Content Editor at ArchDaily Mexico. Architect by UNAM (2018). Her interests focus on exploring the relationship of the body with architecture through dance. She has collaborated with different international choreographers who explore dance and architecture as an event. Twitter / Instagram: @monicarellano_
Atlantes is the new monumental installation by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi, presented by Galería Hilario Galguera, Blain | Southern, and Kasmin. Situated on the coast of Oaxaca, near Casa Wabi, in the largely uninhabited area near Puerto Escondido, Mexico, Atlantes is described as "the region's most ambitious land art project in recent years."
The Urban Agriculture Laboratory is designed by Transversal / Arquitectura Paisaje Urbanismo, located at the Semilla Museum in Chihuahua, Mexico. This project is the result of a civic initiative that combines landscape, architectural, and exhibition design elements centered around urban agriculture, permaculture, and the observation of natural phenomena. In doing so, it redefines the traditional "white box" exhibition space, transforming it into a hands-on pedagogical space, civic gathering point, and laboratory.
In 2014, a group of friends from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, eager to contribute to their city's resilience and recovery, came together to discuss and pitch ideas for reclaiming streets, squares, and parks through sociocultural projects and urban interventions in public spaces. This gave rise to Nómada Laboratorio Urbano. Ciudad Juárez is an industrial city located on the northern border with the United States, directly adjacent to El Paso, Texas. Over the years, Juárez's economy has been dominated by the "maquiladora" manufacturing industry, and the city was once considered one of the most violent in the world due to a wave of crime between 2008 and 2012.
Each year, the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA), through the National System of Art Creators (SNCA), recognizes outstanding figures in national culture through the Young Creators Program. By providing grants, the program supports the creative and educational development of Mexico's young artists, fostering favorable conditions for the realization of original, significant, and positive creative projects.
Designed by architect Juan Segura and built in 1930, the Ermita Building in Mexico City is considered one of the most influential works of Mexican architecture from the first half of the 20th century. From its inception, it was one of the first buildings to incorporate mixed-use spaces, featuring ground-floor retail, a cinema, and apartments of various sizes.
For the sixth time, INFONAVIT, through CIDS, has launched the call for entries for the Sixth Student Competition 2018, as part of its effort to promote and encourage creative practices toward new forms of construction, as well as to achieve better intra-urban social housing based on an efficient, compact, sustainable, and regional model.
The objective of this competition is to develop projects capable of adapting to the specific conditions of the territory and its inhabitants. Beyond defining a housing prototype, the goal was to identify processes and understand replicable procedures. This requires engaging with the community, listening to their stories, and understanding their dynamics and customs, as well as conducting extensive historical research to discover how ways of living have provided valuable lessons for housing design in each region.
Primer Lugar: Luis Roberto Barillas, Marielos Beatriz Rosales, Milton José Martínez, Sara Beatriz Vásquez (San Salvador, El Salvador). Image Cortesía de TECHO
Latin America's social crisis is centered in its informal settlements, the epicenters of the most urbanized and unequal region in the world. Approximately 104 million people live in these communities, where one in four lives in poverty within a slum, villa, favela, or informal camp. This has led organizations like TECHO to focus on this segment of the population, which subsists despite the ongoing violation of their rights and a grueling test of their resilience.
First Place: "Entre sombras" / Josué Coeto Velasco, Ignacio González, Abraham Méndez, Hueman Hidalgo. Image
The TEMA Pavilion Competition was created to provide young architects and students from the University of Guadalajara student body with the opportunity to design an ephemeral project that expresses ideas beyond the typical academic requirements of an architecture or design school. On November 11, the proposals were evaluated by internationally recognized architecture and design practices, including José Amozurrutia and Carlos Facio / TO; Andrea Castilla and Deha Chehade / Chehade Carter Interior Design; and architect Diego Vergara Álvarez.
Today, Mexico’s contemporary architecture scene is shaped by architects who work daily to address the evolving conditions of their surroundings. Various events—such as the 2017 earthquakes—have brought critical issues to the forefront, prompting a rethinking of the profession at different levels, gathering lessons that have redefined the role of the discipline and, above all, the place that architectural objects occupy in the world. This paradigm shift has heightened architects' awareness regarding materiality, regional processes, and urban issues, opening up space for the collective. This involves multidisciplinary teams providing new answers but, above all, asking new questions.
May 3 is a holiday originating from the Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, also known as the May Cross (Cruz de Mayo) or Festival of the Crosses (Fiesta de las Cruces), which has its roots in the Roman Rite celebrating the devotion to the Cross of Christ. Over time, this commemoration has evolved and been adopted across cities in Mexico, Chile, Spain, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela, where the festivities typically include floral decorations, processions, and dances.
Mexico City, considered one of the largest and most populous urban areas in the world, is in fact the largest city in the Americas and the Spanish-speaking world. Given this vast footprint, its immense population has led to sprawling peripheral settlements, highlighting the urgent need for a denser, more inclusive city. Various factors—such as the abandonment of downtown buildings following historic earthquakes like the one in 1985, compounded by a lack of basic habitability—have drawn the attention of diverse actors. Through clear, targeted interventions, they seek to restore a cohesive urban fabric that empowers residents to reclaim their city.
A few months ago, the first exhibition by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) in Latin America concluded. It was held at the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) within the Centro Cultural of Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City. The exhibition featured some of architect Zaha Hadid's projects through models, audiovisual materials, paintings, and photographs. It explored the creative process of her practice, highlighting the importance and complexity of design as the central axis linking form and construction processes in her work.
Educational facilities have evolved over the years in response to technological advancements and new pedagogical models, which increasingly focus on flexible methods that allow students to chart their own paths within a shared framework. The significance of these facilities lies in their role as meeting points that satisfy our social need to share physical spaces, pointing toward more horizontal and inclusive educational systems. A prime example is the Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, designed by Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo, which seeks to create diverse sensory experiences through materials, light, and temperature both inside and outside.
The International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale opened its 58th edition on May 11, 2019, at the Sale d'Armi in the Arsenale in Venice, and will run through November 24. At this world-renowned event, Mexico presented its contribution to the national pavilions with Acts of God by artist Pablo Vargas Lugo. Curated by Magalí Arriola, the project seeks to establish a dialogue with the curatorial concept of the Biennale Arte 2019, May You Live in Interesting Times, to examine how we value our actions, the connections we establish between the natural world and geological time, and to question the origins of our moral choices and inherited values, such as the idea of redemption.
The installation Hórama Rama by Pedro y Juana (Ana Paula Ruiz Galindo and Mecky Reuss) opened this summer as part of the 20th edition of the Young Architects Program 2019 at MoMAPS1. This architectural installation is an immersive jungle landscape set within a large-scale cyclorama that sits atop the courtyard walls of MoMAPS1 and runs from June 28 through September 2, 2019.
2019 brought a wealth of enriching experiences through some of Mexico City's most prominent events, including the inaugural Porto Academy Workshop, the annual Design Week Mexico festival, and the Abierto Mexicano de Diseño, among others. These events hosted design and architecture exhibitions that captured the creative output of the moment—showcases that will serve as future reference points for understanding the architectural discourse of this era.
Mexico City’s vecindades (traditional tenement housing) are urban settlements located primarily in the downtown area. According to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), these buildings first emerged in the late 18th century, though their peak occurred during the 19th century as a result of rapid population growth, serving to provide affordable housing for the city's most marginalized sectors.