Estadio Azteca

At the heart of one of Mexico’s most emblematic architectural landmarks, the renovation of Estadio Banorte is conceived as a contemporary manifesto of identity. More than an intervention, the project is a profound reflection on what it means to build in Mexico today: a synthesis of memory and projection, materiality and narrative.

National identity is approached as an open language, one in which architecture, design, and art operate as vehicles of collective expression. A language that embraces inclusion, progress, craftsmanship, and creative ingenuity, and that finds in the scale of the stadium the ideal platform from which to position Mexico within a global conversation.

The transformation of the stadium’s hospitality and interior spaces is structured around three conceptual pillars that define both its scope and ambition.

The first stems from the desire to preserve and celebrate the original spirit of the stadium. Beyond its sporting significance, the building is understood as a cultural symbol, having witnessed defining moments such as the 1968 Olympic Games and the 1970 and 1986 FIFA World Cups. In this sense, the proposal understands the stadium as a living archive, where architecture has long accompanied Mexico’s creative and cultural development.

The second pillar reclaims Mexican Modernism as a living expression of identity. The intervention engages with the legacy of key figures—including Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Clara Porset, Mathias Goeritz, and Ricardo Legorreta—not through nostalgia, but through reinterpretation. In doing so, it recovers a cohesive design language that continues to position Mexico within the global discourse of architecture and design.

The third pillar embraces collaboration as a methodology. Five Mexican practices—Cuaik | CDS, Luis Huerta, ESTUDIO Ignacio Urquiza Ana Paula de Alba, CAAM Arquitectos, and Clásicos Mexicanos—converged in a collective exercise that prioritizes coherence over fragmentation. Rather than dividing the project into isolated components, the team developed an integrated system in which every space responds to a shared vision, resulting in an environment that is coherent, fluid, and deeply interconnected.

The design strategy unfolds across more than 15,000 square meters of intervention, where the monumental scale of the stadium is translated into a precise and sensory interior experience. A chromatic system organizes and guides the visitor journey: green, terracotta, blue, and yellow identify the different levels, transforming circulation into an intuitive spatial experience.

On the western side, the street-level arrival is defined by a terracotta-toned façade and reception area that establish a vertical sequence connecting a series of distinct environments. At the lower level, yellow becomes the defining color of a space organized around a bar and lounge area, which in turn connect to a series of suites sharing the same identity. Above, the green level is anchored by a large central bar that serves as a social gathering point. The modulation of timber-clad walls and steel-framed elements reinforces this systematic reading of the space.

In contrast, the eastern side introduces a dominant gesture of openness: a large terrace at Level 300 that establishes both visual and physical connections between the pitch and the surrounding landscape—the volcanoes, the public esplanade, and Calder’s *El Sol Rojo*. This permeability redefines the stadium experience, dissolving the boundaries between interior and exterior through an open-plan social environment.

Beneath the stands, the Lower East Bowl emerges as a parallel world linked to the behind-the-scenes experience of the stadium. Organized around the Centerline Club—positioned along the central axis of the field—this underground system brings together a series of programs, including the Tunnel Club, Locker Room Club, and Corner Club, within a mirrored arrangement that reinforces the stadium’s primary axis. A mural conceived and produced by Cerámica Suro commemorates 65 years of the stadium’s history, integrating memory and movement into a single architectural surface.

The furniture strategy is articulated through two complementary approaches that, rather than competing, construct a shared narrative.

On one hand, the curatorial selection developed in collaboration with Clásicos Mexicanos is rooted in extensive research into Mexican brands capable of imbuing the spaces with a deeply grounded identity. This selection—which includes firms such as Piztola, Cacao, Patrones, and Clásicos Mexicanos’ iconic Danish Chair—recalls the multidisciplinary spirit that characterized mid-century Mexico, when the integration of art, design, and architecture gave rise to a unified vision of space. Here, furniture does not merely occupy the interiors; it completes them, contextualizes them, and anchors them culturally.

In parallel, the project develops an original furniture collection that extends the architectural discourse to the scale of the object. The EA Collection, designed by ESTUDIO Ignacio Urquiza Ana Paula de Alba, Cuaik | CDS, and Luis Huerta, and produced by Piztola, reinterprets the stadium’s geometry and structural logic through a family of pieces that vary in height, color, and function. Benches, chairs, and stools form a coherent system that adapts to different environments while maintaining a clear formal identity and responding to specific programmatic requirements.

Between curation and design, furniture becomes another language within the project: a bridge between tradition and contemporaneity that reinforces the integrated vision at the core of the intervention.