rojkind arquitectos: cineteca nacional del siglo XXI

‘cineteca nacional del siglo XXI’ by rojkind arquitectos in mexico city, mexico
all images courtesy rojkind arquitectos
image © rojkind arquitectos, render by axel friedman

mexican practice rojkind arquitectos has been awarded the design of ‘cineteca nacional del siglo XXI’
by the national council for culture and the arts of mexico. with a focus on generating new cinematic
experiences, the renovation project will increase the complex’s built area from 20,000 m2 to almost
29,000 m2, of which 7,000 will be dedicated to the public.

interior view
image © rojkind arquitectos, render by axel friedman

recognizing the medium’s technological advancements which has allowed viewers to access ‘moving pictures’
beyond the standard screen setting, the design aims to remove film from its classic exhibition site and
heighten the experience of the common space – parks, cafe, square – as a place of communication.
the pre-existing parking which occupies a large sector of the plot will be transferred to a six-level
(above grade) parking, freeing up space for an outdoor amphitheatre, a public park, and a central plaza.
covered by a porous, canopy-like roof form, the central plaza will integrate trees into its layout to draw
the elements of the park to its center. in addition, the project will add four new screening rooms (increasing
seats from 2050 to 3050) and expand the archive vaults to house 50,000 more reels of films.

image © rojkind arquitectos, render by axel friedman

image © rojkind arquitectos, render by axel friedman

image © rojkind arquitectos, render by axel friedman

floor plan / level 0

green areas comparison diagram
(left) current state – 3,388 m2
(right) proposal – 7,110 m2

trees comparison diagram
(left) current state – 257 trees
(right) proposal – 314 trees

parking comparison diagram
(left) current state – 422 parking spaces
(right) proposal – 528 parking spaces

seating comparison diagram
(left) current state – 2,050 seats
(right) proposal – 3,050 seats

archive vaults comparison diagram
(left) current state – 125,000 volumes
(right) proposal – 50,000 additional volumes

screening rooms
1000 seats (4@ 250)

roof structure
6,900 m2

existing theatres renovation
2849 m2

parking
528 spaces

green areas
7,110 m2

amphitheatre
700 spectators

archive vaults
50,000 additional volumes

existing office renovation
1,900 m2

digital restoration lab and new offices
920 m2

project info:

client: conaculta – cineteca nacional
construction area: 20,188 m2

architects: mcihael rojkind (founding partner), gerardo salinas (partner)
team: alonso de la fuente obregon, favael cedillo sanchez, phillip schlauch,
birgit hammer, djurdja milutinovic, alfredo hernandez soto, rodrigo medina,
juan manuel ortuno, david stalin vergara, dolores robles – martinez gomez,
isaac smeke, andrea leon
landscape: ambiente arquitectos – fritz sigg calderon, juan manuel guerra villasana
cinema consultants: auerbach pollock friedlander – tom neville, vene garcia,
kenneth fause
content editor: alejandro hernandez galvez
roof structure: studio NYL – chris o’hara, julian lineham
structure: CTC ingenieros – carlos tapia
interior: esrawe diseno, hector esrawe, alberto villarreal
graphic design: eresto moncada
model: roberto gil