along the ruta del peregrino, pilgrim’s route in jalisco, mexico, the ‘estanzuela sanctuary’ by beijing-based architect ai weiwei of fake design is a structure which carves into the landscape. crossing the existing path, the line obstructs and redirects visitors traveling through the site to experience the immediate location. beginning submerged at the northern end, a stacked stone structure rises to ground level to perpendicularly meet the meandering route, and continues to rise above the terrain towards the southern tip. unifying the opposing ends, a continuous bench stretches across the length of the bordering walls to create diverse stopping points to feel intimacy, shelter and openness along the single axis.

ai weiwei fake design estanzuela sanctuary ruta del peregrino mexicoai weiwei‘s ‘estanzuela sanctuary’ follows the the ruta del peregrino(above) image © iwan baan(above) image © iwan baan

 

 

spanning 117 kilometers between ameca and talpa de allende, the historical religious pilgrimmage, ‘ruta del peregrino’, attracts 2 million people each year. seven landmark projects are realized or nearing completion along the way, giving better conditions to individuals whom embarked upon the journey, which ascends to an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level.

 

see designboom’s previous coverage of the designs and buildings here.

ai weiwei fake design estanzuela sanctuary ruta del peregrino mexicobenches line the walls of the linear structureimage © iwan baan

ai weiwei / fake design: estanzuela sanctuary, ruta del peregrinoaerial view of estanzuela sanctuaryimage © iwan baan

ai weiwei / fake design: estanzuela sanctuary, ruta del peregrinosite plan

ai weiwei / fake design: estanzuela sanctuary, ruta del peregrinoentire ruta del peregrino image © mario vazquez

ai weiwei / fake design: estanzuela sanctuary, ruta del peregrino‘ruta del peregrino’ at the venice biennale image © designboom

ai weiwei / fake design: estanzuela sanctuary, ruta del peregrinocollection of materials and models from each of the 7 projects image © designboom

ai weiwei / fake design: estanzuela sanctuary, ruta del peregrinomodel of the ‘estanzuela sanctuary’ amidst a collection of study models image © designboom

 

project info:

 

project title: estanzuela sanctuary location: estanzuela state: built architects: ai wei wei / fake design team: andy lee, andré murer

title of the whole project: pilgrim’s route client: secretary of tourism of jalisco; secretary of tourism aurelio lopez rocha program: pilgrim’s route masterplan location: from ameca to talpa de allende, jalisco, mexico. curatorial team: tatiana bilbao and derek dellekamp masterplan and project coordination: tatiana bilbao, derek dellekamp and rozana montiel research team: rozana montiel/periférica, adiranne montemayor, carlos zimbrón invited architects: luis aldrete / luis aldrete | arquitectos (mexico), tatiana bilbao / tatiana bilbao s.c. (mexico), derek dellekamp / dellekamp arquitectos (mexico), alejandro aravena / elemental (chile), emanuel christ and christoph gantenbein / christ & gantenbein (switzerland), tilo herlach, simon hartmann, simon frommenwiler / hhf architects (switzerland), rozana montiel / periférica (mexico), ai weiwei / fake design (china) invited designers: godoylab (industrial), omar orlaineta (graphic), toa taller de operaciones ambi- entales (environmental)