Torres Automex
In 1963 Mathias Goeritz in collaboration with Ricardo Legorreta designed the Automex Factory, today an assembly plant for Chrysler, in Toluca.
The design is based on an open plaza in the main entrance, on which two vertical volumes are placed. Both are shaped as truncated cones, painted white and with a surface marked by the irregular grid pattern of the original shuttering. The taller cone is 25 meters of height, the smaller one 15 meters.
Despite their significant size and presence within the ensemble, they lack the chromatic treatment present in many of Goeritz’ works. Instead they offer a projection surface for the play of shadows brought about by sunlight and by each other’s closeness.
Apart from their esthetic function the two towers are used as water tanks, which is quite unusual for Goeritz, since most of his works were focused only on a spiritual function.
Text: Christian del Castillo
