Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos completed Arte Abierto Baja at Ánima Village: a 180 m² sunken, open-roof gallery that frames large-scale sculpture against Baja California Sur’s arid landscape.
The gallery is a 180 m² open-air room sunken about 4 meters below the plaza, reached by a partly covered 17-meter ramp that controls the arrival sequence.
High, pigmented bush-hammered concrete walls (over 5 meters tall) create an enclosed outdoor room whose rough texture visually connects to the surrounding rocky terrain.
Design prioritizes large-scale and site-specific sculpture: the open roof lets landscape and sky enter the space while the tall walls provide a sense of scale and containment.
# Overview
Arte Abierto Baja opened in Los Cabos as a public, open-air gallery designed by Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos and sited within Ánima Village. The project occupies 180 m² and was completed in 2025. Photographs documenting the project were taken by Pablo Manjarrez and Ariadna Polo.
# Spatial concept and visitor route
# The room and display logic
The gallery is essentially an outdoor room defined by tall concrete walls that rise above 5 meters. The height allows large-scale sculptures and site-specific installations to be displayed with a strong sense of enclosure while keeping the roof completely open. That openness makes the landscape an active part of exhibitions: sky, light, and the surrounding terrain become components of each installation rather than backdrop elements.
# Materials and finishes
Walls are finished in pigmented, bush-hammered concrete. The coarse surface catches hard sunlight and reads visually close to the rocky, arid terrain around Los Cabos. The material choice gives the space weight and permanence and helps integrate the architecture with the local landscape palette.
# Relationship to Ánima Village and program
Above the sunken gallery, Ánima Village continues as a mixed-use development with terracotta pavilions and planted public squares. Arte Abierto functions as a cultural anchor within that walkable, human-scale neighborhood. Its sunken placement keeps the village circulation intact while offering a distinct, immersive environment for large-format artworks.
# Practical considerations
# Credits and collaborators
Lead architects: Javier Sordo Madaleno Bringas, Javier Sordo Madaleno de Haro, Fernando Sordo Madaleno de Haro. Architecture director: Luis Hernández, Boris Peña. Design team includes Javier Paez, José Mendoza and others. Landscape architecture by PAAR. Lighting design by Artec. Structural engineering by Silos y Asociados. Photography by Pablo Manjarrez and Ariadna Polo.
# Why it matters locally
Arte Abierto Baja introduces a permanent, public venue for sculpture and site-specific work in Baja California Sur. Its design strategy—sinking an open-air room into the ground and leaving the roof open—creates a simple, controlled setting where artworks engage directly with light, sky, and the desert landscape.
a sloping ramp drops visitors four meters below ánima village into an open-air gallery framed by concrete and desert. The post sordo madaleno sinks open-air art gallery four meters below ground in los cabos appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine .
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