Our first review in Mexico City! Wahoo - done!
The site is in the Santa Maria de Rivera neighborhood, and like many of the streets in Mexico, the facades are closed, gated or blocked with metal sliding doors. Some open during business hours but there are many residences which remain closed. It is a most striking characteristic, and you would think, the street would feel unpleasant. But (!!) it feels warm and colorful, and full of life! Street vendors occupy the side walk, they are small or large and pop up everywhere. The weather allows for it, and so does the city ordinance.
Anyway, I was inspired by this closed characteristic especially in contrast to the public open space which usually is one-square block of park or plaza. The studio project this quarter is largely adaptive reuse, I am intending to keep most of the facade and structure intact. There are many beautiful spaces that exist, and the goal is to emphasize them while overlaying Mexico City's streets and plazas into the building design.
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| I am responsible for the portion in red - the grey masks the entirety of the site |
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| Interior street - on site |
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| Large open space - on site |
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| concept sketch - volumes rising - of the earth |
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| ground floor plan - massed program |
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| section cut |
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| interior street - concept |
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| exterior plaza - concept |
