Deep impact

Estudio MMX’s new crater-inspired Geology Museum on the Yucatán Peninsula is sure to be a big hit

- ELLIE STATHAKI

Mexico’s many claims to fame include a rich culture, a long history and dramatic landscapes. It is lesser known, however, as the site of an important event that changed life on Earth forever. Yet it is here that the asteroid that is thought to have killed the dinosaurs landed, heralding a new era for the planet and leaving in its path what today is known as the Chicxulub crater. Located on the Yucatán Peninsula, this geological formation was the result of an impact that happened 66 million years ago. It is also the inspiration for a new museum in the small seaside town of Progreso, designed by Estudio MMX, a dynamic and relatively young Mexico City-based practice founded in 2010 by architects Jorge Arvizu, Ignacio del Río, Emmanuel Ramírez and Diego Ricalde. Created as part of an ambitious national scheme called Programa de Mejoramiento Urbano (PMU), or Urban Improvement Programme, which kick-starts public projects and cultural interventions in cities across the country, the new Geology Museum focuses on the region’s rich history in the field.