For Tori Tori, a recently completed three-story, 6,700-square-foot Japanese restaurant in Mexico City’s Polanco neighborhood, local firm Rojkind Architects was tasked with turning an early 20th-century Mission Revival house into an upscale eatery. Rather than work within the structure’s existing framework, partners Michel Rojkind and Gerardo Salinas, in collaboration with interior designer Héctor Esrawe (who custom-made all the furniture), instead sought “to try to restructure the house and start with a clean canvas,” says Rojkind, “to open up the spaces, make it breathe a little bit.” And breathe it does. On the outside, a flowing, loofah-like facade of glass and two layers of thin-gauge, CNC-cut steel creates “a choreographed interplay of two metal skins dancing,” says Rojkind. On the inside, a mirrored lobby, two dining rooms, a sushi bar, a sake bar, and a tearoom (pictured) aim through peaceful décor to establish, as Rojkind puts it, “an inhale-exhale experience.”

Essential to the scheme: Mexican collaborative spirit. “We try to benefit from what we have locally,” says Rojkind. For the facade’s framework, which was fabricated by 40 skilled metalworkers, the firm worked with digital consultants; for the lighting and landscaping, they drew from other pools of talent. They even sought design advice for the kitchen—from the chefs themselves. Says Rojkind: “You sometimes hear chefs say an architect’s design doesn’t work.” With this project, that likely won’t be the case.

Rojkind Arquitectos
Photos: Paul Rivera