This art installation was created by design professionals and activated by the energy of Mexico City residents. “Portal of Awareness” by Rojkind Arquitectos is a public installation on one of the city’s main streets, Paseo de la Reforma. Nescafé commissioned artists including Francisco Serrano, Mario Schjetnan, Bernardo Gómez-Pimienta, Fernanda Canales, Manuel Cervantes, Alejandro Quintanilla and Alejandro Castro to create installations using a basic requirement: a maximum of 1,500 metal coffee cups.
The art installation for Nescafé
The idea combines an everyday object, the coffee cup, with basic construction materials such as cement and steel. A steel structure forms the primary support for the cups, which were mechanically connected at the intersections of the steel mesh. Forty-one large arches, each 10 to 12 meters long, with two additional diagonal layers, created 56 nodes and used 1,497 cups.
Art installation made from 1,500 coffee cups
The final gateway form and the different cup colors strengthen the sense of movement in the work. Steel planters play an important role in the overall project: they anchor the structure instead of screws, with the idea that greenery would eventually cover the whole installation.
Steel frame with screws 
Nightlights
Portal of Awareness
Portal on the road
Steel frame decorated with cups of coffee
Game of light and color
Theresa V. Adams
Peter Dark
Anna Lohan
