Torre Negra

Torre Negra
Laboratory Building, UAD Alamedas Campus
Durango, Mexico
Torre Negra is inserted within the Alamedas Campus of the Autonomous University of Durango as a compact, precise, and deliberately restrained volume. Conceived to house laboratories of multiple disciplines, the building responds to a dual condition: to integrate within the academic logic of the campus while establishing a recognizable presence in its immediate urban context.
From the point of arrival, the experience is constructed through contrast. A landscape composed of rosemary, lavender, and water features introduces a sensory dimension that softens the approach, while the black volume, solid and abstract, appears as an autonomous object. This planted threshold not only mediates the transition between exterior and interior, but also establishes a slower rhythm in opposition to the building’s material density.
The main façade is defined by a metal screen that operates both as an environmental filter and an expressive device. It regulates direct solar exposure, allows the entry of diffused light, and promotes natural ventilation. In specific sections, the screen is subtly distorted through the rotation of its elements, producing a visual vibration that suggests movement, as if the surface had been gently shaped by wind. The result is a dynamic envelope that oscillates between opacity and transparency.
Vertical circulation is resolved through a system of metal staircases suspended from the main volume. Beyond mere connection, these elements are conceived as spatial experiences. Their partially exposed paths allow users to inhabit an intermediate condition between interior and exterior, establishing continuous visual relationships with the surroundings.
Facing the inner campus, the secondary façade is composed of metal slats that extend the same filtering logic. From a distance, it appears as a solid plane, yet its permeability enables cross-ventilation and maintains visual continuity with the interior circulation spaces. This ambiguity between mass and lightness defines the building’s character.
Torre Negra does not aim to impose itself; it operates with precision. It is a technical piece that resolves climatic, functional, and spatial conditions through an active envelope, where architecture is expressed through modulation, repetition, and subtle variation.
Project: Torre Negra
Type: Educational Facility, Laboratory Building
Location: Durango, Mexico
Year: 2024–2025
Built Area: 1,094.40 sqm
Architecture: Jonathan Corral Arquitectos
Photography: Recording Architecture, Paco Álvarez
Construction: Forum Constructora
Structural Engineering: Jesús González Flores

Type: Educational Facility, Laboratory Building
Location: Durango, Mexico
Year: 2024–2025
Built Area: 1,094.40 sqm

Architecture: Jonathan Corral Arquitectos
Photography: Recording Architecture, Paco Álvarez
Construction: Forum Constructora
Structural Engineering: Jesús González Flores