is located in the industrial district of Nuevo Polanco, beside the anvil-shaped Museo Soumaya completed by FREE Fernando Romero EnterprisE in 2011.
According to the architects, the structure "appears as a freestanding pavilion that corresponds to the eclectic nature of the neighbouring buildings".
The museum is also hosting a programme of educational activities and temporary exhibitions, including the first show by American artist Cy Twombly in Latin America.