Paisajes lúdicos is a project by Arte Abierto and Anónima Arquitectura, in collaboration with Bosque de Chapultepec, born from an interest in reclaiming ideas, objects, and spaces that were once part of the city's modernization projects and, over time, remain present in our daily lives. The project seeks to open new conversations about urban furniture, play, and the ways we inhabit public space.
In Mexico City, concrete animals are part of the collective memory of several generations. In recent years, they have received special attention from researchers and artists who have revisited and traced their histories. Conceived in 1969 by sculptor Alberto Pérez Soria, commissioned by the National Institute for Child Protection (INPI) and the then-Department of the Federal District, these playground structures inhabited parks and public spaces throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Bears, lions, giraffes, camels, and bison became part of the urban landscape and settings for exploring, imagining, and discovering the world through the body.
As part of the project Paisajes lúdicos, and thanks to the collaboration of Bosque de Chapultepec, six concrete animals found in the Third Section will be restored and temporarily reunited at Arte Abierto Pedregal. This will allow us to look at these objects not just as vestiges of an era, but as devices capable of activating new experiences and reflections on urban space.
This project is accompanied by a public program consisting of various activities for children and meetings with specialists.
To learn about the activities, dates, and times for Paisajes lúdicos visit arteabierto.org and @arte_abierto
We would like to thank COREV for sponsoring the materials used for the restoration of the pieces.
Chapultepec Park is one of the most significant public, historical, cultural, and environmental spaces in Mexico City. Over the centuries, this territory has witnessed various stages of the country's history and has maintained a deep connection with the life of the city and its inhabitants. Its name comes from the Nahuatl word Chapultepec, meaning "grasshopper hill," and its history dates back to pre-Hispanic times, when its springs and privileged location made it a site of great importance for the peoples of the Valley of Mexico. Over time, Chapultepec transformed and expanded its functions, eventually becoming the great urban forest we know today.
Today, Chapultepec Park integrates nature, culture, history, recreation, and community. Its four sections house museums, cultural spaces, monuments, lakes, gardens, sports facilities, and vast green areas that provide essential environmental services for the metropolis. Beyond being one of the capital's main recreational destinations, Chapultepec serves as a refuge for urban biodiversity and a fundamental space for the well-being of millions of people. Its trees and natural areas help regulate temperature, capture carbon, facilitate water infiltration, and provide a habitat for numerous species of flora and fauna. Above all, however, Chapultepec is a collective space. It is a meeting place that is part of the memory of generations of residents and visitors, and it continues to transform to meet the environmental, social, and cultural challenges of one of the world's largest cities.
Conserving it, caring for it, and ensuring its permanence as a living, accessible public space is also a way of preserving a fundamental part of Mexico City's natural and cultural heritage.
Anónima is a design and research platform focused on architecture and spatial practices within the city, where architecture is used to build relationships between people and places across various design scales. Anónima Arquitectura is committed to multidisciplinary, playful, and collaborative work. Our Mexican perspective on architecture is rooted in building an emotional connection with the land by understanding the location, customs, and traditions of the community, ensuring that the resulting architecture integrates naturally into the landscape and supports the human activities of the region.
Arte Abierto is a non-profit organization founded in 2019 by Sordo Madaleno, dedicated to creating and disseminating cultural projects and artworks through an ambitious, comprehensive, and innovative model that focuses on intervening in public spaces. This model fosters interaction and participation from diverse audiences to promote new ways of engaging with contemporary art and culture. Our exhibition space serves as a site of continuous experimentation, activating collective processes to create connections and cross-disciplinary intersections between audiences and works. We invite and collaborate with artists to create interventions and exhibitions designed to stimulate impactful aesthetic and sensory experiences.
Arte Abierto provides a voice and a space for artists to connect directly with our visitors. Furthermore, we commission and collaborate on cultural projects to produce artworks, exhibitions, collaborative workshops, events, gatherings, project presentations, theater, seminars, performances, film and video screenings, music, architecture, urbanism, and sustainability initiatives.
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Arte Abierto inicia su programa de mediación y comunicación educativa 2022 con una conversación entre la investigadora y escritora Irmgard Emmelhainz y Sebastien Noel de Troika, tomando la exposición No Sound of Water como punto de partida. Abordarán los temas presentes en este proyecto, como el Antropoceno, y harán diferentes lecturas y cuestionamientos (Materialist Realism / Philosophy of Matter / Art as Image).
Irmgard Emmelhainz transmitirá en vivo desde No Sound of Water en Arte Abierto.
