Antara

Mexico City, Mexico

Under Construction

Antara aerial view. An large-scale urban regeneration project in Polanco, Mexico City by Sordo Madaleno.

Antara demonstrates how architecture can transform a site not originally conceived for public life into a central urban destination. Developed on formerly industrial land in Mexico City, the urban regeneration masterplan redefined the area by organising retail, work, culture, and leisure around a continuous public promenade—establishing a place people move through, gather in, and return to, rather than a single-use destination.

Walkway interior of Antara, an urban regeneration project in Polanco, Mexico City by Sordo Madaleno.

Conceived as an open-air urban framework, Antara prioritises public space through gardens, plazas, fountains, and a gently curved central spine that connects programmes while maintaining spatial continuity. The result is an environment that feels open and unhurried—one whose character is defined by movement and encounter as much as by its buildings.

The urban regeneration initiated by Antara reshaped the surrounding district into what is now known as Nuevo Polanco. Its sustained economic and cultural success created the conditions for expansion, enabling further institutional investment—including major museums—and establishing the project as a long-term anchor for the city.

University Square, Mexico City, 1969. Site plan. The rotated diamond grid transforms a commercial zone into a public realm — the question Antara would answer again, forty years later, with a crescent. Courtesy of Sordo Madaleno archive

Antara conceptual sketch.

Phase III, currently under construction, expands the project through a new mixed-use phase anchored by a 42-story tower above a public-facing commercial and cultural base, adding hotel, office, retail, and civic programmes to the existing framework. The development has attracted global tenants, including Google, to its commercial office towers—underscoring Antara’s role as a destination for long-term corporate and cultural investment alike.