Museo Soumaya

Rising from the Plaza Carso development like a twisting silver anvil, the Soumaya is Mexico City's most photographed building of the century - a windowless torqued form clad in 16,000 hexagonal aluminium scales, designed by Fernando Romero and opened in 2011 to house the collection of Carlos Slim, who named it for his late wife. Admission is permanently free, and inside a white spiral ramp climbs six storeys past a famously eclectic hoard: one of the largest Rodin holdings outside Paris, culminating in a top-floor sculpture terrace under skylights; Dali bronzes, European old masters, New Spanish viceregal painting; Mexican landscapists and muralists; and cases of coins, ivories and antique portraiture. Critics debate the curation, crowds vote with their feet, and the building itself - shimmering differently with every hour of light - remains the star exhibit. Across the plaza, the Jumex museum makes the perfect contemporary counterpoint.

History

The museum is named after Soumaya Domit, the wife of its founder Carlos Slim, who died in 1999. Its first building, at Plaza Loreto, opened in 1994 and the Plaza Carso building in 2011; the collection holds over 66,000 works, and in 2013 it drew 1,095,000 visitors, the most of any art museum in Mexico (Wikipedia, Museo Soumaya).

What's there

• The silver skin - 16,000 aluminium hexagons catching the light.
• The Rodin floor - The Thinker, The Kiss and a terrace of bronzes under the roof.
• The spiral ramp - six storeys of continuous white gallery.
• The eclectic hoard - old masters, Dali, viceregal art and Mexican painting.

When to go

Weekday mornings for near-empty ramps; late afternoon outside for the best light on the facade. Free entry makes weekends dense - come early if that is your window.

Practical notes

The collection is uneven by design - masterpieces share ramps with curiosities, and labels can be thin. The building has no windows; orientation comes only at top and bottom. Polanco is a ride, not a walk, from the historic center.

Nearby

Museo Jumex directly across the plaza, an aquarium in the same development and Polanco's restaurant streets ten minutes away.

Key facts