Chapultepec Forest: Nature and Culture: A Project by Gabriel Orozco

Located in the heart of Mexico City, Chapultepec Forest is one of the most iconic urban parks in Latin America. Its origins date back to pre-colonial times, and over the course of five centuries it has been the scenario of key moments in Mexico’s history. Today it not only functions as a gigantic green lung, but also houses recreational and cultural spaces of great relevance such as the National Museum of Anthropology, the Chapultepec Castle, and the Cárcamo de Dolores, just to mention a few. Every year it receives more than 20 million visitors from Mexico and the whole world.

In early 2019, after making the decision to convert a military base occupying 100 acres into a public park which would be part of Chapultepec, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador invited Gabriel Orozco to conceive a Master Plan for the Chapultepec Forest. Over the past five years, Orozco has worked with numerous national and international experts in environmental restoration, urban infrastructure, history, archaeology and other specialties on this project.

The Master Plan, as developed by Gabriel Orozco, sought to generate a Bio-Cultural Forest in Chapultepec and was governed by the principles of permaculture, which are: caring for the land, caring for people, and fair sharing. According to these principles, the project proved to be ecologically respectful, socially responsible and economically viable. The Plan reaffirmed Chapultepec’s original vocation as a spring and public forest, substantially enriching all its strata; it multiplied its environmental potential, strengthening and increasing its green areas; and it doubled its cultural offerings, diversifying its public spaces.

The development of the Gabriel Orozco Master Plan was implemented by the Mexico City Government and the federal Ministry of Culture. To date, an investment of approximately US$550 million has been made and more than 50,000 direct jobs have been created. 100,000 trees have been planted and connectivity and urban mobility works such as Cablebús (an aerial transport system) have been built. Likewise, existing museums have been restored and new cultural spaces have been developed, such as the Park for Urban Culture (PARCUR), the Center for Environmental Culture, and the Los Pinos Cultural Complex (in what used to be the presidential residence), as well as the new headquarters for the National Film Archive, the National Art Warehouse, and the Scenic Pavilion and Garden, just a few of the twelve cultural nodes originally proposed in Gabriel Orozco's Master Plan.

One of the most relevant elements of this project is two large pedestrian bridges of several hundred meters designed by Gabriel Orozco to connect different parts of Chapultepec that were originally separated by huge avenues. These walkways, which are used by thousands of people every month, have quickly became emblematic spaces in Mexico City's urban landscape. With these unique bridges, Orozco continues to push the limits of what sculptural practice can mean today.

Thanks to this project led by Gabriel Orozco, Chapultepec Forest now has 800 acres in four accessible sections, which means an unprecedented increase in public green areas for the inhabitants and visitors of Mexico City. It doubles the artistic offerings of Chapultepec, the most visited and popular cultural space in Mexico.