Traveling history in Mexico, under tension

In September 2009, Mexico celebrated its bicentennial with a traveling exhibit of 200 photographs and videos called “Mexico in Your Senses” and housed it in a tensile fabric structure reminiscent of the pyramids of the Great Tenochtitlán. Mexico City’s main square, the Zócalo, is the former location of the ancient pyramids—and the updated version. Mexican President Felipe Calderón called the structure “an architectural feat which, though ephemeral, is marvelous and recalls the pyramids … destroyed in the wake of the Spaniards’ arrival.”

The massive temporary structure, designed by Sordo Madaléno Asociados, Mexico City, used 18,000 square meters of fabric, provided by Lonas Y Estructuras S.A. de C.V., with an orange exterior, green interior and anodized aluminum framing structure. The fabric is synthetic, high-resistance material, heat-sealed to provide optimum waterproofing and reinforced with fasteners to form the tensile structure. Six firms worked on the pyramid, which took 30 days to build. For more views, see the videos on the construction at www.lonasyestructuras.com.