Palacio de los Deportes

 

 

The Palacio de los Deportes was constructed specifically for the basketball tournament during the 1968 Summer Olympics. However, the Palacio was designed to be a multipurpose arena. There is also a smaller pavilion on complex for expositions and concerts.

The Palacio was constructed 14 miles (23 km) from the Olympic Village and 6.5 from downtown Mexico City in the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City near the conflux of two expressways (Miguel Alemán Viaduct and Río Churubusco Interior Loop). It was built by the company ICA between October 15, 1966, and September 13, 1968, and finished construction one month before the Olympics. The Palacio is circular in design with a square-patterned dome spanning 380 feet (120 m) and enclosing an area of 6.7 acres (27,000 m²). The dome consists of hyperbolic paraboloids of tubular aluminum covered with waterproof copper-sheathed plywood and supported by huge steel arches. The Palacio originally seated 22,370, including 7,370 in removable seats. There was also a parking space for 3,864 vehicles. The structure was designed by architects Félix Candela, Enrique Castañeda Tamborel and Antonio Peyri. It has three floors, which house complete facilities for athletes, judges, officials, organizers, as well as services for radio, television and the press. A mezzanine provides access to the boxes and middle and upper stands.

The structure underwent a series of modifications during the 1990s to adjust the acoustic profile of the structure. Earlier, the facility had acquired the derisive nickname of "Palacio de los rebotes" (Palace of Reverberations) due to the way sound bounced around and echoed in it, a major problem for music concerts scheduled at the arena, and a drawback even for sports events. Various adjustments were made to compensate for these acoustic problems.^[1][2]

The venue opened on October 8, 1968, with a performance by Maurice Béjart's Ballet of the 20th Century.^[3]

The Palacio hosted the basketball tournament during the 1968 Summer Olympics; it was also the main venue of the volleyball tournament. It was the home of the CBA Mexico City Aztecas (basketball) in 1994 and 1995, and the Mexico Toros of the CISL (indoor soccer) in 1995. On December 6, 1997, it hosted the NBA's regular season game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks, which ended with a 108–106 score.^[4]

Both the FIBA 1989 Tournament of the Americas and the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship were held at the Palace.^[5]

A common use of the Palace is to host big expositions and rock or pop concerts. There have been more than 400 concerts held here throughout the years; a curated list of some of the most important ones is below.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palacio de los Deportes (México).

• Homepage
• 1968 Summer Olympics official report. Archived November 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Volume 2. Part 1. p. 72.
• Luis Castañeda, "Image-Machine: Félix Candela's Palacio de los Deportes", article in Pidgin Magazine