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Article from issue 1/2001 »Concrete Construction«

Mexican Embassy in Berlin

discussion p. 43
Architect Gonzaléz de Léon, Teodoro | Serrano, Francisco |

The most striking feature of this building is the entrance facade: an 18-metre-high screen, consisting of 40 partly inclined pillars. Cast inwhite concrete with a content of marble chippings, these elements have a rough bush-hammered finish and are enclosed at the top and sides by a concrete framing structure. Behind this outer layer, a glass facade extends over the full height of the building, allowing views into the interior. From the entrance, visitors proceed to a circular atrium, the visible surfaces of which are also in the white concrete that is characteristic of this building. The atriumspace forms the centre of the embassy complex and serves avariety of purposes. It isclosed at the top onone side by a sunken roof garden.