Plaza Gastronómica
A city block Monterrey comes home to.
Nuevo León’s Secretariat of Infrastructure wanted to give the people of Monterrey a park experience on par with the world’s best, and make it free for everyone. Pixeldust designed the technology that turns a downtown block beside the Palacio de Gobierno into a place people choose to spend their evenings: light, water, music, a memorial to those lost to COVID-19, and a sculpture that has become the plaza’s signature.
A first-class park, free for everyone
From the first proposal to opening night, the idea stayed simple: give the city an evening out that costs nothing to enjoy. Pixeldust worked side by side with the Secretariat of Infrastructure and its team, from early design through installation.
Every day, about a dozen food trucks park along the edge, each with a different menu. Families carry their dinner to the tables in the middle of the plaza and stay for the fountains, the lights and the music.
The plaza after dark
A night at Plaza Gastronómica, from the air and from the fountain floor.
Vortex
At the entrance, Vortex twists a series of square steel frames into a spiral, so the sculpture seems to turn as you walk through it. Pixeldust designed it for the plaza, and it was part of the plan from the very first proposal. LED lines set into each frame change color with the rest of the light show, and Vortex has become the image people take home.
Light you can program
Pixel LED fixtures wash the trees, canopies and walkways in color. Every scene is programmable, so the plaza can glow purple one night, celebrate a holiday the next and change again for a special event, without anyone touching a fixture.
Water that keeps time
Under the canopy, jets rise straight from the pavement in choreographed patterns, lit from below and timed to the music. When the water stops, the floor becomes open space again, and kids wait for the next show to start.
Because the jets sit flush with the paving, the fountain never closes off the plaza. It is a stage when it plays and a gathering space when it rests.
Built for a whole evening
Music everywhere
A sound system carries music across the entire park, so the fountains, the lights and the tables all share one soundtrack.
WiFi for 1,000
Public WiFi keeps up to 1,000 visitors connected at once, so a night at the plaza is easy to share.
A dozen food trucks
Food trucks arrive every day with a different menu, and the tables in the center turn dinner into an outing.
A light for those we lost
On its own small grounds beside the plaza, a tower of LED screens stands in tribute to the health workers and citizens of Nuevo León who lost their lives to COVID-19, and in gratitude to everyone who faced the pandemic. At night, its screens burn with an eternal flame.
Two searchlights at the memorial send beams 1,000 meters into the sky, a line of light that can be seen across the city.
Where Monterrey celebrates
The plaza quickly became one of the city’s favorite places for photos. Students come on graduation night, couples on their wedding day, and quinceañeras arrive in full gown to have their pictures taken under the lights.
It is the best measure of the project: people chose this plaza for the biggest days of their lives.
“A place that brings people together, built for the people of Monterrey.”
Most of our work lives on screens. Plaza Gastronómica lives in the city, and every night it fills with families, friends and celebrations. That is what location-based experiences are for.
The plaza sits beside the Palacio de Gobierno, next to Plaza Cultural, where Pixeldust also designed the lighting and technology. That story is coming soon.