Archinect - News

Archaeologists discover long-lost ancient Maya city

2023-08-04T14:56:00-04:00

In a biological preserve in Mexico’s Campeche State, a team of archaeologists has documented pyramids, palaces, a ball court and other remains of an ancient city they call Ocomtún. [...] The Mexican institute described the site, in Campeche State, as having once been a major center of Maya life. During at least part of the Classic Maya era — around 250 to 900 A.D. — it was a well populated area.

"These cities had been lost to time. Nobody knew exactly where they were," Dr. Ivan Šprajc, the Slovenian archaeologist who led the discovery of the previously unmapped 8th-century Maya city in the Mexican jungle, shared with BBC Travel. "But this [Ocomtún], was actually the last major black hole on the archaeological map of the central Maya Lowlands (the modern-day central Yucatán Peninsula). Nothing was there. There was not a single known site in an area stretching some 3,000-4,000 sq km."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ZRC SAZU (@zrcsazu)

Mexico is planning a new museum at Chichén Itzá

2023-03-21T11:53:00-04:00

The museum, which is still in the planning stages, will replace a much smaller building that closed more than ten years ago. It is likely to follow in the museo de sitio (site museum) model found at other complexes managed by the federal Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e História (INAH). Carlos Esperón, the director of the Maya Museum in Cancún, in the neighbouring state of Quintana Roo, tells The Art Newspaper that work on the museum “could take two years.”

Meanwhile, the Art Newspaper is reporting that several finds taken from the disputed new Maya Train project’s construction will be displayed at the new museum, which is the third most visited cultural site in Mexico. Some experts had feared it would eventually become at risk over the number of visitors interacting with the 1,500-year-old space.

The new museum will apparently be built away from the UNESCO-protected site's monumental area on the other side of a highway so as not to risk any further damage. A section called Chichén Viejo which had previously been off-limits will also be made public as part of the construction project. Costs are expected to exceed US$14.4 million.

Pininfarina’s first Mexican residential design gets underway in the Yucatan

2023-03-07T12:12:00-05:00

Pininfarina has just shared an update on its new Light Towers luxury residential project in Mérida, Mexico.

The development broke ground last Wednesday with local politicians in attendance to celebrate the beginning of construction on a project the firm and developers Branson say represents a "path forward; a nod to new ideas, fresh perspectives, and hope for future generations."

Image courtesy Pininfarina

Featuring a V-shaped pair of 17- and 18-story volumes connected at the base by a five-story podium, the design centers a "green valley" at its core to create a communal space with private terraces, wellness amenities, and a co-working space all entwined with the building’s concept.

Image courtesy Pininfarina

A total of 121 modular "Skyvilla" condominiums come with configurations that offer between 25% and 75% of their total floor areas to greenspace. Interior color palettes used in the residential units evoke local traditions, the design team says.

Image courtesy Pininfarina

Image c...

Pininfarina unveils new green luxury tower design in Mérida, Mexico

2022-06-17T13:28:00-04:00

Pininfarina has released project images of their Light Towers design for a new residential development in the metropolitan city Mérida along the Yucatan Peninsula.

According to the architects, “The structure will consist of two distinct buildings rising 15 and 17 floors high, connected by a five-story base to form a v-shape. Anchoring the heart of Pininfarina's concept, a green valley fills the open-air core of the vertical community extending upward from the base of the structure––embracing the development’s Mexican roots and symbolizing the path ahead; a nod to new ideas, fresh perspectives, and hope for future generations.”

The new Light Towers for developers Branson will be Pininfarina’s first branded project in Mexico. The firm’s chief architect Samuele Sordi calls is at “a pivotal moment in its growth,” adding that “we look forward to leading the way with an example of how a multidisciplinary design approach can create a thoughtful balance between urban density and sprawl as t...

Archaeologists discover well-preserved Mayan city in the Yucatán peninsula

2022-06-02T17:10:00-04:00

Archaeologists of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (Iphan, the Mexican federal bureau that oversees cultural heritage projects) have unearthed a remarkably well-preserved Maya city in the Yucatán peninsula near Merida while examining a construction site for archaeological artefacts.

The site is called Xiol, which is believed to have been occupied by more than 4,000 people between 600 and 900 AD. It consists of nearly 100 structures with features related to the Mayan Puuc style, an architecture characterized by carefully-cut veneer stones set onto a concrete core, with façades decorated with intricate stone mosaics and geometric elements.

According to The Art Newspaper, similar examples of Puuc architecture have not been discovered in this region of the Yucatán. The structures are thought to have served as palaces and ritual sites. The archaeologists also discovered a cenote, freshwater underground pits, carved stone heads, ceramics with religious symbols, burial grounds with various objects, and marine artifacts.

Video via Global News on YouTube.

The discovery of Xiol, along with other archaeological sites in the region, can be attributed to increased development in the Yucatán. A controversial multi-billion dollar train line called the Maya Train is currentl...

ZHA designs Alai, an ecologically-sensitive residential complex in the Mayan Riviera

2017-05-17T13:36:00-04:00

The Mayan Riviera has had a rapid increase of visitors each year—over 10% annually—and its residential population has almost doubled since 2000. In fact, it has more international visitors than any other region in Latin America. While great for the economy, this influx can have a negative effect on the region’s ecology.

Zaha Hadid Architects have designed Alai, a complex of residential buildings that marry “ecological considerations, engaging design and a reinterpretation of local architectural tradition.” Alai is sited on a plot of land previously prepped for a building never completed.

By limiting the total footprint of all residential buildings to 7% of the site, the design reduces its environmental impact and the vegetation to remain largely intact. An onsite botanical nursery is intended to aid the restoration of biodiversity that was disturbed by the previous owner. There’s also a woodland reserve and a coastal wetland restoration project.

The residential buildings themselves are...