Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, in collaboration with Nouvel, refined the experience of inhabiting space by designing glass blocks. Unlike tezontle, the Mexican volcanic rock used by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez throughout his career, glass allowed him to build walls that visually transformed the visitor’s experience
Architectural imagination has created increasingly dynamic spaces that renew the aesthetic experience of viewers daily. Pedro Ramírez Vázquez designed the PRV brick or block with the intention of creating interior walls that would maximize the flow of light from one space to another. Rectangular in appearance, with sections cutting the glass into triangles that look into each other, the PRV block marked the beginning of Nouvel's experimentation with architectural glass blocks.
This creation aligns with the trend of merging the elegance and flexibility of glass blocks with the robust strength of brick. At the same time, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez's inventiveness continues to reflect the dynamic values of transformation that he believed corresponded to architecture: reflecting the modernization of the country through building and designing its public and private spaces, while also making people more aware of places as a way to understand the world.
During the years Pedro Ramírez Vázquez dedicated to interior design, his perspective on transforming everyday objects was based on construction innovation and the use of diverse materials.
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, in collaboration with Nouvel, refined the experience of inhabiting space by designing glass blocks. Unlike tezontle, the Mexican volcanic rock used by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez throughout his career, glass allowed him to build walls that visually transformed the visitor’s experience. The block lets the image through, albeit distorted, of what is behind it, modifying the environment to make it more harmonious. Additionally, the shadow effects created by light reflect a deep inspiration from ancient cultures, mimicking their pyramid-like architectural structures.
“Shaping glass is like shaping light. It is an attractive experience for an architect because the materials used are intended for creating a space. In contrast, a transparent material becomes part of the space, integrating into it.”
Behind the PRV block in the Invisible: Glass Design exhibition was the serpentine glass block wall designed by Mexican architect Frida Escobedo. Unlike the PRV block, the FE block's construction is more complex: its circular shapes interlock perfectly with each other, so it does not require external elements like metal bars or screws for installation; the assembly is akin to playing with Legos. The block’s angles allow it to be installed in a serpentine manner rather than linearly.
Frida Escobedo is currently one of the most important architects in our country. Her collaboration with Nouvel was the pinnacle of an experimental journey with glass blocks for architecture that had seen its beginnings years earlier with Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Jan Hendrix.
Nouvel has explored the world of architecture differently thanks to collaborations with established architects and the emerging talent of young designers, whose experimentation with glass blocks and their relationship with light.
Not only was the luminous effect considered as an aesthetic experience in the construction of glass blocks, but also the acoustic experience for conditioning architectural spaces. In 2021, Emiliano Godoy collaborated with Nouvel to create his “acoustic wall.” Godoy’s formal proposal involved using a V-shaped glass block to prevent the "collision" of resonant waves with vertical walls. This block's construction at Nouvel was made possible by its molding system.
Nouvel has explored the world of architecture differently thanks to collaborations with established architects and the emerging talent of young designers, whose experimentation with glass blocks and their relationship with light has resulted in a unique vision of inhabiting space.
