Mexican women architects in charge of the Maya Train urban design

Mérida, Yucatán, (March 10, 2021).-The architects Gabriela Bojalil and Ana Elena GayAranda, from the DAFDdf and AE GAYARANDA firms respectively, carried out the architectural design of the two main Maya Train stations: Palenque and Chichén Itzá.

The blueprints for both stations are committed to sustainable architecture, specially designed to generate a positive impact on the environment, in order to contribute to the ecological preservation of Southeast Mexico.

On one hand, the Palenque station, run by Gabriela Bojalil’s office, is located on the site of the old Palenque airport, whose architectural design takes up the Pakal mask and will be made up of a building with large sloping roofs; public areas, and walkways with commercial and service premises will be included, as well as gardens that will seek to evoke the Chiapas jungle.

As for the Chichén Itzá station, of high demand and run by the firm of Ana Elena GayAranda, it serves as an “access portal to the archaeological site”. Its design not only seeks sustainability but also to be a meeting point through an open-air reception plaza that invites visitors to live different experiences. For example: To taste Yucatecan food through a gastronomic corridor.

Likewise, a tourist or commercial corridor will be incorporated that will allow people to enjoy walking, cycling, or jogging across the Maya vestiges of Chichén Itzá. The objective: To encourage the margin of permanence of tourists through recreational and cultural spaces.

The architecture of this station includes three elements of the Maya world: The first, the Maya Arch; the second would be the Ceiba, a sacred tree of the Maya that represents the center of the earth; and the third, the “sacred serpent’s skin” geometry.

The structure of the station consists, in a conceptual way, of the body of the serpent that represents the transition from contemporary life towards Mayan mysticism. Resulting in a project that fuses architecture, urban, and landscape design, while preserving the ecosystem and Mexican roots.

Chichén Itzá is part of Section 4 of the Maya Train and will be located in the northeastern part between the city of Pisté and the polygon of the archaeological zone. Yucatán broke a visitor record in 2019 when 2.8 million people arrived in the state by air and more than 400 thousand on cruise ships from around the world.

In Chichén Itzá 10,000 tourists are received daily, which speaks of the importance of this station for the Maya Train Project.