Palmas 555

Mexico City, Mexico

1975

Palmas 555 signifies Sordo Madaleno’s ability to generate place-making through the presence of singular buildings. Built in 1975 as an office tower, the project demonstrates the impact of architectural form within the wider composition of cities – their role in galvanising urban patterns and shaping identity. Designed and built by Juan Sordo Madaleno with José Adolfo Wiechers and José Ignacio de Abiega in 1975, Palmas 555 is named after the avenue it sits on – Paseo de las Palmas 555 – within the verdant Lomas de Chapultepec neighbourhood of Mexico City.

Render of SOMA HQ's glazed façade and green perimeter on Paseo de la Reforma, Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico City. By Sordo Madaleno.

The design for SOMA HQ on Prado Norte points to Sordo Madaleno’s preoccupation with activating public space through architectural presence. Like Palmas 555, the introduction of a strong geometrical building brings identity to the neighbourhood, becoming both a landmark and magnet within its urban home.

Aerial dusk view of Corporativo Andares glass tower rising above the Andares mixed-use district in Zapopan, Guadalajara. By Sordo Madaleno.

Andares Corporate is a defining tower project built within the Guadalajara metropolitan area. Rising to 23 levels and a height of 140 metres, it uses horizontal recesses to create a similar ‘chiaroscuro’ effect to Palmas 555.

Known for its jagged silhouette and refined use of raw concrete, Palmas 555 – at times labelled as an example of Mexican Brutalism – is formed as a distinctive stack of nine horizontal slabs, each constituting one tower floor. The slabs shift in space as they built up vertically, one on top of the other. In unison, they appear as dislocated slices that move subtly, creating overhangs of different depths all the way up the tower. In between each slab is a recessed parapet, with ribbon windows lining the inner perimeter of each one. Together, the parapets and overhangs create deep, even shadows in between every floor: a buildup of tonally variated horizontal lines.

Archival photograph of Palmas 555 office tower, a modernist landmark in Mexico City designed by Juan Sordo Madaleno, 1975.

The rhythm of the building’s slabs, although appearing completely heterogenous, is systematic. Displacements follow a sequence of offsets that repeat at every four levels, supported by a nine-metre structural grid of columns. The structure supports the different overhangs, which allow the building to appear different from every unique viewpoint and angle. This not only brings visual play, but protects facades from harsh direct sunlight.

Original floor plan drawing of Palmas 555 levels 3 and 7 by Juan Sordo Madaleno, showing the open-plan office layout, 1975.

Original cross-section drawing of Palmas 555 by Juan Sordo Madaleno, showing the tower's cantilevered floor plate structure, 1975.

The building occupies a full front block along its avenue. Its design works to mitigate the conditions of its site, which occupies a limited perimeter and stands on steeply sloping topography. The tower is built to a strong central core, centralised to release workplace floor plans towards the outer edges of the building, finding natural light and ventilation. This connection with the outdoors extends to the way the building meets the street, incorporating landscaped edges into a set back threshold and bringing green space into its site. Palmas 555 is an example of workplace architecture that invokes memory and shared experience – a landmark that lives boldly in the realm of the everyday.