DIABLOS ROJOS BASEBALL STADIUM 2014-2019 FGP Atelier is an emerging global practice led by internationally recognized architect Francisco Gonzalez Pulido. Gonzalez Pulido’s work has been acknowledged for advancing the quality of the built environment through the CONTENTS alignment of design, science, art and technology.

The work of FGP Atelier is guided by Transparency, Openness and Freedom. These values are reflected in our process and collaborations, as well as in INTRODUCTION the buildings and spaces that we create. Our mission is to contribute to social and economic advancement through the alignment of Design, Science and Technology. Our work builds on Logic, Intuition, Multidisciplinary THE CLIENT Collaboration, Scientific Research and Work Experience to design Active Spaces, Infrastructure and Urban Networks that respond to Atmosphere, Ecology, Comfort, Economy, Culture and the Technological Context. CONTEXT & URBANISM We believe in Experience over Typology and stand for the dissolution of archetypical interventions. Through years of experience, our work seeks to redefine the concept of the Stadium, the Lab, the Airport, the Cultural, Living DESIGN PROCESS and Working Environments.

In early 2019, we launched a publication series to share in-depth explorations TECHNOLOGY & AESTHETICS of our recently completed projects. SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCE

IMAGE GALERY

COPYRIGHT © 2019, FGP ATELIER INTERNATIONAL, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4 5 INTRODUCTION

When you look back at the stadium from the field, you of the canopy rises. These pavilions appear grand This sense of permeability and openness is attain a sense of scale by comparison in the process. can see through the center of the building below the and yet light as a result of the striated openings of fundamentally different from most stadiums. Were the The organization of the building as a series of separate owner’s box to the trees. On each side, two bands of their surface. As one moves closer, it is clear that circulation space of many stadiums is a closed ring volumes with space in-between breaks up the scale red cut across the field of vision to define the box level this is like no other stadium in the world and that, in with little contact to either the field or the city beyond, into units that can be conceptualized while providing and upper balcony – a sharp contrast to the deep green addition to what will undoubtedly be an exciting game, this spaces provides clear orientation to both. The room to see these different parts of the building. The of the field. Above, there is the canopy, the signature an adventure exploring the building awaits. drama of these spaces in enhanced by the support result is a building given a sense of unity through the of the stadium that provides shelter for thousands of structure of the roof descending from the roof and roof while also containing parts serving a diverse set fans by cantilevering over the seats and extending The building is organized via simply: a bowl with three planting firmly on the ground. The drama continues of needs, that provide scale and are addressed to the towards the entrance to shelter guests as they arrive. levels of seating opening onto the playing field and as one moves around the perimeter of the stadium, scale of the human body, and that might even provide Below, seats colored with a gradient from red to black 6 truncated pyramidal volumes housing services and gaining glimpses of the action of on the field in the a sense of intimacy amidst the massiveness of the descent from the entrance level to the field. To the circulation set a short distance from seating. It is in this process, before emerging beneath the tip of the wings structure. right and left are a series of small pavilions whose roof space between the volumes and the seating that all the of the roof above. Here, one is able to look back at the is made of lightweight textile fabric that lend a sense drama beyond the game unfolds. These are spaces full expanse of the building and fully understand the No matter where one is within the building, it is hard of intimacy to the vastness of the structure above. of encounter between guests where they take a break scope of the design. not to be impressed that the building exists at all. from the game, buy concessions and souvenirs, and Mega projects are built around the world with some This totality is, however, not something that you engage memorabilia from the history of the team and Having moved through the building, it is hard to be consistency and stadia often rank among them. Few, experience immediately upon arriving at the stadium. baseball in . Spatiousness is the fundamental impressed by the scale of the building. Stadia in however, show such inventiveness in the context As you cross the bridge that connects the stadium to quality of these spaces. They rise three stories and general rank amongst the larger structures that one will of conventional typologies. Rarer still are projects the surrounding community, you see the two three- beyond to the rough soaring above. Circulation spaces encounter. This stadium, however, stands out through of this scale built by private citizens for the public pronged supports holding the tail of the central module form the perimeter – allowing people to look down its specific form. The roof does not merely provide good. Even less common are projects of this scale forming the roof structure. Below, thousands of fans from the upper floors to the entry level and across the cover, but is a formal gesture and composition that in Mexico. To many, it ranks as the most significant are arrives and move towards the gigantic media space to others moving around the stadium. They are thrusts towards the field and city – drawing the eye of project completed in the country in the last several screen above the opening that allows for a clear view dramatic in every way as one sees and is seen as part the visitor in the process. While many stadia hold the years. In this context, one might then ask exactly how towards the field. To the right and left you see the of the Diablos Rojos Community. guest in a contained experience that rarely allows one this project came to be? series of pavilions from which the support structure to look back out at the city, the Diablos Rojos Stadium creates moments of connection that allow visitors to look back at the city from which they have come and

6 7 8 9 THE CLIENT

The story of the Diablos Rojos Baseball Stadium The Club Rojos del Mexico is one among these teams. Alfredo identified with Mansur who, in addition to being arriving in Veracruz in 1923 at the age of 14 with his begins with the team and the growing interest and By the 1940s, the Club had the largest number of one of the greatest connoisseurs of baseball played parents and his mother’s grandparents arriving in prestige of the sport in Mexico. The origin of the sport followers in the Mexican Republic. The club would anywhere in the world, had great human qualities Veracruz in 1898. The entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in Mexico extends back to the 1840s when American frequently win championships and was able to attract and became a good friend. By the end of 1993 an in his family. His mother’s father José S. Helu – the military forces were stationed in Mexico during the the best players from around the country. As this agreement was reached for Don Alfredo along with only son of a prominent Judge in Lebanon – founded Mexican-American War. By 1925, the Liga Mexicana occurred, promoters and investors in the sport such as Roberto Hernández, Pepe Aguilera, and Pepe Marrón the Spanish and Arabic newspaper Al Jawater. His de Béisbol had been founded. During the 1930s and multi-millionaire Jorge Pasquel emerged in hopes that to acquire an interested in the team. paternal grandparents dedicated themselves to the 1940s, the Liga Mexicana served as an essential home one day the league might rival the Majors in the United clothing trade – mainly making denim and garments. to African American players from the United States States. As this occurred, the audience grew and the Over the next two decades, the team would continue Before his father’s early death in 1947, he started a who were unable to play there until Jackie Robinson stadia in which they played evolved to accommodate to thrive and win many National Championships. In shoe factory in Oaxaca that made some of the highest broke the color barrier in 1947. They were offered the new crowds. This process was bulstered when the 2000, the team moved to the Foro Sol, a venue built quality shoes. higher salaries and better conditions than in the Negro games began to be televised to a national audience in primarily for music. By the early 2010s, Don Alfredo League in the United States. Satchel Paige, Joshua the 1950s. was beginning to contemplate building a stadium that At an early age, Don Alfredo started his own Josh Gibson, Montford Monte Irvin, James Thomas would be designed specifically for baseball. The first business raising chickens and selling the eggs to the Cool Papa Bell, Martin Dihigo, and Raymond Mamerto By the mid-1990s, the team had won dozens of step in this direction was to move the team to the neighborhood. As a result of Don Alfredo’s early death Dandridge were some of the members of the Negro championships and was widely recognized as the 5,200-seat Estadio Fray Nano, which first opened in and the subsequent closing of his father’s shoe factory, League who would end up playing in Mexico. They premier club in the country. It would be in 1993 2014. The stadium, however, was not large enough Don Alfredo has worked diligently while attaining would all later be inducted into the Major League Hall during the Caribbean Series in Mazatlán, Sinaloa that for growing interest in the team and certainly not scholarships to attend excellent schools. The latter of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Today, there are the path the team would take would be inextricably comparable to a major league baseball stadium in the reflects his family’s long-standing intellectual tradition, 16 teams in the Summer League and 8 teams in the affected by the attendance of Pepe Marrón, Edgar United States. love of writing, poetry, and culture. He started working Winter League. The League itself is divided between Nehme, and Don Alfredo Harp Helú – the man who at age eleven when he sold subscriptions of the a northern and southern division. would ultimately commission Francisco Gonzalez For most, this ambition would be a just a dream. Don newspaper Excelsiorin two semi-annual campaigns. Pulido to design a new stadium that would bare his Alfredo, however, had the resources to make this dream In December, he sold Christmas cards and boxes of name. a reality. When Don Alfredo Harp Helú purchased the threads. As a result of this work, he got to know the team in early 1994, he did so after a tremendously whole city of Mexico. In 1960, when he finished high At this particular game, Don Alfredo was seated next to successful three decade career in banking. Don Alfredo school, he started working every day at the Pirámides Pepe el Grandote Peña. Peña was a great pitcher who has lived an extraordinary life and it is not surprising Thread Factory, which in those years was managed by Don Alfred had admired in the sixties when he pitched that he would find himself in the extraordinary position his cousins Jorge and Pepe Sayeg. for the Tigers. Peña knew of Don Alfredo’s love for the of continuing the long lineage of significant patrons Red Devils and informed him that he was working with of art and architecture that have defined the cultural Roberto Mansu – the current owner of the team – to trajectory of civilization over several thousand years. explore potential buyers. In March of that year, Peña Like many great entrepreneurs and businessmen, Don invited Don Alfredo to the start of the Mexican Baseball Alfredo is the son of immigrants. The family of both his League and introduced him to Roberto Mansu. Don father and mother are of Lebanese decent – his father

10 11 After finishing high school, he entered the National orders from institutional investors, mainly banks. These philanthropic activities are extensive and far The new Stadium for the Diablos Rojos Baseball Autonomous University of Mexico. He started his Carlos already stood out as a businessman diversified ranging. They include Fomento Social, Fomento team would, in many ways, combine his interest in career at Price Waterhouse Coopers. A year after in stock, real estate, industrial and construction Cultural and Fomento Ecológico Banamex as well philanthropy and his love for baseball. While he would finishing his degree, he resigned from PWC and went business. Don Alfredo managed the brokerage house. as the Alfredo Harp Foundation. The foundation pay for the entirety of its construction – a number that to work with his cousins Carlos​​ and Pepe Slim. Carlos promotes projects in the areas of education that would ultimately climb to $176.3 M – the stadium was Chairman of the Board of Inversora Bursátil and The following year, he co-founded the brokerage help improve the infrastructure of various universities, would ultimately be given as a gift to the country of appointed Don Alfredo as Director General when he house Acción y Valores de México, SA de CV (Accival). promote distance education, and create scholarship Mexico. The first, step, however, was to select a site was only twenty-two years old. He collaborated with From its first months, it became the largest in volume programs. He supports cultural projects ranging from and hire an architect. Carlos and Pepe on a number of businesses in addition and amount of operations held on the Mexican Stock the creation of museums and cultural institutions, to the brokerage house that included construction, Exchange. The company grew rapidly and was involved scholarships for students of the arts, music festivals, quarry, arenera, and a soft-drink bottling facility. In in a number of high-profile transactions. During this promotion of restoration and preservation. The Alfredo 1968 Don Alfredo was able to buy a seat on the time, both Don Alfredo and the co-founder of Accival, Harp Foundation supports various health institutions Stock Exchange as well as 10 percent of the bottling Roberto Hernández Ramírez, served as president with specialized medical equipment, improvement of company and 5 percent of Bienes Raíces Mexicanos, of the Mexican Stock Exchange. The brokerage the hospital infrastructure and promotion of medical SA. Don Alfredo was part of a new generation of evolved to become an investment bank and put Don research. He has a special commitment to caring stockbrokers that revolutionized the stock market by Alfredo and Ramírez in a position to take advantage for the environment. In addition to the installation promoting changes in laws and institutionalizing the of the deregulation and re-privatization of the banking of multiple high-tech nurseries and seed selection business through their own brokerage houses. industry in 1991. banks, the Foundation promotes different programs of reforestation, urban planting, water harvesting, and In 1970, Roberto Hernández Ramírez, Roberto Olivieri With the establishment of Grupo Financiero Banamex- reef care, to name a few. and Don Alfred created Inbursa with Carlos Slim. Accival and the subsequent acquision of Avantel – Olivieri managed fixed income securities, even though the second largest telecommunications company in Don Alfredo has had a lifelong interest in sports and at that time not even treasury certificates (Cetes) Mexico – in 1994 following the deregulation of the likes to describe his life in terms of sports metaphors. had appeared. Roberto Hernández was the largest telecom industry, Don Alfredo entered a new phase of He was attracted to sports at an early age and made generator of important revenues when promoting his life. During the 1990s, Banamex grew to become time as a young accountant to join sports clubs where the largest bank in Latin America and Mexico. In 2001, he practiced gymnastics, played basketball, and Citigroup acquired Banamex for $12.5 billion and Don developed a lifelong love of tennis. While he and his Alfredo and Ramírez joined the board of Citigroup. friends would attend football games, he developed a Since the acquisition, Don Alfredo has devoted the clear passion for baseball. The sport appealed deeply majority of his time to philanthropy and sports. to his intellectual nature and love of numbers, statistics, and probability.

12 13 CONTEXT & URBANISM

It is important to remember that almost 21 M people The Cathedral and the Zocolo onto which its doors By the 1980s, however, little cultivation remained. The result of this inability to fully plan the city and call their home. As the 6th largest city in opened would become the center of the Colonial In recent years, it has become a dense residential create an infrastructure framework supporting growth the world, the city is faced with many of the challenges City that would be laid out in a regular grid. The neighborhood in some areas and an industrial and has meant a city that is divided between wealthier that global cities of this scale must reckon with. elite members of Spanish society would live in close commercial neighborhood in other areas. Generally enclaves with lower density and excellent services High density zones require infrastructure to facilitate proximity to the Zocolo with the indigenous population speaking, the borough has some of the most dangerous and tightly packed neighborhoods – sometimes even mobility, sanitation, and social services. The urban forming irregularly planned villages on the periphery. and poor neighborhoods in Mexico City. At the same shantytowns – that the working class and urban poor infrastructure must also be resilient to natural disasters. The city would grow steadily out from the center for time, some of the former farm land was converted into live within. The new stadium would, in many ways, In the case of Mexico City, this means to earthquakes the next hundred years until settlement came up to the a sports complex including the have to negotiate both of these worlds. While not and flooding. The city must also work as part of an waters of the lake and, as a result, subjecting many designed by Felix Candela (1966-68) and the Foro literally straddling the line between rich and poor, international network of cities and as part of a broader newly settled areas to flooding. Draining the lake not Sol Stadium (an earlier home of the Diablos Rojos the proximity to the working class neighborhood and economy, contributing and attracting goods, services, only helped reduce the mosquito population, but the Baseball Team) situated within the boundaries of a the wealthier contingent of baseball patrons – not to and talent. spread of many diseases. Formula 1 Racetrack. The site and the racetrack are mention the elite members of Don Alfredo’s community constrained by significant transportation infrastructure who occupy the sky boxes – creates a notable contrast For Mexico City, these challenges are particularly The site of the Diablos Rojos Stadium sits in one such that include the Viad. Rio de la Piedad to the north and that the design of the new building had an opportunity poignant. Unlike many of the cities of North America area that was drained. Sited in theBarrio of Granjas the Canal Rio Churubusco to the south. The site can to address. that were built at the site of little more than an existing Mexico, the area was historically utilized for farming. be accessed by car as well as via the No. 9 train line. trading post or broader temporary camp, Tenochtitlan, Because of its location, it was a strategic location for The design of the new stadium could have embraced a vast and complex Aztec city existed on the site of transit in the city. A significant canal passed through Beyond the immediate context of the Stadium lies its island like setting within the interior of the racetrack what would become Mexico City when Cortés arrived. the area called the Canal that ran along what a city struggling to support a population that grew and created an insular inward looking experience. The city was originally built on an island of Lake is now Calzada de la Viga. Due to the irrigation and exponentially beginning in the 1970s. The growth was As noted earlier, this was not the path that Gonzalez Texcoco by the Aztecs in 1325. Little, however, would quality of soil, the area became prime farm land. so rapid that it was difficult for urban infrastructure to Pulido chose to take. Instead, the stadium seeks to remain as Cortés raised much of the city during its keep up. The urban fabric that did exist was not entirely integrate itself with the surrounding community. This conquest and then completed the job when he began The history of the area dates to 1309 when the island equipped to handle even the population before the occurs at the level of planning, programming, and rebuilding the city so that there would be no trace of of Iztacalco in what was Lake Texcoco was settled by boom. Although a Metro System had opened in 1969 aesthetics. the Aztec City. He went so far as to build the Mexico the Mexica who would later found Tenochtitlan. When and wide boulevards such as Reforma were introduced City Metropolitan Cathedral over the ruins of the main the lake was drained, the area was transformed into a during the Porfirian Era, shifts in political leadership At a formal level, this occurs through the way in which Aztec Temple. maze of small communities, artificial islands, and solid such as the Mexican Revolution and Independence the roof extends towards the city and out over the field. farmland. The modern borough came into existence in a century earlier resulted in discontinuity of urban The steps to the entrance plaza gradually descend to 1929. The historic center of the burrough corresponds planning efforts. A similar fate befell efforts to build connect to the surrounding landscape. The truncated to the original island and is centered around Plaza San a new international airport that replace the heavily pyramids are spaced such that visitors can see the Matias in the Barrio de Santa Cruz. overtaxed existing airport when a new political party program unfolding within. took power and canceled the project.

18 19 At the programmatic level, the plaza of the stadium At the aesthetic level, the stadium references the longer break from the game going on. Meanwhile, of Post Modernism and Post-Structuralism that true has been designated as a space for a marketplace history of urban form of the pyramid that defined the the terraces on the top of the pyramids offer a unique innovation and reinvention of the architecture of the on non-game days. Local community members have Aztec city. The materiality of these pyramids further vantage point from which the surrounding city and stadium began to occur. Great structural engineers the opportunity to sell locally produced wares and references the local context by utilizing a volcanic landscape can be viewed. such as Pier Luigi Nervi and Frei Otto began rethinking other objects. Batting cages are also set up for the stone as part of the prefabricated concrete panels. how concrete and tensile structures respectively could community to enjoy. Land has also been designated Finally, the decision to glad the roof with a lightweight This capacity to see the city and mountains in the be deployed to reimagine the structure of stadiums for future urban farming. On one hand, this decision fabric membrane reflects a desire not only to provide distance from these elevated planes was an essential and the extent to which large uninterrupted spans reflects the agrarian history of the site. Onthe necessary shelter, but a vision that the use of light goal of the design. Gonzalez Pulido wanted guests could be achieved. While not necessarily working other hand, it is an opportunity to further engage the materials can support broader sustainability and the to feel connected to the city and the landscape in within the same utopian ideological space as their surrounding community by inviting them to cultivate continued success of our cities. which it sits. He wanted them to have the opportunity modern predecessors, these and other architects and their own plots of land. Doing so not only contributes to look back on the path that they traveled come to engineers extended the quest for material innovation, meaningfully to the local cultural and economy, but it These strategies work together to bring people the stadium. Moreover, he wanted the materials and clarity of structural concept, and expression in form. also brings life to the site on days when a game is together. On game days, these people from a variety configuration of the stadium to be reflective ofthis not taking place. Finally, discounted tickets to games of sections of the city make their way by car, public path and the broader cultural context. In many ways, Francisco Gonzalez Pulido’s design for have been set aside for members of the community transportation, and foot to the stadium. Some are the Diablos Rojos Stadium continues these pursuits who might otherwise not be able to attend a game. drawn by a deep passion for baseball and membership The efforts to use architecture and the spaces that it while also exploring a mannered approach that allows in a community of devoted fans. Others come as part of creates to bring people together for ritual, gathering, for a greater level of contextualism than either the The integration of a market is a logical extension of groups of friends and family to be with each other and entertainment, and sport are a fundamental and ancient universalist approach of a Modern or Post Modern the urban farming program. The market brings life enjoy a relaxed event of spectatorship. Many come to character of our civilization. Each subsequent epoch architectural vocabulary might support. For Gonzalez to the site throughout the year while also creating an take a break from their everyday responsibilities and, has had the opportunity to redefine these spaces in Pulido, this universal guidance to his design is found outlet for local crafts people and farmers to sell their quite simply, have some fun. order to tailor their form to how the present incarnation in an understanding of how people experience space products. Moreover, it creates a vital and direct link of culture might use them. During the modern epoch and form a connection to place. It is expressed in how between those visiting the stadium for baseball or Once at the stadium, there are many ways that that began with the French Revolution and culminated his design for the Stadium is situated in relationship to other events and a community that is often cut-off from people spend time. A considerable amount of time with Modernism – reaching its architectural apogee at the surrounding community. such opportunities. This openness to the community will naturally be spent cheering in the stands while Taliesien in Spring Green, the Bauhaus in Weimar, and is also enhanced by the inclusion of batting cages watching the game. However, there are many sections in Le Corbusier’s Paris Atelier – limited reinvention of that can be enjoyed year-round. The inclusion of of the stadium that are equally conducive to gathering. the stadium typology occurred. When stadiums were such amenities continues Don Alfredo’s longstanding The family terraces offer a liminal space between the built, they often looked towards classical typology in interest in cultivating young talent and support the seating bowls and the concessions areas where people order to evoke a return to past greatness. Instead, broader popularity of the sport. can casually congregate and devote their attention to the great Modernists focused on more fundamental the game or other concerns. The concessions area questions of where we live and how we work. It was offer a temporary break while the restaurants offer a not until after World War II and the shift away from the concerns of modernity in philosophy, politics, and economic to those concerns grouped under the rubric

20 21 24 25 26 27 DESIGN PROCESS

When Don Alfredo decided to commission a stadium As Gonzalez Pulido began reflecting on the problem be made of a series of modules arranged in a trident The procession from the stadium’s grounds into the for his team, he selected one of the world’s largest before him, he immediately had a vision of a soaring form in order to evoke the brand of the Red Devils and ballpark alludes to climbing an ancient Mesoamerican architecture firms specializing in stadium design. fabric clad roof following the form of the baseball would be clad in taught rather than hyperbolic PTFE temple. As the spectator approaches the grand He felt, however, that the initial designs that they diamond and extending to cover the entrance plaza. textile – the first such application in Mexico. entrance, they are confronted with six truncated proposed neither reflected the site of the new stadium He quickly sketched a detailed proposal and arranged pyramids clad in indigenous volcanic rock. Once nor the culture of baseball in Mexico. While he didn’t for a second meeting with Don Alfred. Upon seeing The team wanted something that would be more than inside, a ring connects all the seats and functions into want something that was either traditional or strictly the vision, Don Alfredo was convinced. The cost, a, but an urban complex. The monumental lightweight one experience with unobstructed views to the field. vernacular, he wanted something that would relate to however, would be twice what Don Alfredo had roof structure resembling Diablos’ trident would the history of the country and the landscape. planned to spend. Don Alfredo agreed and the drastically contrast the predictable roof geometry that The key goal for Centro Deportivo Alfredo Harp Helú relationship began. has historically defined baseball stadiums around the is the vision of a great public space, where the open At about this time, Francisco Gonzalez Pulido, then world. Indicative of the sky, the roof design would be space is as important as the built space, which is a President and Design Director of the international At the time that Gonzalez Pulido was awarded the sharp, translucent, luminous and dynamic. Composed prominent architectural feature within Mexican culture. architecture firm JAHN, was working on his firm’s commission, he was President and Design Director of lightweight steel wrapped in PTFE textile material, Successful spaces must encourage strong social entry for the New Mexico City International Airport of JAHN and effectively was running his own studio the roof would become an iconic symbol for the great engagement, incorporate Mexican traditions and competition. The jury would soon narrow the finalists within the broader firm. Although he could not know City of Mexico. respect existing natural conditions. Therefore, the down to his firm and that of Norman Foster. Although it at the time, the new stadium would become an new stadium is seamlessly integrated to four major Foster + Partners was ultimately selected to design incredibly significant project in the arc of his career. In contrast to the visual lightness of the roof, the base public spaces with very distinct characteristics. the project, Don Alfredo saw Gonzalez Pulido’s design It would span his last years leading JAHN and his level is ceremonial and draws from many cultural cues. for the airport and was impressed. He was particularly first year leading FGP Atelier. As perhaps the most Designed using local materials from the Valley of Centro Deportivo Alfredo Harp Helú is more than a intrigued by what he believed was both contextual and significant project to be constructed in Mexico in the Mexico and inspired by the pre-Hispanic era, the plaza stadium, it is Mexico’s ballpark. It is a gift from Los a highly innovative design making use of cutting-edge last couple of years, it would represent the highest level design has specific references to the court of Diablos Rojos to the Mexican people. materials and technology. As a result, Don Alfredo profile work to be completed by FGP Atelier and only the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame and emphasizes requested a meeting. the 3rd completed project of the young firm. the connection between the earth and the heavens. The guiding concept was to establish the duality Don Alfredo was immediately impressed by Gonzalez Shortly after being awarded the contract, Gonzalez between pre-hispanic Mexico through the base and Pulido’s approach to design. Gonzalez Pulido had for Pulido developed a strategic partnership with the contemporary Mexico through the roof which blends quite some time been interested in the typology of the local architect Alonso de Garay and his firm Taller tradition, innovation, austerity and technology into one stadium. He loved the way that it could bring people ADG. Over the next several months, Gonzalez Pulido space. together, its epic scale, its program driven form, and refined the design in collaboration with his team in the architectural history of the typology. Still, he didn’t Chicago and the team in Mexico City. He offered a want to infringe on the commission of another firm. vision of a stadium connected to the urban fabric with As a result, Don Alfredo and Gonzalez Pulido agreed a sweeping canopy extending over the seats as well as that Pulido would give the problem some thought and into the plaza where guests arrive. The canopy would share a few ideas about how to go about designing a stadium for the team and for Mexico.

36 37 38 39 40 41 6

1

7 8

2

9

3 14

4

10 5

AND MARKET / CAJAS DE BATEO PÚBLICO Y MERCADO

11

12

13

44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 TECHNOLOGY & AESTHETICS

The relationship between the tools, techniques, and The integral relationship between technology and The streamlined forms are a direct expression of The design of these elements and systems was technologies used in design and construction are aesthetics goes well beyond the material and extends structural requirements while the use of a PTFE achieved through the use of Revit and other modeling inextricably linked to the appearance that the finished to how we calculate structural loads, understand textile cladding system responds both to the specific software. Amongst the various components of the building takes. Some would go s far as to suggest geometry, manage projects and supply chains, the sheltering requirements of the program and the current building, the roof presented the most significant that the more the finished forms reflects these building system that we use, and how buildings are state of material innovation. This attitude is carried out challenge. Gonzalez Pulido began by calling upon his methods – as well as an overall mastery of them – the owned and operated. Through an evolving suite of throughout the building as each element is reduced long-time collaborators and friends, Werner Sobek more beautiful the building will be to a broad group of software, it is possible to design higher tolerances, to the most essential characteristics so that one Engineers, to look at the truss structures and work people. It will connect to a deeply human capacity to develop buildings with complex forms, tie a range element can perform as many functions as possible. with him to engineer a buildable solution. They arrived master material, manipulate form, and create a solution of building components to specific parameters, and This is seen in the truncated pyramid volumes that at a series of modules – each weighing 300 tons – to problems across a range of complexity. link digital design to physical fabrication techniques. support the roof, house the support functions, and that would be held together almost entirely by welds. Such technologies have come to define the style provide outdoor terraces as a break from the activities The next step was to gain approval from the local This relationship between technology and aesthetics of architects ranging from Frank Gehry to the Zaha occurring on the field. It is also reflected in the goal to team of engineers serving as the Engineer of Record. can be seen in the earliest building cultures. The Hadid. have the building operate with net zero energy, waste, The local engineers argued that seismic conditions pyramids reflect an extraordinary capacity to carve and water through engineering elements such as the needed to be further considered, encouraged a very stone precisely, move stone across great distances, The capacity to integrate the use of these technologies roof to collect water and provide room for solar panels. particular way of reading the local codes, insisted organize thousands of interlocking parts, and master and the materials they make possible into a cohesive on very minimal deflection at the tip of the module, the logistics of thousands of people required to whole not only leads to beautiful results but, in cases At the same time, the lightness and transparency defied the argument that each module should perform assemble them. The Greek column reflects a deep where the technology allows for a new scale of of the fabric structure allows light to filter through independently rather than being linked, and advocated understanding of gravity and loads, capacity to carve construction to be achieved, a sublime experience. during the day and the stadium to glow at night. In for more bolt connections that would add weight. An intricate shapes that divert water and stress, and This is certainly true of the Great Pyramids of Egqypt, both cases, the interaction of light with structure intense back and forth debate between Germany and erect buildings capable of standing for thousands the Colluseum in Rome, and the mega-structures of the creates a heightened experience directly addressed Mexico ensued with the Mexicans advocating for a of years. Much later, the technology behind blast modern are climbing to ever higher heights. It is also to the inhabitant of the stadium. Such an attention to more conservative approach. furnaces coupled with orology made it possible to true of the Diablos Rojos Stadium that makes use a full experience is further reflected in how the truncated develop structural steel to replace iron and that would range of high-performance materials, advanced digital pyramid forms are constructed via modular concrete ultimately define the style of the likes of Ludwig Mies design tools, and cutting edge project management panels incorporating volcanic rock to render a deep van der Rohe and the International Style. At the same tools. black surface similar to what the ancient pyramids time, the technology behind concrete led to reinforced nearby were constructed from. These forms both concrete of increasing strength and diminishing reference the context of the stadium in Mexico City aggregate content that would define the style of while also providing orientation to the visitor as they architects ranging from Le Corbusier to Tadao Ando. navigate the expansive building.

66 67 When all was said and done – and after fending The crane came on 50 semi-trucks and took 3 months Before the modules were lifted into the air, however, a In the end, this project would not have been realized off calls to fire proof all of the steel – the 300 ton to build. Prior to its arrival, a massive concrete slab on detailed point cloud survey was taken of the site and without a uniquely dedicated client and the perseverance modules had grown to 650 tons. In addition, electrical which the crane would sit had to be constructed. The support system to which the modules would connect. of a team of incredibly talented individuals who were equipment, lighting, and speakers all still had to be engineers ensured the architect and client that it would This was absolutely essential because the modules able to draw from a chest of established and novel added. This naturally presented a far greater problem not require driving piles and even went through the were not symmetric in any direction, would slop at an tools in order to make an innovative radical design when it came to building the structure. One idea was trouble of covering the entire surface with sand in order angle, and each connection point would have different a reality. It is this balance between innovation and to use scaffolding to assemble the structure in the to avoid additional friction. Within minutes, however, of x, y, and z coordinates. As such, alignment would be realization that drives all the work of FGP Atelier. It air. This, however, would require extensive reinforcing beginning to test the crane, the slab cracked. It would tremendously challenging. It was in this context that is important to constantly propose the best solutions of the concrete slab of the building and might likely subsequently have to be demolished and rebuilt. In they decided to move from a system of columns with to challenging problems through an iterative process require more scaffolding than available in the whole the meantime, the crane would leave and the client connections to one where the plate of the canopy that always seeks to refine the quality of the drawing, country. In this context, the plan emerged to fabricate would begin worrying whether they would be able to would be connected to the plate of the column. Still, design, and construction so that the building can the structures on the ground and then hoist them into get the crane back as demands within the oil and gas when the modules were in the air and being lifted into truly become iconic – not just as an image, but as place. industry increased. place, there was a small discrepancy and it took 3 a technical objects that performs at the highest level weeks for each module to be connected to the support for decades if not centuries to come. In this way, it There was only one crane in the world – the Liebherr It was at this point that the client asked Gonzalez Pulido system. is possible to advance the discourse of design and LR 1300 – that could accomplish this goal. As the for an alternative design and strategy for erecting the how it makes the spaces in which we live better, more largest crawler crane in the world, it is capable of roof. He consulted with other leading engineers and This process would have been impossible without the enjoyable, and exciting. lifting 3000 tons vertically. It was less clear, exactly pondered how he could adapt the existing structure use of Revit. In addition, Gonzalez Pulido used VR for how much the crane could lift when fully extended to a new solution. In the end, it became clear that it the first time on the project to help the client visualize horizontally. The next question was where they were would cost more to change course and that they had the experience of the stadium. It allowed the client going to get such a colossal machine. Fortunately, to double down and make it work. to fully understand the circulation spaces in between Pemex – the state-owned oil and gas company – had the entrance and the stands that could be used for been using these cranes to modernize their facilities Ultimately, the crane returned, was rebuilt, and began socializing, merchandise, and branding. The team also and the crane contractor ESEASA had one available moving safely on the new concrete surface. Instead, used a new plugin for Rhino that was able to simulate for rent – albeit at $30K per day. however, of one massive surface, the engineers who the natural resting angles of the fabric roof in order were asked to give a second opinion about the canopy to ensure that there would be no locations in which suggested using three slabs on piles connected by water would pool. wood and steel trips. This approach saved a great deal of time and money.

68 69 70 71 78 79 88 89 SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCE

Attending a single sporting event is sufficient to biodigester. With the biodigester working at full In order to achieve this goal, rain water from the roof, understand how potentially wasteful they can be. capacity, it could cover 23% of the baseline and plaza, field, and berm is collected in a series of tanks. Fans fill myriad wastebaskets with disposable plates the solar panels could cover 35% - together nearly This water is then treated with an advanced filtration and cups, thousands of gallons are consuming meeting the full demand of the stadium. system that then deposits the water in a tank for flushing toilets, and night games require extraordinary potable water that can also be used for fire protection. wattage to illuminate the field. This all occurs amidst In order to achieve net zero waste, the team planned Meanwhile, water from the city sewer is directed to playing a sport – one of the most sustainable activities to divert 100% of recyclable waste from land-fills and an Ecolo WW Treatment Plant, a non-potable water imaginable whose origins extend back thousands of incinerators. The organic waste would be directed to tank, and then to the various fixtures throughout the years. a self-contained biodigester that would also collect ½ stadium. truck load of organic waste per day from offsite. The In this context, Gonzalez Pulido imagined a stadium output would be electric energy for building use and While not all of these goals were achieved for reasons that would reduce energy consumption, waste and organic fertilizer for landscape. The biodigester could ranging from the politics and economics of garbage emissions. The design strives for a Net-Zero building produce 64 KW by processing 2,000 tons of waste / disposal in Mexico City to a decision to delay the using passive systems with minimal HVAC integration year. The stadium produces 50 tons of waste / year installation of solar panels until a future date, many and active water reduction systems. This goal of which will utilize approximately 2.5% of the biodigester’s were implemented and the overall energy, waste, sustainable design including minimal ecological capacity. This would require an additional ½ of a small and water consumption of the building reduced. In impact sets a strong precedent for a new standard of truck load of imported waster per day to provide the addition, the work done to design this comprehensive building within Mexico. remaining 1,950 tons of waste. This would not only integrated system will likely guide future designs of meet the net zero goal, but would divert a significant FGP Atelier within this and other typologies. The strategy for achieving Net Zero Energy began amount of waste from the neighboring area. determining a baseline for energy consumption: 1250 MWh. This was made up of general lighting, space A Net Zero Water building is a facility where no cooling, fans and ventilation, waste water treatment potable water is used for irrigation, toilet flushing and plan, space heating, pumps, receptacles, field and equipment water make up. One hundred percent of canopy lighting, heat rejection, and stand along base non-potable water use originates from closed-loop utilities. The overall consumption could be reduced water systems, appropriately purified without the use through efficient lighting, lighting controls, air side of harmful chemicals. One hundred percent of storm economizer, demand control, VFD on fans, chiller water and building water discharge is managed on- efficiency, and energy recovery (museum and retail). site to feed the project’s internal water demands. This new number would be 62.3% of the baseline. Municipal potable water is used only to supply sinks, In order to meet this demand, the team proposed faucets and showers when on-site potabilization is generating solar energy on site and building a not permitted.

90 91 92 93 94 95 IMAGE GALERY

96 97 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 112 113 114 115 116 117 120 121 122 123 124 125 FGP Atelier International, LLC T+1 312 291 9191 1550 W Carroll Ave / Suite 215 / Chicago IL 60607 www.fgp-atelier.com