Mitikah Office Tower
Architect: Richard Meier & Partners
Client: IDEURBAN/IDCity
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Completion: 2014

Richard Meier & Partners have released plans for Mitikah Office Tower, located in the Delegación Benito Juárez in Mexico City, as part of a mixed-use master plan designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and developed by by Mexico City–based IDEURBAN/IDCity. The site incorporates commercial, residential, hotel, and office space into the existing residential community; a retail plaza to the north and an elevated highway to the south flank the tower while its translucent base makes the lobby visible from all approaching angles.

At 34 stories, Mitikah Office Tower will function as a visual transition between the commercial space of the development site and the highway and neighboring residential areas. The tower’s facade is composed of curtain glass; its low thermal emissivity panels maximize natural daylight while reducing solar energy intake. The south- and east-facing facade wraps around the tower, creating, as design partner-in-charge Bernhard Karpf describes, “a modern interpretation of Aztec forms.” Meier associate and project architect Ringo Offermann further explained that the history of Mexico City and geometric Aztec forms inspired the more sculptural southern facade of the tower, which faces the property line, while the northern facade defers to the collection of buildings within the master plan.

On the 19th floor, an orb-like conference pavilion and sky garden carve out a void in the floors immediately above, covered by a narrow brise-soleil that hangs off the south facade.A restaurant and bar on the top floor will provide a destination for visitors and a six-story parking garage underneath accommodates parking for the rest of the site. This is Meier’s third recent project underway in Mexico.