Dellekamp + Asali Terracity
The Colonia Obrera is a neighborhood of Mexico city which was developed in the beginning of the 1900´s, as a housing quarter for working class of those days.It was founded for industry workers, artisans and countrymen that would work in the center of Mexico City. Since then the urban fabric has remained practically the same as it is today. Although there has been an inclusion of subways, metro bus, a major freeway (called Central Axis or Eje Central), and many transformations that have happened in the central core since then. The contradiction of this neighborhood is that although the city has evolved, in many different ways, the identity and scale of this neighborhood has remained intact, so how come the city has grown to an unprecedented scale, without transforming this area?
The reasons why this has happened are not the purpose of this project, but the ways to create higher quality housing, with high density, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure and proximity of the city center. This project stretches the limits of common sense by preserving the buildings in the area we believe have value, densifying without creating an urban ghetto, connecting in a low scale with other blocks, creating an almost 80% green footprint due to terraces and green roofs, exhacerbing the principles of a community through public s pace which at the moment are inexistent.
Obrera Neighborhood 1940
Obrera Neighborhood 2007
Roads
Neighborhood Division
Main Roads
Open Space
Subway/Stations
Urban Fixtures
Construction vs Void
Buildings with Value
1 & 2 storey buildings 3 & 4 storey buildings
Construction Height
Open Space
5 & 6 storey buildings
entertainment health home construction car accesories
multiple family buildings
Housing
single family buildings
Retail
printing works
The neighborhood is located in a highly connected place inside the city, the density and program has poorly developed due to the lack of strategic urban planning. The city has grown towards the north, south, east and west and has created an island that has its own spirit and program. The potential lies in its character and identity. People have remained in this area for years evolving into a multiperforming structure, without the urban facility to perform. Public space is inexistant and has been placed in the street with no infrastructure to develop.
Our proposal closes the low traffic street to generate a central promenade which communicates with existing peripheral streets through pedestrian crossings. This public space is contained by a series of buildings with public programs on the ground floor and housing on the upper levels. These housing units are modulated on the base of the existing grid. Green spaces are placed on the rooftops of all the built up and existing units.
existing roads
existing density
densifying the block
crossing streets & pedestrian public space
buildings worth keeping
plazas and inner streets
existing plot
grid based on existing plot
8
22
2.75
1
2.75
1
module of plot
size of module
extrusion of module
Density and public space comparison of typical Mexico City Housing Developments Surburban Row Housing
Existing Mexico City Regulation (Norma 26)
housing
617 dwellings
green housing green retail service
parking
7,725 m2
78 dwellings 632 m2 761 m2
57 m2
3,742 m2
2,500 m2
parking
Site Area 445,112 Constructed 274,837
Site Area 10,000 Constructed 41,660
Housing 210,292 Green 28,128 Retail 2,556 Service 33,861 Parking and Roads 166,522
Housing 33,935 Green 2,500 Retail ---Service ----Parking 7,725
Existing Colonia Obrera
Proposed Colonia Obrera
housing
484 dwellings
6,706 m
2
green
housing green retail service parking
185 dwellings 1,469 m2
2,253 m2 458 m2
1,010 m2
retail service
parking
Site Area 25,537 Constructed 40,804
Site Area 25,537 Constructed 92,967
Housing 27,832 Green 3,673 Retail 5,632 Service 1,145 Parking 2,526
Housing 48,844 Green 16,765 Retail 9,418 Service 6,749 Parking 11,191
3,767 m2 2,699 m2 4,476 m2
Program
Ground Floor
Third Floor
Roof Plan
Perspectival Section
Juan A. Mateos Facade
Interior Facade
Entrance from Eje Central
View of Inner Plaza
Apartment A 53 m² 2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms
10 x 2 modules
Apartment B 53 m² 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom
10 x 2 modules
Apartment C 54 m² 1 bedroom 1 bathroom
4 x 4 modules
Apartment D 77 m² 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
4 x 4 modules
S
B
B
S
B
B
S
B
B
S
B
B
View from Bridge
Aerial View
A neighborhood must combine all the functions of a city, including housing, commerce, urban fixtures, work and leisure spaces, urban infrastructures, and free spaces. Being able to work as a micro-city; capable of recycling its residues, to treat its water, to generate its energy, work and produce its own goods. The neighborhood is an artificial ecosystem that follows similar rules to those of the natural ecosystem. The higher the number of species with equality among them, the more consistent and balanced it will be. There are new family models replacing the traditional ones, like single people, immigrants, young students, single parent families, homosexual couples‌ We pretend to avoid the isolation of these people generating a virtual family without sanguineous ties, creating a network society where people in it can share their resources and activities to obtain less for more. The wealth of a neighborhood resides in the coexistence of social cultures, ages and economic levels.
We believe in the essence of “the barrio” (neighborhood) as the structure of our thought. We believe in architecture as a discipline capable of creating values in the way humans interact. We believe in social interaction, cohesion and sharing resources. We believe in accesibility with independence. We believe in sports, bycicles and outdoor living in an enclosed city space. We believe in privacy inside an artificial ecosystem which is the essence of a city. We believe in a programmatic hybrid, in space and in the capacity of an individual to take over it.
Credits Dellekamp Arquitectos & Gerardo Asali Derek Dellekamp Gerardo Asali Emilio Ades Dexter Ciprian Ignacio Mendez Pedro Sanchez Jachen Schleich Carlos Zimbron students: Nick Beckbissinger Adriana Chavez David Dana Liu Junze Pablo Lezama Anna Müller Jose Maria Palacios Ellen Schorn Christina Thanner Regine Wutz Carolin Zotz