Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
A view of Brașov’s Old Town.
Romania • 12 days, 11 nights
Legends of Romania: Castles, Ruins & Culinary Delights
from
Balkans road trip
Bosnia and Herzegovina • 9 days, 8 nights
Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
Ambuluwawa Tower
Hesperus Mountain.
Hesperus Mountain
Miniature Collection at Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
U.S. Air Force Capt. Samuel “RaZZ” Larson, F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team commander, passes over the flight line at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, July 9, 2024
Who Swarmed Langley Air Force Base With Drones?
Our producer Manolo Morales would spend his final days perusing the shelves at Book Off.
Where Would You Go to Wait for the Apocalypse?
This event showcasing the bounty of the Traverse City region’s amazing agriculture, craft, and creativity culminates with a Grand Tasting on August 23.
The Atlas Obscura Guide to Traverse City’s Event Season
She’ll get you and your little dog too.
Dear Atlas: Where Can I Explore Witch History Without the Kitsch?

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Mexico Mexico City C5

C5

Mexico City's residents are being watched by this state surveillance headquarters, designed by architects with a flair for intimidation.

Mexico City, Mexico

Added By
Dylan Thuras
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
“‘Surveillance State?’ You betcha!”   Map Data © 2015 Google
Just… blatantly watching you   Map Data © 2015 Google
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The folks in charge of designing Mexico City's urban surveillance system don't even try to hide that they're watching you. In fact, the building holding the headquarters for the Distrito Federal's Ciudad Segura (Safe City) program goes so far as to resemble a three-story-tall row of cameras focused outward, aimed directly at its citizens.

The foundation for this magnificent panopticon edifice is, of course, a concrete bunker. Surrounded by a high perimeter fence, passers-by can only see the camera-like uppermost floors of the building peering back at them. Designed by Telmex (Mexico's national telecommunications company) and Thales, a French multinational military contractor, the building opened in 2011. With such huge names behind the design and implementation, you can be certain they knew exactly the message they were sending. Unlike most urban surveillance centers, C5 doesn't try to disguise its militaristic origins; the name itself even derives from the Spanish for "Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Integration, Information, and Investigation."

But unlike a true panopticon, the façade of C5 isn't doing all the heavy lifting; it's what's inside that gets spooky. The central nervous system of what experts rank among the most advanced surveillance and intelligence gathering centers in the world lies inside the walls of C5's high-security bunker. It is the convergence of 47 independent local government agencies, collating the digital, photographic, and aural footprints of Mexico City's residents. This hive mind is set to record anything deemed "anomalous" via a system of mobile surveillance units, street police, environmental sensors, panic buttons, and an estimated 13,000 street-mounted cameras positioned throughout the megalopolis.

All of this "data" pours into a three-story-tall, cylindrical control room filled with hundreds of real humans charged with keeping an eye on the happenings of the people. Screens with live feeds tuned to areas of interest cover one whole face of the control center, while the other floors are floor-to-ceiling one-way glass, behind which lie the offices of supervisors and the administration, all of whom could be, at any given time, monitoring those lower-level officiants tasked with monitoring the rest of the proletariat, none of whom would be the wiser. 

Given the doom-laden nature of this spectacle, it's not hard to imagine the impish spirit of Michel Foucault doing a weird little tap dance somewhere in the afterlife.

Related Tags

Architecture Architectural Oddities Espionage Spies
Atlas Obscura Adventures

Flavors of Oaxaca: Markets, Mezcal & Home-Cooked Meals

A Culinary and Cultural Journey Through Oaxaca.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

Dylan

Edited By

littlebrumble, mageno, izu

  • littlebrumble
  • mageno
  • izu

Published

March 8, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://placesjournal.org/article/inside-mexico-citys-c4i4-surveillance-center/
  • http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/mexico-city-security-intelligence-emergency-center-c4i4-ebrard.html
  • http://mariomenesescpo.com/2014/01/21/que-es-el-c4i4/
  • http://mariomenesescpo.com/2014/01/21/que-es-el-c4i4/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon#Criticism_and_the_Panopticon_as_metaphor
C5
Cecilio Robelo
El Parque
Mexico City, 15960
Mexico
19.425362, -99.118412
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

The Sweets Section at Mercado de la Merced

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Mercado de Sonora

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Rectoría del Señor de La Humildad (Manzanares Chapel)

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico

Places 180
Stories 17

Nearby Places

The Sweets Section at Mercado de la Merced

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Mercado de Sonora

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Rectoría del Señor de La Humildad (Manzanares Chapel)

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico

Places 180
Stories 17

Related Stories and Lists

9 Places Where You Can See Spying and Surveillance in Action

spies

By Dylan Thuras

Related Places

  • The Doughnut

    Cheltenham, England

    The Doughnut

    Britain's answer to the NSA is based out of this deliciously-named circular headquarters.

  • The small window looks more like a crack in the wall.

    Hull, England

    England's Smallest Window

    What looks like missing grout is actually an old pub's peephole.

  • Houses with eyes.

    Sibiu, Romania

    Sibiu's Houses with Eyes

    Something's watching you.

  • View of 33 Thomas Street from the adjacent streets at the intersection of Church & Worth.

    New York, New York

    Long Lines Building

    An uber-secure, windowless tower of doom in the center of Manhattan is an NSA spyscraper.

  • Rosalie Sharp Centre for Design in the iconic Toronto cityscape.

    Toronto, Ontario

    Rosalie Sharp Centre for Design

    This buzzy, award-winning building hovers 85 feet above the ground on a dozen colorful stilts.

    Sponsored by Destination Toronto
  • West Virginia’s New River Gorge Bridge is the longest steel bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

    Lansing, West Virginia

    Bridge Walk

    In West Virginia, you can walk across the longest single-arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

    Sponsored by West Virginia Department of Tourism
  • The Cathedral Café has been serving it’s community for more than 120 years.

    Fayetteville, West Virginia

    Cathedral Café

    Soak in the sacred vibes at this beloved food and coffee hangout inside a former church.

    Sponsored by West Virginia Department of Tourism
  • Petrópolis, Brazil

    Belvedere do Grinfo

    This spaceship-like structure was once a popular roadside restaurant.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.