Community
Alvaro Obregon, Mexico City
100,000 sq ft
2021
“Edge Effect” considers a near future in which the land-use conflicts that permeate the periphery of Mexico City come to the fore. In particular, this project explores one of the few remaining gaps of open space and its role as an intermediary between different modes of urban living and between the city and its natural landscape. This vocational school is proposed as an alternative to reckless development that can bring urban residents closer to nature and link communities.
The project is a reconciliation of two seemingly incompatible visions: the preservation of a natural space, and the addition of a public program in the service of the community. The project proposes an architectural form that fills in the gaps in the urban landscape while also embracing their value as natural spaces, one that is integrated into the challenging topography, fully immersed in nature and intentionally hidden in the landscape.
This particular design study proposes a vocational school as one example of a prototype architectural model that can be deployed throughout similar areas. This proposed architectural form strives to bring people into the natural, previously inaccessible environment as well as to provide the communities around it a space for enjoying the landscape. Additionally, it aims to create a connecting infrastructure between starkly different communities segregated as much by class disparities as by the intense natural landscape. The project intends to provide both a space of respite and a useful social program within the relentless urban sprawl of Mexico City.
The presentation of this project itself was a design exercise involving numerous presentation tools and techniques, including projection and digital manufacturing.