WARP + WEFT

WEAVING CONNECTIONS THROUGH OBRERA / MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

The Winter 2019 studio of 15 students traveled abroad to Mexico City for ten weeks to look at a 10-block masterplan in the Obrera neighborhood. While predominantly a residential neighborhood, commercial spaces flank the blocks on the bustling western edge of Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas and the quieter eastern edge Calle Simon Bolivar. The neighborhood has a strong identity of making, many of its commercial use focused on auto-repair and maintenance as well as print shops. Students worked in groups to develop schemes for each block that ultimately served the overall studio goals for the entire 10 blocks. The project shown is the 5th block.

The 10 block Obrera site is far from a clean slate. Due to its tight nature in both its physical makeup and relationships between neighbors, this scheme for the fifth block attempts to weave into the existing fabric to strengthen the ties between the adjacent blocks and the larger urban community. Defined circulation runs east/west while public plazas and new housing intersect running north/south. By means of vecindad-like alleys and a larger public green street, the “warp” provides porosity through the blocks, and the “weft” intersects to create opportunities for commercial to spill into larger plazas. New construction shapes the collective spaces and fuse with the existing buildings, while terracing and vertical circulation maintain eyes on the street.

Block 5 proposes the implementation of 3 public plazas for commerce, culture, and recreation. The western, commercial focused plaza feeds traffic from the metro station entrance and the main Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas street. The plaza maintains and open ground floor plane, allowing informal market stalls to pop-up in the framework of the 10-story housing above and also converts an auto shop into a formal market. The central plaza is the largest of the three and is the home of the fabrication school. The compound is split across the north and south ends of the sites to maintain a strong north-south connection through the blocks, organized to open the ground plane to the public while centralizing public activity. The eastern plaza focuses on the recreational needs of the residents, incorporating cafes, small business shops, and a child daycare. These programs mirror the type and scale of Calle Simon Bolivar on the east edge of the block.

The site’s housing modules consist of commercial spaces on highly trafficked alleys with housing of various types above. The shared courtyard spaces allow for light and ventilation to each of the units as well as visual vertical circulation for safety. The housing module is designed to be as flexible as possible in order to adapt to the scale of the neighborhood and the variations along the three public plazas. Materiality also remains flexible to add variation throughout the neighborhood with colored concrete, brick brise-soliels, and blackened steel for durability.

BLOCK 5 IN COLLABORATION WITH EMILY TERZIC

Instructors: Rob Hutchison + Rick Mohler

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