Paseo Interlomas now open!

Paseo Interlomas is finally open. I have been following on this project since 2008, long before any construction was made and the final project decided on. Now Paseo Interlomas has been opened and it looks great. Well not all the stores are opened yet, but the ones opened are nice.

The mall includes three main stores, Liverpool, El Palacio de Hierro, and Sears. There is also cinemas, an ice rink, a food court, and a restaurant area. There are 110,000 square meters of retail area with 229 locals. The mall interior has wood highlights, very good natural illumination and ample spaces. The exterior has three elements that catch the eye: the restaurant area is covered with wood-like paneling and has terraces for the smoking areas of the restaurants; El Palacio de Hierro looks like a giant slab of black granite (think 2001: Space Odyssey) with a video screen on one corner; but the most intriguing design is the one of Liverpool, its facade is made of 7,5000 unique stainless steel panels that gives the illusion of the flow of the cars. The exterior of Liverpool was designed by the team of Rojkind Architects.

Here is also a bird's eye view of the mall, from the twitter account of Rojkind Architects:

Bellow I have compiled a list of the stores that are expected to open in Paseo Interlomas:

Update: I'll update the list as I know of more stores in the mall and which ones are open.

iTunes Store Mexico

Finally, Apple has announced today the opening of iTunes Store Mexico. After six years of opening in the United States and continuing it’s expansion to several more countries, Apple has decided to begin it’s offering of Music and Music Video in Mexico.

You can purchase most songs priced at $12.00 MXN (Mexican Pesos, $0.076 USD per MXN as August 4), albums at $120.00 MXN and music videos at $24.00 MXN.

Gift cards will also be available in various stores and it will come in 200, 400 an 600 pesos denominations.

For registering you need either a credit card or a gift card and a Mexican address.

You can find the official press release from Apple here.

[via http://mundomac.org/itunes-store-mexico-ya-disponible.html]

Quote of the Day:
Misery is optional.
--Abraham Lincoln

Follow up to Paseo Interlomas mall

Last year I wrote a post regarding a new mall that is under construction on my neighborhood, Paseo Interlomas (see original post here) and I wanted to update on the subject.
The construction last year was almost drawn to a stop (I suspect lack of funding was the main reason), but in the past couple of months the construction site seems to have been reactivated and the are now busy as ants.
I have also noticed that on the developer’s website, www.gicsa.com.mx there is some updated information and new renderings. Here is the description found on such website:

Paseo Interlomas is the modern version of a park combined with a regional shopping center. This place will be the first community center in the area to be developed inside a spectacular building with open and closed spaces meeting the highest security standards. This commercial concept with nearly 1.4 million square feet of built area and a parking area of more than 1.9 million square feet will include two department stores 16 stadium type movie theaters with THX mega screens (6 VIP), 12 restaurants, a food court and 180 retail spaces of all sort of services and specialty shops. The following are some of the project’s attractions: skating rink, health and fitness gym, a family entertainment center, children’s attractions and dexterity games as well as an art exhibition center and a hotel.

And here are the renderings:

From the renderings it shows that we can expect a Liverpool and the ubiquitous Sanborns. I will continue updating when I know more about it.

Update now the mall is open, read more about it in Paseo Interlomas now open

Barack Obama wins

All the projections points towards it.

Although I am neither American nor live in the United States I am happy that this  election turned out this way. It is a much needed change for the United States. But above all it means a renewed hope for that country. It is also a day to be marked in history as it is the first African-American to be elected as President of the United States.

I hope that this new President works towards a better world

“We Have Water”

That is what William Boynton of the University of Arizona one of the scientist from the Phoenix Mars Lander said regarding the confirmation of water in Martian soil.

This news are …. I mean one thing is seeing what appears to be water on images transmitted from Martian suburbs and another, complete different thing, is receiving confirmation after chemical tests.

Maybe this news will pass without much furor among the massive amount of information that passes through our eyes each day, but I really think it could be one of the greatest discoveries of all time. It may mean that Mars one held some kind of life, or it may mean that humans could inhabit Mars one day (as distant as it may see).

I am no expert on the matter but I wanted to express my opinion in my site (yes for  those 5 people out there reading it)

You can find the news on this page: NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended.

Quote of the Day:
A good composer does not imitate; he steals.
--Igor Stravinsky

Paseo Interlomas, a new mall in the neighborhood

I live near a zone that is thriving with commerce and new residential developments, Interlomas. This zone has a variety of shopping centers, both small and large, supermarkets, cinemas, schools, a university, etc. The growth of this zone in the last years has been astounding. This growth has brought a lot of traffic to the zone and it lacks some roads to be better communicated (see Hueyetlaco).

So, why not, let's make a new shopping mall, one of the largest in the Mexico City area.

This new mall is currently under construction. It will be called "Paseo Interlomas". It was designed by the Fernando Teruya Design Studio and built by GICSA. This mall will feature 15 movie screens (5 of them VIP), an ice skating rink, two mayor department stores (Liverpool and "Palacio de Hierro"), about 79,000 square meters (~850,000 square feet) of retail. Bellow you can find a rendering of the project, click on it to see more images:

 

I like new projects that beautify the city and the space we live in. I also expect the projects to be reasonable and include adequate planning and impact mitigation measures. For what I have read, this project also include a road plan to help cope with the traffic that will generate.

The mall is projected to open in summer 2008, although by judging the current progress I would say it will open near the end of 2008 or beginnings of 2009.

UPDATE: you can find a followup to this article here.

Quote of the Day:
Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.
--General Omar Nelson Bradley

† Rest in Peace Father Marcial Maciel, LC

Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ passed away yesterday January 30, 2008. Father Maciel died at the age of 87 of natural causes in the United States of America.

Father Maciel was the founder of the schools I have attended almost all my life. Since preschool, elementary, middle, and high school at the "Instituto Cumbres" and in college at the "Universidad Anáhuac". The Legionaries of Christ have been an important part of my formation.

I just wish to extend my prayers and condolences for the Maciel family and to all the community of the Legionaries of Christ and the "Regnum Christi" Movement.

50th Anniversary of LEGO

Today, January 28th, is the 50th birthday of the LEGO brick.

Lego history began in 1932 in Billund, Denmark, where Ole Kirk Christansen founded a small factory of wooden toys. The name Lego comes from a fusion of the Danish words “LEg” and “GOdt” which means "play well".

In 1947, Christansen bought the first plastic injection molding machine in Denmark. He developed the early prototypes for the LEGO brick and in 1958 he patented the LEGO brick. Today’s LEGO bricks still fit bricks from 1958.

Below is a timeline (from gizmodo.com, click the image for the original article) of LEGO.

 

LEGO, is launching a kit to commemorate it's 50th birthday, 3 gold bricks included (LEGO Town Plan).

With information and images from:
Gizmodo, LEGO Brick Timeline and LEGO.com, 50th Birthday of the LEGO Brick.

Carlos Slim, a Mexican, is wealthiest man on Earth

Maybe you have heard/read the news on this, maybe you haven't. The news have been revealed today by Mexican publication "Sentido Común" (Common Sense). The Mexican Tycoon, who has a 33% participation in the stocks of America Movil (the largest mobile telecommunications provider in Latin America) passed Bill Gates as the World's wealthiest man this past second quarter.

The fortune of Bill Gates rises to $59.2 billion and Slim's fortune goes up to $67.8 billion, a difference of $8.6 billion claims the publication.

What is most shocking about this news is that Carlos Slim comes from a country with a great amount of poor people. This only remarks the inequality that exists in this country, where the income is unevenly distributed and you can find very, very rich people as well as very, very poor people.

I hopes that Mr. Slim can give a little back to his country and contribute to it's development.

Original story from "Sentido Común": link (english translation).
Story at The Guardian newspaper: link.

Quote of the Day:
Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.
--C. Archie Danielson