Street Gallery (CDMX)

Mexico City. Two examples of outdoor photography exhibitions. The first with floating panels, horizontal and vertical, open at the bottom. The weights are part of the look and feel. 

The second with panels to the ground, with built in slots above and below intended to hold a text panel, in either location. Which works well with the horizontal format, but not with vertical.

Templo Mayor (CDMX)

Mexico City. The ancient Hispanic cathedral in the zocalo is built on top of temples in the center of the sacred lake of the Mexicas. Templo Mayor is the excavation site and museum next to the cathedral. 

The excavation itself feels like a living place because there are groups of anthropology students at work.

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Like most museums in Mexico, guards direct the visitors and force them to move through the museum in a linear fashion, preventing visitors from free-roaming. It often doesn't make sense to control the visitor that way.

Gallery spaces are designed in sympathy with the temples themselves, using stepping, up and down to various levels, and step shaping to the cases. It resonates with the temples, and allows variety of movement for visitors, breaking the monotony of viewing relics along walls. Sometimes the view is directly down into a case, or through a cut out in the floor.

Some stepping allows seating. Beautiful black slate flooring.

Cut glass, wall texture

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Some of the Relics are huge, and need to be seen from a distance. This one, viewed from above through a hole in the floor, has a progressive projection showing how it was originally painted.

Museo Antropologia (CDMX)

Mexico City. This must-see, astounding mega museum represents Prehispanic cultures from every region of Mexico. During the Revolucion holiday weekend, it was absolutely packed with locals, enjoying a free-day, which appeared to be timed with school assignments, which the whole family worked on together, it seemed. All the visitors, mostly families, were super engaged and thoroughly diligent. A noticeable practice here is to photograph every label (!) or to read each label into a phone recorder (!). And to photograph their kids, in front of each (amazing) relic. The heart of the museum is the central gallery on Mexico City, built on the sacred lake of the Mexica peoples. Watching the visitors here, there is a palpable sense of a living connection between Mexican visitors and their ancestry.

Outside the museum, a Totanac tradition, Pola Volador

Del Objeto del Objeto (CDMX)

Mexico City. Del Objeto del Objeto design museum, with current exhibition "Del Plato a la Boca"

The downstairs area invites visitors to post personal stories such as their worst cooking disaster, or their ideal menu. Response is on topic.

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Gorgeous stairwell photo of knives used by cooks at Pujol restaurant. Chef's costume photo op.

Display structures are linear, open, floating, but with the metal painted to draw attention to itself. Lighting with a lot of play of shadows. Diagramatic numbered approach. In most of the museums in Mexico, the lights in each gallery are on motion sensors, to save energy.

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Wooden cook book display with option to hang from above. Wall book display with simple ledges mounted on wood with one solid plex cover

Diagram labels treated separately on the walls surrounding the center display

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Hand painted intro text!

For each of their temporary exhibit, the museum creates an "Ensamble o Gabinete" shadow box to commemorate the theme of the exhibit. These are displayed in a stairwell, as an additive permanent "exhibition of their exhibitions".

Time line room treated in circular fashion, including the whimsy of some personal chef's belongings

La Esquina (San Miguel)

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. La Esquina, Museo del Juguete Popular Mexicano. This sweet museum presents the beautiful and varied toy collection of Angelica Tijerina. Their mission is to honor the history and artisanship of the toys, stimulate the imagination of young and old, and preserve the cultural significance for Mexico.

Organized on three floors of a small house with vertical stair and light well spaces. Train in the space above the entry desk

Metal casing with mesh treatment, some of them shaped, display down to floor level for kids, and cast interesting shadows

A carousel of touch screens at the entry are directed at adults and kids separately, providing info, collection, and touch screen games

Children's music plays non stop throughout the museum, which becomes annoying over time. How do they prevent the kids from feeling frustrated because they can't play with the toys? The interactivity, and programming wasn't very evident. They were playing a mediated game on the rooftop, and there appeared to be one small playroom where kids could actually touch some of the toys. Nobody was using it.

Graphic use of windows. Curved text blocks