Mexican Embassy

One of the biggest surprises in the current Berlin architectural landscape undoubtedly belongs to the new Mexican embassy. Mexicans perceive Berlin as an avant-garde place. Therefore, they approached the task not humbly but as a remarkable contribution to modern architecture. It is also worth noting that Germany ranks as the most important European trading partner and (after the USA and Japan) the third largest exporter of this country.
In the invited competition, architects de León & Serrano managed to succeed against seven competing designs. The established duo was guided by the characteristics of contemporary Mexican architecture: large open spaces, massive divisions, and the use of advanced technologies. The embassy is located right across from the "copper belt" of the Nordic countries' embassies. The façade made of concrete columns was staged to dominate the surroundings. The facades facing Klingelhof and Rauch Strasse consist of concrete elements rising through all four floors and appear as giant slats. The material – marble concrete – is characteristic of the authors. Special additives are supplied to the concrete, and in the end, during surface finishes, the concrete receives special care. The expressive play of forms is supported by the fact that there was no rational reason for the slant of the façade wall and the rotation of the entrance. Behind the vertical structure lies a series of volumes or parts that hold together a dominant cylinder functioning as a representative hall and communication element. The spaces for mundane public functions behind the façade feel like being in a corset. The architects' gesture and the building's message to the city are reenacted and foreign. Perhaps this is what embassies are really about.