El Castillo de Chapultepec

The first mansion-studio in the world

ARCHIVE-ART COLLECTION-EVENT SPACE-INFORMATION KIOSK-LIBRARY-LOBBY BAR-PRINTING PRESS-RESIDENCES-SOUVENIR SHOP-ET CETERA

El Castillo de Chapultepec is a cultural institution in development managed by the architecture office APRDELESP: a superlocal site of artistic, economic, spatial, political, and social research and experimentation, driven by the desire to imagine alternatives built from collective efforts.1 Its character is forged through the memory and labor of many people related to the local artistic community. It operates with a governance system based on the management of space, time, money, conversations, thoughts, critiques, risks, et cetera. Rather than competing with other existing institutions, it seeks to contribute critical infrastructure to Mexico City to share our work, to accommodate our differences, and to foster dialogues based on our lines of questioning and interests.[^2] It consists of an archive, a library, an art collection, a printing press, an information kiosk and souvenir shop, a lobby, a residence, an event space, et cetera.

Footnotes

  1. Because contemporary art is subject to established institutional dynamics, its liberation depends on modifying them. Changes in relations of production demand a shift in consciousness, which in turn requires a new institutional culture.

El Castillo de Chapultepec