Designwire Daily: from the editors of Interior Design magazine

1,500 Coffee Cups Land in Mexico City

by Tashween Ali | Tuesday, November 20, 2012 | 2 Comments

Nescafé commissioned Michel Rojkind of Rojkind Arquitectos and a team of 7 artists for a Mexico City sculpture.

Mexico City’s newest public art, Portal of Awareness, successfully combines spatial design with daily city interactions in the city’s epicenter, avenue Paseo de la Reforma.

Coffee maven Nescafé commissioned Michel Rojkind of Rojkind Arquitectos and a team of 7 artists to design and construct the installation utilizing 1,500 metal coffee mugs. The mug alludes not only to the client’s international brand, but also the to the cups as a familiar, everyday object. The project’s concept corresponds to the Nescafé branding motto that “there is something special in little everyday moments.”

The piece uses 1,500 metal coffee cups.

The 450-square-foot portal combines cups made of rebar with 41 rows and two additional layers of 56 diagonals each that create a steal mesh. The cups have been mechanically attached to each intersection of the mesh.

The dynamic shape of the portal, along with the growing plants that cover the outer structure and the reflecting colors of the mugs, creates a sense of movement as the viewer walks through the installation. Patterned shadows cast on the sidewalk add an extra layer of movement as they shift throughout the day.

The installation is slated to run through winter 2012.

“The colors and shadows plays a very important part of the design, it’s a metaphor about how life is never static, and in every change you experience, you cross a portal that moves everything and you will never see things the same way,” explains Cynthia Cardenas of Rojkind Arquitectos.

The installation slated to be in place during the winter months, providing a crucial space of expression and interaction in the urban realm.

Looking through onto Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma.

Photography courtesy of Rojkind Arquitectos.