ALBERTO KALACH
PRINCIPAL AND CO-FOUNDER
TAX Architects
MEXICO CITY
In partnership with UTA CAPPA
11 September 2018
Tuesday, 7:00 pm
Reception and check-in 6:15 pm
Angelika Theatre, Mockingbird Station, Dallas
NOTE NEW VENUE LOCATION
Alberto Kalach studied at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and later at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. In 1981 he and Daniel Álvarez founded the firm Taller de Arquitectura X (TAX), which Kalach continues to lead. A primary focus of the firm is on urban planning challenges of Mexico City, which led to his developing a think-tank of leaders focused on “México: Future City”. Kalach has realized several milestone projects, some of them together with notable colleagues like Teodoro González de León, Gustavo Lipkau and Jose Castillo. His prestigious lake concepts are significant to solving existing water supply problems in Mexico City. He has published several articles in national and international magazines of architecture and participates in the project “Recovering the City of Lakes”.
Alberto Kalach is known for his uncompromising approach to the issues of ecology and landscape. His projects range from minimal $5,000 houses to social housing developments, from verdant gardens to elegant towers, and from inventive airports to inspirational urban master plans.
His largest project, The Lakeside City, which set out to recover the ancient Texcoco lake in the east of Mexico City, is the most comprehensive urban plan the city has ever seen. It is the largest project ever conceived for the Valley of Mexico Basin called México Ciudad Futura (Return to the city of Lakes), that embraces the city as a whole, studied through its Geography.
Carried out over a decade in collaboration with architects and scientists the speculative plan proposed to rejuvenate the city’s environmental and social dynamics, limit urban growth and allow groundwater and rain to restore the historic body of water, eventually regenerating an area of some 17,300 acres. It was awarded special mention at the 2002 Venice Biennale and can be studied in three publications, Mexico Future City, Atlas of Projects for Mexico City I and II.
Kalach’s practice has several built projects in the city – including the internationally acclaimed 409,000 sq ft José Vasconcelos library. Labeled by the press as the Megabiblioteca (“megalibrary”), it is in the downtown area of Mexico City (Buenavista neighborhood, Cuauhtémoc borough) on what was a barren plot of land. Kalach designed an extensive botanical garden to surround the library. Lush with over 60,000 species endemic to Mexico, the space serves not only as a collection of human knowledge, but an encyclopedia of natural life. It was dedicated to José Vasconcelos, the philosopher and former presidential candidate and former president of the National Library of Mexico. The library was inaugurated by former President of Mexico Vicente Fox on 16 May 2006.
Other Notable works include Casa GGG in Mexico City, Casa La Atalaya in California, Casa Romany in California and Reforma 27 Tower in Mexico City.
The lecture will occur at 7 p.m. on September 11 with a complimentary reception beginning at 6:15 p.m. Tickets are $20 per lecture for general admission and $5 for students (with ID). Tickets can be purchased at the door before the lecture. No reservations are needed to attend Forum lectures. Dallas Architecture Forum members receive free admission to all regular Forum lectures as a benefit of membership, and AIA members can earn one hour of CE credit for each lecture. For more information on The Dallas Architecture Forum, visit dallasarchitectureforum.org or call 214-764-2406.