Framed by the arid Huasteca Canyon, located close to Monterrey, Mexico, and baptised as the Gate of Creation by its designer, Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the Roberto Garza Sada Art, Architecture, and Design Center (CRGS) has become an architecture icon within a year of its opening, says
With a total built area of 13,115m² and located at the main campus of the Universidad de Monterrey, the CRGS focuses on keeping its inhabitants at the edge: young creators that are capable of continuously renewing realities, discussing directions and offering design solutions.
Built over 34 months by a team of 2,800 construction workers, the CRGS defied forecasts that challenged its structural, aesthetic, and functional viability. Today, the Roberto Garza Sada Center is the first building in Latin America designed by Tadao Ando, who came up with its concept while trying to find orientation and harmonisation of the structure within its natural context.
The project by Tadao Ando was built in a space of 99m long by 27m wide, and its six double-height levels (5.4m) required more than 16,000m³ of Cemex concrete and 800 tonnes of steel.
Cemex’s involvement started with design analysis and further developed structure management, as well as concrete testing to meet with the resistance, color, and texture specifications required by the artist.
Together with local construction company Constructora Garza Ponce, responsible for project execution, Cemex carried on mold and cast tests, where its technical experts made sure that the colour of the concrete was kept uniform in each pouring and all requirements were met.
The warm and dry weather of the region forced Cemex to replace water for ice during severe heat days in order to maintain the concrete’s temperature at 32ºC. The aggregates were obtained from the same quarry section to maintain uniformity in its colouring.
The concrete finishing and the absence of precasted pieces have made this building an extraordinary architectural piece that adds beauty to the landscape, and the structure is in harmony with its mountainous surrounding that encircles the Monterrey metropolitan area, says Cemex.
