Cultural Corridor Chapultepec | FR-EE

Cultural Corridor Chapultepec

Dubbed “the Mexican Highline”, Fernando Romero EnterprisE’s mixed use intervention spans an expansive 42 000 square metres on the oldest street in Chapultepec, Mexico. FR-EE will be working alongside architecture firms FRENTE Arquitectura and RVDG, with the landscaping designed by Mario Schjetnan GDU. Set to be completed by 2017, FR-EE intend to revive the old streets cultural heritage while provided spaces for retail, social interaction and visual engagement for the oldest towns in Mexico City that bound the main access way.

“This project will organise the surroundings, will double the green areas, will enhance connectivity and will celebrate the cultural diversity of the city” – Fernando Romero, general director of FR-EE
Although the project has been compared to the world famous New York Highline, there are more similarities to other instances, for example Las Ramblas in Barcelona, that revolve around social-regenerative programmes as well as linking the pedestrian to commercial and public spaces. FR-EE’s “complete street” redirects the original programme of the street, from vehicular access to pedestrian access, as well as introduces diverse sustainable plant life in order to redefine the vision of the future Mexican city.

“We are taking advantage of the space above the street to create an elevated park and generate a new quality public space for meeting people” – Juan Pablo Maza, general director of FRENTE
The city’s viaduct, a historic cultural element, remains as the heart of the intervention. It serves as inspiration for the project, as the corridor careens and weaves through and down the formerly daunting multi-lane road. While engaging the everyday user with the city’s rich heritage, the corridor also allows the pedestrian to actually interact with the historic street in more ways than trying to cross over to the other side. Public spaces such as an amphitheatre, coffee shops, and squares are provided and well shaded, a break from the bustle of the vehicular traffic that will be redirected to flow alongside and under the structure.

“We want the Cultural Corridor Chapultepec to celebrate the social call of public space as a generator of urban life by means of creating a new, exciting, active and multicultural destination” – Ruysdael Vivanco de Gyves, general director of RVDG

by Thelma Ndebele
Project Details:
project: Corridor Cultural Chapultepec
client: Sapi de CV
date: 2015 – 2017
location: Chapultepec Avenue, between Lieja Street and the Glorieta de Los Insurgentes, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, 06700, Mexico City
program: Mixed Use
construction area: 452,085 sqf (42,000 sqm)
architects: FR-EE, FRENTE, RVDG
landscape: Mario Schjetnan GDU