FR-EE / Fernando Romero · 2011 · Mexico City
A silver hourglass of sixteen thousand tiles
Opened in 2011 in the Plaza Carso district of Mexico City, the Museo Soumaya houses the private art collection of Carlos Slim in one of the most recognisable buildings in Latin America. Designed by Fernando Romero of FR-EE, its shimmering, anvil-like form is wrapped in more than 16,000 hexagonal aluminium tiles that ripple across a curved, windowless shell — a structure with no two façade angles alike, carried on 28 curved steel columns.
Inside, a spiralling ramp climbs to a top-lit gallery inspired by Auguste Rodin's studio, displaying works from Rodin and European old masters to Mexican art across six floors. Free to the public, the Soumaya has become a landmark of Mexico City's cultural ambition — as much a piece of urban sculpture as a museum.