Mexican studio Taller Mauricio Rocha has expanded the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City, which was originally designed by artist Diego Rivera and architect Juan O'Gorman.Due to an increase in its activities, the Anahuacalli Museum decided to expand its footprint into the adjacent park, adding additional structures to the original buildings designed by Riveria and O'Gorman.

Taller Mauricio Rocha added three buildings that hover above the volcanic ground of San Ángel, a neighbourhood in the south of Mexico City, as well as a courtyard and walkway that connect the new structures to the original facility.All of the structures added by the studio are low-lying – similar in height to the other museum buildings, except for the castle-like main structure that once held Rivera's studio.

The original design of the museum set the buildings around an open square.Taller Mauricio Rocha's three buildings are on the west side of the property and include a storage building, a workshop and offices.A courtyard and walkway were added.With volcanic bases that cantilever the structures above the ground, each building opens up onto the new courtyard.The warehouse – which doubles as a performance space – and the workshop are both square in shape, while the office building is long and extends away from the original courtyard.

The base of the buildings is clad in volcanic stone, similar to the original structures, but the inhabitable one-storey levels are clad in dark louvres that open the spaces up to the natural environment, augmented by a series of gardens placed around the structures.At certain points, the voids under the cantilevered structures create shaded semi-enclosed patios.

Two of the buildings feature voids that were designed to open up the program. These voids were also filled with plants and serve as "open-air workshops", according to Taller Mauricio Rocha."The buildings are recessed in their base to achieve less impact with the landscape, the materiality of the new buildings with concrete and volcanic stone slabs in their base," said the studio.The latticed walls of the exterior were machine-cut and the floors and ceilings are made of concrete. Dark-stained wood lines some of the interior corridors and was also used to make the doors.

The materials employed by Taller Mauricio Rocha continue the dark, volcanic palette of the original structures but have a more open program than the densely packed stone of the originals.As part of the project, select renovations to the existing structures were also carried out by the studio.The old warehouse was converted into a maintenance area, the administrative areas became a cafeteria and a shop, and the studio created museographies and other exhibition enhancements.