A wall in the middle of Alameda Central: this will be the next edition of the Mextrópoli architecture festival

Mexico City's annual architecture festival, Mextrópoli, is set to unveil its 13th edition, themed 'Movements.' A prominent feature will be a striking installation in Alameda Central: a 5.5-meter-high, 72-meter-long wall, designed by the winners of the Arquine 2026 Competition.

The festival, organized by Arquine magazine, will take place from September 17 to 20. Events will be held at various venues, primarily in the city center. The theme 'Movements' will be explored through master lectures, exhibitions, tours, film screenings, and book presentations. Miquel Adrià explained that the theme invites reflection on social movements, the materials shaping urban landscapes, human actions transforming the established, and tectonic shifts reminding us that even the ground beneath us is in motion.

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In this edition, the festival invites reflection on 'Movements, the social ones, the materials that build the city. The human movements that continuously transform what seemed established, and the tectonic ones that remind us that even the ground on which we build remains in motion.

This year's festival will host Pritzker Prize 2024 laureate Riken Yamamoto, who will deliver a master lecture at the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris on September 18. Other notable participants include Mexico's LANZA Atelier, designers of the Serpentine Pavilion 2026; Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh, known for renovating galleries at the British Museum; and Junya Ishigami, winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale.

The Alameda Central installation, titled 'The Wall,' aims to provoke thought about human constructs. The architects behind it, Pedro Pérez Barroso, Ismael Torrano Montes de Oca, and others, propose reflecting on what we have built collectively. Positioned in the heart of Mexico City, the wall spans three corridors of Alameda Central, prompting passersby to pause and question its presence. The project suggests that upon realizing it can be traversed, a sense of relief might follow, as such an obstacle should ideally not exist.

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The motive of this project is to reflect on what we have built among ourselves, reflected in a wall found in the very heart of Mexico City that extends across Alameda Central – which had already been fenced off at one time – crossing three of its corridors (it does not mean they will be blocked) to make the passerby stop for at least a moment and question such a circumstance, in a short time they will realize that it is possible to cross it and unconsciously feel relief because after all there should be no reason for such an obstacle.