Nestlé Chocolate Museum, Mexico City, Mexico

While Nestlé's chocolate factory in Mexico City (located in Paseo Tollocan near Toluca) was in need of an inner pathway for visitors to witness the production of their favourite chocolates, a group of experts suggested bigger plans for the company.

MEXICO'S FIRST CHOCOLATE MUSEUM

The project is the first chocolate museum in Mexico, with 300m-long façade along the motorway as the new image of the attached chocolate
factory.

The first phase required a 634m² space that could accommodate the main entrance for visitors to start their voyage into the chocolate factory.

The space was also to include the reception area, the theatre for visitors to experience details of the chocolate-making process, the store or museum shop and the passage to the tunnel inside the old existing factory.

The project is an architectural experience, offering sensorial architecture among twists and folds. As much the forms and the spaces they contain, times were also pushed to the limit.

SWIFT CONSTRUCTION

The project took a mere 2.5 months to finish, including design and construction. The complexities of the project required a team effort and three-to eight-hour shifts were organised in order to deliver the project in time.

The concept is a playful folding shape that is evocative of an origami shaped bird, or maybe a spaceship, or perhaps even the famous Mexican folk art animal sculptures, 'Alebrije'.

What might seem like a capricious form is the fruit of diligent design explorations and an intuition about what the place should express. The spectacular result is as firm as the faceted shapes which sustain it.

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