DENI LOPEZ LOPEZ MDes Risk and Resilience + MAUD Design Portfolio (Selected Projects)
2012-2019
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CASA UNAM (TEAM MEXICO) SOLAR DECATHLON EUROPE: VERSAILLES, FRANCE
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, 2016 Academic Project
National Autonomous University of Mexico, 2014 Bachelor of Architecture Thesis
DESIGN PORTFOLIO
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TERRITORIES OF FLUX: RE-CONCEPTUALIZING WATER-BASED GROUNDS (MEXICO CITY)
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DENI LOPEZ LOPEZ
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, 2018 Urban Planning and Design Studio Project
INDEX
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GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT: MAKING ROOM FOR WOMEN IN URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN IN ARGENTINA
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ACADEMIC
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PLAZA PEDRO MORENO GUADALAJARA, MEXICO
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PAR LEXICON BICULTURAL EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR PARTICPATORY ACTION RESEARCH
DMP Arquitectura, 2012 Co-ARQ Open International Ideas Competition (1st Place)
PROFESSIONAL
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MIT CoLab, 2019
Product Design (w/ Betzabe Valdés)
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GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT: MAKING ROOM FOR WOMEN IN URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN IN ARGENTINA Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, 2018 Urban Planning and Design Studio Project
01 ACADEMIC
Advised by Chelina Odbert and Ignacio Cardona Project by by Dení López (MDes/MAUD ‘19) and Angeliki Giannisi (MArch I ‘20) www.gsd.harvard.edu/course/gendering-urban-development-making-room-for-women-in-urban-planning-and-design-in-argentina-fall-2018/
A GENDERED APPROACH TO URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND PREPAREDNESS
For us, gender is neither a binary concept nor a generalizable term; it is rather a powerful tool to recognize individual differences in relation to pre-existing social and cultural norms, While gender on its own might bring a set of conditions that enhance inequality, the reality is that combining it with others traits (such as economic status, age, immigration status, sexual orientation, race, family make-up, marital status, religion, etc) is what provokes subset vulnerabilities that we as designers and planners ought to understand before acting in specific communities. Distinguishing between any of the known gender identities is not enough, because people within those buckets are by no means the same nor do they have the same needs. If we begin by recognizing these differences, we can plan inclusively and consider the strengths within each subset group. Thus, we believe that the greatest benefit of approaching urban development through a gendered lens is that it helps to uncover the nuances of distinct vulnerable groups, allowing us to address needs in a contextualized way that enhances community relationships.
Develop initial awareness campaigns to showcase the concerns found during your base research.
Get feedback from the community through participatory research to complement the initial findings.
Plan interventions collaboratively through an iterative process between the municipality, experts, and community members.
Develop a phasing scheme that connects different government aid programs and prioritizes your initial findings and design interventions.
TARGET VULNERABLE GROUPS
OTHER MA FE
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FE M A L E
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OT H
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Build projects in the public realm (to set positive examples) with the help of specialists and community members.
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OT H
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FE E
F E M ALE
F E M ALE
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OT H
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MA
MA
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OTHER
OTHER
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MA
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Improve the private realm according to the needs of each community participant and with the help of specialists.
Incorporate your main findings in the early educational curriculum to promote environmentally-and-gender-aware urbanization.
FE
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E MA
Repeat this process as many times as necessary to improve the built environment and preserve knowledge throughout generations.
UPD STUDIO PROJECT
Create work teams for each phase of your intervention that considering the pre-established assets and needs of gender-specific groups.
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GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2018
This proposal exists at the intersection of understanding gender-specific differences and concerns and creating a safer city through collective action. In such a scenario, the fact that women stay more time at home, for example, would become an asset to work with because it could result in more time for them to be involved in working from their communities. Therefore, we propose a process of neighborhood improvement with specific steps, actions, and goals that relies on a governance strategy that understands urbanization as a continuous process in which participating communities may acquire useful skills, both for everyday practices and for moments of crisis. We aim to advocate for equality in everyday city-making practices that rely on collaborative action between municipalities and local communities to create resilient neighborhoods that build upon gender-specific differences and strengths.
Conduct extensive base research that specifically considers environmental risk conditions of the area.
GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT
This project imagines La Favorita, an informal settlement in Mendoza, Argentina, as a place that could perceive gender-specific differences as a set of strengths that are equally important for the improvement of the built environment and the creation of a cohesive community.
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PROJECT STEPS (PROCESS)
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ENVIRONMENTAL RISK AS A THREAD TO STRIVE FOR EQUITY
5
PROJECT GOALS
Developing gender-aware and participatory processes of urban production, management, and decision-making to equalize access to economic opportunity.
Rosa, a senior citizen of La Favorita, explained to us that there was a government program to help people improve the roofs of their houses because Mendoza is subject to recurrent gusts of warm and dusty wind known as vientos zonda. In her opinion, the program was a great asset insofar as you had the resources to build strong walls first, which she did not, making her prone to lose her roof several times a year. In this case, the disparity comes when women are not taught construction skills due to unspoken societal norms, even when they are the ones that stay at home most of the time and are, therefore, more likely to suffer the consequences of it being in a precarious state when a disaster strikes.
01
MENDOZA’S RECURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
Creating a neighborhood improvement strategy that can be continuously implemented to develop useful city-making and management skills throughout different generations.
* Original infographics by: Gustavo Guevar/LOS ANDES + Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Adapted by Dení López. 1
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Mudslides and floods are phenomena produced by the unevenness of the land and great torrential rains. La Favorita is particularly susceptible to these environmental threats because it is located on the westernmost part of Mendoza, Argentina (along the foothills of the Andes).
1. The west wind collides with the Andes and ascends. 2. The ascending wind expands, cools, and condenses, forming abundant cloudiness and precipitating as rain/snow. 3. Upon descent, the wind compresses and heats leaving almost no water vapor, so very little heat evaporates. * The wind temperature rises 1ºC every 100 m.
MUDSLIDES/FLOODS
WIND GUSTS
Mudslides deals with recurrent earthqualkes due to its proximity to a significant fault line. 1. Interplate fault (Nazca Plate/South American Plate) 2. Volcanism 3. Intraplate faults
EARTHQUAKES
Increasing the capacity of vulnerable gender-specific groups to respond to natural disasters within environmentally risk-prone communities.
03
UPD STUDIO PROJECT
Mendoza’s geographic location at the foothills of the Andes makes it is prone to earthquakes, warm wind gusts (vientos zonda), mudslides, and flash floods. Moreover, its desertic climate makes it susceptible to droughts. Yet, in the face of climate change, rains have increased in the past years and could continue to do so, worsening the effects of flash floods. Given that La Favorita exists at the edge of the city and has numerous houses built in precarious conditions, it is much more vulnerable to threats associated with its location in relation to the Andes. In general, slums are built in some of the most risk-prine lands of every city, and should, therefore, be studied in more depth.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2018
Yet, envisioning a proposal that stitched together the primary needs of each of our target groups under a single vision required a second layer, one that could allow everyone to participate in the process of urban upgrading and benefit from it. It is here that we focused on environmental risk management as a central concern. Nowadays, many disaster-prone cities like Mendoza face impending threats related to climate change, which creates a pressing need to incorporate awareness and build adaptation and response skills among citizens and local governments. Moreover, it has been proven that gender differences play a significant role when it comes to deaths by natural disasters, were women and children suffer the most due to a pre-existing inequalities.
GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT
After analyzing La Favorita through the prior lens and working with local women, we understood that focusing only on one demographic group was not going to address the core of the issue. For example, Patricia’s biggest worry (aside from economic stability) was to help her mother. Moreover, she worried about her children’s safety, as one of her young nieces was murdered on her way to school. When asked what she wanted for herself in the neighborhood, she was righteously skeptical, explaining that she did not have the mind space to worry about herself when she needed care for others. To us, this is the perfect example that suggests that we need to look beyond adult women to actually help them. This means that we will understand their issues and needs through their own point of view and help those that have direct effect on their lives. To improve Patricia’s life conditions we should perhaps work with children, elderly women, and even violence-prone young adults.
WORKING WITH EXISTING CONDITIONS AND PROGRAMS
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SPREAD OF ACTIONS IN LA FAVORITA: PUBLIC TO PRIVATE REALM
SKILLS EARNED: COMMERCIAL
SKILLS EARNED: MOBILITY
For our proposal, we devised a multi-step program for the municipality of Mendoza to hire locals through pre-existing aid programs (such as Hacemos Futuro and Ampliar o Mejorar tu Casa) to improve the public realm while developing skills that would then allow them to reinforce their own houses as part of the second stage of the process. In a program like this, Patricia would be part of a group of around 10 community members (mainly women) with temporary jobs to build Plaza Aliar, the pilot project, alongside one expert in construction, one in management, and one educator. This group would be complemented by one or two additional “phantom” members that do not have the physical capacity to work in construction (perhaps Patricia’s mom) but that could be able to take care of the participant’s children, prepare meals for the rest of the group, or even be a managerial assistant.
A MULTI-STEP INCLUSIVE PROCESS
SKILLS EARNED: WATER
SKILLS Recycling Construction Teamwork Emergency response Financial literacy Communication
SKILLS EARNED: OPEN SPACE
SKILLS EARNED: STREETS
AXONOMETRIC VIEW
NEIGHBORDHOOD PLAN: STRATEGIES
UPD STUDIO PROJECT
While hosting the group at her house, Patricia would not be offered a salary. Instead, she would have access to a microcredit through a program like Ampliar o Mejorar Tu Casa, which currently finances the connection to basic services, expansion, or improvement of homes. Her nine colleagues would then receive salaries through Hacemos Futuro. Upon finishing the work on her house, the group would then move on to the next one, and Patricia would regain the access to her salary. If successful, this scheme could not only work to improve La Favorita now but also continue to do so in the future. It would also create stronger social networks in the barrio, an essential feature when having to respond to an environmental crisis. Hacemos Futuro Plaza Aliar
Ampliar o Mejorar tu Casa Each home
Plaza
PHASING (around Plaza Aliar)
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02
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2018
In the first phase, the group would be hired by a program similar to Hacemos Futuro, which currently offers employment to community members to improve public spaces in their neighborhood with the condition that they continue their education. To complement Hacemos Futuro, we propose to select the people included in the process based on the nuanced study of their needs through a gendered lens to ensure that the work they will be a part of could provide them skills that would later be useful to improve their own houses, respond to disasters, or even manage a small business. The second stage of the process would consist of the same group of women and experts going to each of the participant’s houses (or the house of whomever the participants choose) to improve, reinforce, rebuild, or extend it. Said houses would include those of, for example, Patricia’s mom, who was also part of the group in the beginning.
Plaza
GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT
What if we envisioned a participatory process of neighborhood improvement focused on decreasing the likelihood of women to die during a natural disaster? What if that process could strengthen neighborhood ties and increase employment opportunities by allowing different demographic groups to collaborate according to their own strengths and needs? More importantly, what if that decision-making and management process was led by municipalities working with local women?
P1: Water P2: Open Space P3: Streetscape P4: Mobility P5: Commerce
AXONOMETRIC VIEW
NEIGHBORHOOD STRATEGIES
ho
me
After conducting participatory research in La Favorita, we designed six strategies that could be deployed through the logic of increasing construction and management skills for women to improve their everyday lives and provide them with tools to respond to an environmental crisis. All of our six items follow the same logic, and we coupled them to come up with three main moves.
MANAGEMENT: COMMERCIAL
city
TECHNICAL: CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE
wa te
rn etw
seating area
ork public space
SOCIAL: LEADERSHIP
Firstly, we propose to create a network of public spaces throughout the neighborhood (much like the one in Mendoza) by repurposing small waste spaces to act as recreational spots, rainwater collectors, and shelters in case of emergency. Through the implementation process, community participants would learn, for example, how to capture and reuse water. Moreover, upon completion of this step, La Favorita could function as a first retainer for water runoffs going down to Mendoza, allowing the neighborhood to work on behalf of the rest of the city.
PRIVATE REALM
MANAGEMENT: MAINTENANCE + EMERGENCY RESPONSE water catchment area / multipurpose field
WATER RETENTION
EVENT SPACE
SOCIAL: AWARENESS/ ART
MOBILITY AND TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
wall structure TECHNICAL: CONSTRUCTION
TECHNICAL: CONSTRUCTION
4m
roof structure wall structure
4m
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Lastly, we propose an overall improvement of key streets and incorporation of multi-functional commercial spaces. The key idea is to teach people management skills, allowing them not only to be a part of the creation of the neighborhood but also of its continued functioning. On the one hand, improving streets could provide an employment source, and on the other, it could also create more ways for people to evacuate the area in an environmental crisis. Moreover, the insertion of multi-functional sheds in the improved streets could activate the commercial scene by creating spaces for well-received informal markets.
MANAGEMENT: TRASH recycling
TECHNICAL: MATERIAL PROPERTIES seating area
PRIVATE REALM
DEPLOYED OPEN SPACE + MOBILITY STRATEGIES IN LA FAVORITA (SAMPLE SITE)
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2018
SPORTS FIELD
Secondly, we propose an improved mobility network that features complementary strategies such as the bicycles, but also refurbished transportation infrastructure. Bus stops, for example, are roughly the same size as some of the houses we saw in the most precarious conditions (like that of Patricia’s mom) and could be used to show people how to improve their own houses using simple materials and strategies to resist vientos zonda or even earthquakes.
GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT
OPEN SPACE AND WATER RETENTION
vegetation
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SIX ITEMS, THREE OVERALL MOVES
MANAGEMENT: MAINTENANCE + EMERGENCY RESPONSE
SOCIAL: CONNECTIVITY
water tank
SCHOOL
KIOSK
RECYCLING STATION
ENCLOSED SPACE
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STREETSCAPE AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY
TECHNICAL: MATERIAL PROPERTIES
COMMUNITY CENTER
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HEALTH CENTER
bike lane
ACEQUIA
Pab lo MANAGEMENT: ECONOMIC ACTIVITY temporary market
Ner
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BIKE LANE TECHNICAL: MATERIAL PROPERTIES sidewalk
PRIVATE REALM
BUS STOP + BIKE STATION VEGETATION
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TYPE 2
TYPE 3
AXONOMETRIC VIEW
UPD STUDIO PROJECT
bike station
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PLAZA ALIAR AS THE STARTING POINT
As shown in the piror diagrams, the idea behind our steps is to have community members be involved in the process of spatial production. The municipality would then work closely with specialists and locals, acting as the orchestrators.The diagrams show how to begin the intervention in phase 5, the proposed area to improve in La Favorita. They also explain that each of the intervention strategies eventually come together with the improvement of housing units to produce a stronger neighborhood. Upon completion, the idea would be to prepare the city to face cataclysms through the improvement of everyday activities.
ancing the amount of green and dry spaces, hopefully showing that designing an enjoyable public space design is not restricted to a single greening strategy.
Aside from the process, we also believe that design should play a key role in each intervention, given that every component we mentioned comes hand-in-hand with a physical intervention. The three interventions showcased on the prior diagrams correspond to valuable examples of the types of public spaces that could result upon completion of all the intervention phases throughout the neighborhood. The same logic applies to and conforms Plaza Aliar, which is the central spot that condenses all of our intervention strategies. Even though the logic behind the plaza is embedded within the overall neighborhood strategies, it could also work as a starting point in case the interventions in La Favorita began at a later stage. The design of the plaza is then a result of the same neighborhood intervention logic.
In sum, we subdivided the plaza in several areas, which we believe may help to break its humongous scale. The new design features a multi-purpose sports field that can also act as an open air auditorium and can collect rainwater; a series of structures that may host commercial spaces, be enclosed to act as exercise spaces, or act as shelter spaces in a crisis; a reading area in front of the existing library; a playground in front of the community center; and two transportation hubs for buses and bicycles. All of the spaces are meant to overlook the playground, allowing for parents to carry out their activities while keeping their little ones in sight.Overall, these components are meant to catalyze a bigger process at the neighborhood scale.
Aliar
Pacheco
Los Robles
Los Ceibos
Moreover, we heard numerous positive accounts regarding informal vending activities that happened in the plaza during the weekends, mainly ran by Bolivian immigrants. Therefore, we also provided a number of multi.purpose structures with the ability to host commercial activities, work as enclosed exercise spaces, and act as shelters if needed. Additionally, we incorporated several design strategies found in other plazas of Mendoza to further enhance the sense of belonging. For example, the fixed furniture elements incorporated throughout the design exist in other places of the city.
Los Paraisos
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2018
As part of the water infrastructure phase, we implemented an acequia that crosses the plaza diagonally, emphasizing the flow from the main bus station (at the south-east corner) o the the north-west street that connects the plaza to the elementary school. The new acequia would showcase how to collect and treat water to irrigate the adjacent wetland. Other spaces such as as the multi-purpose sports field also work within the water catchment logic due to its recessed nature. Moreover, the central location of the acequia is meant to give people from La Favorita more of a sense of belonging with the rest of Mendoza, where similar urban features create a sense of collective pride. It was really important for us to provide these small strategies to give references to Mendoza because we constantly heard that people in La Favorita wanted “the same vegetation as in the city”, which we do not think is the way to go given the environmental restrictions. Therefore, we carefully designed the plaza bal-
For the transportation and mobility network stage, the plaza would include the enhancement of the two existing hubs, located at both ends of the acequia corridor. Such hubs will provide wireless connectivity and host commercial kiosks, providing an extra set of eyes in the immediate environment for safety purposes. As we were told during our visit, Plaza Aliar is dangerous during the evenings, which is why we think activating it throughout the day is an essential feature.
GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT
PLAZA ALIAR AS THE STARTING POINT
Los Paraisos
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1. Multi-purpose field 2. Pop-up market 3. Transit station 4. Playground 5. Amphitheater 6. Shaded space 7. Seating space 8. Acequia 9. Wetland
Loas Almos
LEGEND
Los Ceibos
Aliar
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PLAZA ALIAR: PLAN
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PLAZA ALIAR: SECTION
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LEGEND 1: Soccer Field 2: Library 3: Bus Stop 4: Church 5: Ex-factory 6: Community C.
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PLAZA ALIAR: TODAY
UPD STUDIO PROJECT
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Los Paraisos
9 GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT
VIEW TOWARD EX-FACTORY
PLAZA ALIAR: TODAY
UPD STUDIO PROJECT
PLAZA ALIAR: TODAY
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2018
VIEW FROM PLAYGROUND
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MULTI-PURPOSE FIELD
SHADED SPACE ACEQUIA
WETLAND
BUS STOP AND BIKE STATION
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BIRDʼS-EYE VIEW
UPD STUDIO PROJECT
AMPHITHEATER
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2018
PLAYGROUND
GENDERING URBAN DEVELOPMENT
TEMPORARY MARKET
TERRITORIES OF FLUX
RE-CONCEPTUALIZING WATER-BASED GROUNDS (MEXICO CITY) Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, 2016 Academic Project
IMAGE BY: Tomás Filsinger
02 ACADEMIC
The Idea of Environment, Dilip Da Cunha Extract form collaborative project with Gloria Chang (MDes/MArch II ‘19) and Ruth Chang (MArch I ‘17) https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/project/territories-of-flux/
RE-CONCEPTUALIZING WATER-BASED GROUNDS: MEXICO CITY
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SECTION (1824)
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Almost 200 years passed until Tenochtitlan fell to the Spaniards, who demolished its resilient infrastructure to show ultimate power and control. The geographical-historical strength of the city’s location discouraged new settlers from moving elsewhere, which jumpstarted a chain of unsustainable urbanization patterns. A persistent but ill-informed new population struggled to coexist with an aqueous surrounding, as they disregarded all traditional knowledge. As time went by, floods became a recurring event in the ever-expanding city, which eventually led to Lake Texcoco’s slow but persistent artificial drainage. Nowadays, a megacity exists atop the former lake, and the negative consequences of the prior process force us to re-assess the way in which swift urbanization develops. ZONE 3 2
PLAN
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SEISMIC BEHAVIOR Soil properties vary within Mexico City because of its aqueous past Three soil types impact how the city responds to frequent earthquakes. ZMVM CDMX
CDMX ZMVM
ACADEMIC PROJECT
nsion e exte l lak
Urb a
The division of salt and freshwater happened through a series of carefully created dikes and canals, which functioned with the dry and rainy seasons. Overall, a respectful relationship with nature was the foundation of a civilization that had Tenochtitlan, the “Venice of the New World”, as its capital. Water was far from eliciting difficulties, contrary to what happens in the city nowadays. A richer wetness allowed a population of almost 20,000 people to overcome the apparent limits undertaken in the creation of a floating city. As is evident, this thorough understanding of natural resources came to an end, but the current morphology of the city still has a very close relationship to its history, even in the apparent absence of the lake.
2500 m
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Traditional history mentions that the Aztecs wandered a hundred years until they found the sign of the gods to establish their city. Said site, the Valley of Mexico, witnessed the rise of a floating imperial capital with a deep understanding of natural resources and cycles. As opposed to the vision of conquering what used to be seven lakes that often merged, theological reasons forced their civilization to develop a fruitful bond with is hydrological surroundings. As a basis for the economy of this pre-Hispanic settlement, agriculture flourished through a system of floating parcels of fertile arable land, Chinampas, that were tied to the bottom of the lake with posts. Furthermore, human settlements established on an artificially-created islet within Lake Texcoco, the lowest of the seven bodies of water.
1824
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2016
In an argument of language, power, and politics, land became a commodity that forced the drainage and displacement of water in a place that continuously remembers of its aqueous origin. The enormous effort to conquer a lake without a thorough understanding of its behavior, morphed a city in which water shortages and floods are a common occurrence. A very dense built environment still misunderstands a resource that has always been present, breaking environmental boundaries in the act of settlement that refuses to cease. But, what happens when we reinterpret the city’s history and understand it through the lens of its watery origin? Does this serve the purpose of further informing our choices in the intention to prevent an imminent urban collapse?
SECTION (1521)
TERRITORIES OF FLUX
A particular mindset is required to descry land within vast amounts of water. However, this was the starting point for numerous settlements, allowing us to script history from a sedentary human perspective. This project aims to re-assess a water-based city’s past by understanding how its complex development puts together pieces of a puzzle that may further inform future actions. Mexico City’s rapid urbanization patterns took over water swiftly, leaving behind a place that currently faces a widerange of consequences. A historical understanding of natural resources gave away to an ever-expanding built environment that fails to comprehend that recovering its wetness is the essence of fighting upcoming challenges.
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Heavy rains only take the form of floods, given that the infrastructure is insufficient, there is little vacant land for water reinsertion to the ground, and water recycling does not happen. In a city built atop a lake, potable water is all but a granted resource. Furthering the nonsensical, a sophisticated infrastructure network brings almost 30% of the city’s water from a dam located 120 kilometers away. Constant earthquakes damage underground pipes, and 40% of that incoming water is lost on its way to the city. As the city center consumes the available resources, the outskirts lack them all, underlining a socioeconomic distribution that reinforces inequality. To boot, a far more complex and costly drainage system transports utterly contaminated water to neighboring agricultural towns who, in return, send back vegetables grown with that water. As a public health and sanitation hazard, this behavior has may have a significant impact on the population’s health. Urban planning practitioners and local governments fail to understand all these consequences as a package. No consistent link to the former presence of water may be found in the study of the city, even though understanding its behavior could be a great asset. Speculation about the future is in great need of thoroughly studying the past, so what is next? A new kind of urban practice ought to emerge by encouraging a broader conversation across scales and disciplines. Planning and design should be incorporated holistically into the conception of a country that is in great need of a carefully studied development plan. The clue is to understand where it all began.
This reflection about Mexico City is part of a collaborative effort to addresses the material transformation and flux of our built world, as well as how they reconstruct the concept of land and water in human settlements and urbanization. In “Re-Conceptualizing Water-Based Grounds” we studied the plots of Mexico City and Toledo, Ohio, as both their city and region are the result of the vivid and insistent cultural imaginations of its conquerors and inhabitants as they separated water from the land. The overall project questions the predominance of land over water in telling the story of a place, tracing the process and ultimate crisis by which settlement has drawn boundaries, distinguished, channelized, and extracted water apart from the idea of ‘wetness’ in the landscape as a resource.
REFERENCES Aguilar, E, J Aparicio J, A Gutiérrez. “Sistema de Drenaje Principal de La Ciudad de México.” Gaceta del IMTA, 2007. Bermeo, Ariadna. “Alerta Mandatario Hace Dos Meses En Riesgo de Inundaciones En El Valle de México.” Reforma, 2007, sec. Ciudad. Cartwright, Mark. “Texcoco.” In Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encylopedia, 2013. De la Maza, Francisco. “Enrico Martínez y El Desagüe Del Valle de México.” In Enrico Martínez; Cosmógrafo e Impresor de Nueva España. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1991. Hernández, Ricardo. “Evolución Histórica Del Lago de Texcoco.” ArcGIS, n.d. http://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=ebcc98ca1ae6428b8ff04159605855b5. Salcedo, A, S Smith, M Ulmanu, and P Gutiérrez. “Mexico City’s Water Crisis: From Source to Sewer.” The Guardian, 2015. Secretaría de Obras y Servicios. “Memoria de Las Obras Del Sistema de Drenaje Profundo Del Distrito Federal.” Secretaría de Obras y Servicios, Departamento del Distrito Federal, 1975. “Sistema de Aguas de La Ciudad de Mexico. El Gran Reto Del Agua En La Ciudad de México - Pasado, Presente y Prospectivas de Solución Para Una de Las Ciudades Más Complejas Del Mundo,” 2012. 9. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Lake Texcoco.” In Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., December 18, 2017.
ACADEMIC PROJECT
However, sinking is only one of the contemporary problems. The overpopulated city extracts more water from the underground than the amount it puts back in. This leads, for example, to soil liquefaction, a phenomenon that has cost thousands of lives due to the city’s seismic behavior. Soil liquefaction leads to a struggle between old and new construction typologies, which coexist in a risky environment. Moreover, the former morphology of the lake translates almost precisely to the different soil properties of Mexico City, a condition that many take for granted. Three soil types (damp soil, transition soil, and rocky soil) determine how the city responds to recurrent earthquakes. Persistent efforts to build in a place that keeps separating water and land have proven to have grave consequences. As great efforts occur to keep the city’s center from yielding to contemporary pressures, the rest of the metropolis also struggles. The investment of human resources and infrastructure concentrates downtown, so social boundaries may also be tied to the city’s past. Political priorities unconsciously formed through a lack of sensitivity towards the water. Overcrowding is especially relevant in the outskirts of the town, a place where resources and infrastructure are scarce to feed the starving center. People not only tend to live in precarious conditions in these areas but also suffer from a significant deprivation of the one resource that has been ever-present: water.
Images by: Gloria Chang
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2016
Mexico’s contemporary existence is far from an egalitarian society. But how does this urban and social crisis relate to its aqueous past? To understand this, we need to look at the city through another lens: the lens of the water. Even when the first seven lakes have all but disappeared, the city’s form and physical properties were determined years in advance of the metropolis that we know today. From a lack of potable water to the effects of soil liquefaction, Mexico City’s morphology came to be through a series of limitations that many people no longer comprehend. To explain the story, one needs to look closer to the city’s downtown area. Buildings with a remarkable European character form a vibrant borough that thrives through both its formal and informal commerce. While there is no trace of water in the area, this district is built precisely in the same place as the former Aztec capital. The buildings exist on top of pyramids, which can only be seen if one is lucky enough to have the opportunity to explore, for example, the foundations of the cathedral. A sea of stone, concrete, and people make it difficult for one to understand that a vast lake used to exist in that same space. Unsurprisingly, several buildings are now sinking.
TERRITORIES OF FLUX
Nowadays, Mexico City faces an imminent crisis regarding the unregulated expansion of the built environment. With a population of over 21 million, it should least refrain from growing in the way it has during the last decades. Poverty, violence, and a lack of education make it a place with recurrent power and/or water shortages, unemployment, exhausting traffic jams, and other complications. Collective growth is not part of daily acts, as individual welfare overshadows the necessity of planning for significant complications.Moreover, no identifiable groups are making comprehensive policies to prevent this imminent urban collapse. Urbanization guidelines focus merely on providing citizens with flexible construction rules, resulting in a chaotic, and seemingly unstoppable, urban sprawl crisis. A peak in tourism, population displacement, and real estate development combine to promote growth that takes little or no regard of the preservation of a vibrant heritage and environment. In addition to this, self-construction accounts for almost 70% of Mexico City’s housing edifications, since most families approach housing as a phased plan with no regard for urban well-being. The city and its inhabitants live from paycheck to paycheck.
1250 BC 800 BC 30 AD 150
1250 BC - 30 AD 450
30 - 700
600 800
700 - 1300
1381
1300 - 1500
1499 1521 1555 1564 1579 1604-07 1629 1637 1650
1500s 1600s
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, 2016
ACADEMIC PROJECT
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1900s
CONSEQUENCES
MATERIALITY PLAN
2000s
HYDROLOGICAL SECTION
6
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4
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-1
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“When a tormenta sweeps Mexico City, the rain does not just fall, it insists. The floods are a reminder of the natural order of things: water belongs here.” Mexico City’s Water Crisis: From Source to Sewer. The Guardian, 2015
TERRITORIES OF FLUX
URBANIZATION TIMELINE 1325
14
CASA UNAM (TEAM MEXICO) SOLAR DECATHLON EUROPE: VERSAILLES, FRANCE
National Autonomous University of Mexico, 2014 Bachelor of Architecture Thesis
PHOTO BY: Pablo Lรณpez Luz
03 ACADEMIC
Architectural Design Coordinator + Contest Captain [Competition Manager] arquitectura.unam.mx/casa.html
HOW CAN WE HELP INHABITANTS THAT ARE LIVING AT THE EDGE OF COLLAPSE?
1
C
2
16
M
CASA UNAM (TEAM MEX)
By outlining an urban strategy to implement our prototype. Welcome to Mexico City.
Within the established polygon, we traced the areas (according to GIS data) that the CASA system would most immediately and effectively benefit, and which presented the following specific spatial and technological needs: 1) Cyan / Water Shortage; 2) Magenta / Overcrowding; 3) Yellow / Lack of Home Appliances. DF
This constitutes our CMYK graphic method. Water shortage
Our study rendered potential areas within the ZMVM, each of them with different urban and typological characteristics. The final location of our case study resulted from a thorough analysis of thirteen possible locations. Hence, in order to contextualize our project in a problematic environment where we could face a harsh but true reality, we chose the most adequate possible area for implementation: the borough of Iztapalapa.
HOW CAN PEOPLE BE CLOSER TO PLACES THEY GO TO ON A DAILY BASIS?
3
DF ZMVM
Overcrowding
Water shortage
Overcrowding
Y
CMYK
ZMVM
Just think about it: what would you do with one additional fifth of your revenue and three extra hours a day?
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE THESIS
By thinking of mobility, affordability, and density simultaneously, we could stop horizontal urban sprawl and solve the housing stock market problem. That is why our purpose is to re-densify the city by using wounded or sub-utilized places, such as rooftops, spaces between constructions or partition walls, as well as other residual areas.
TRANSPORTATION TIME GRAPH 0 - 30 mins 31 - 60 mins 61 - 90 mins
21 MILLION
DAILY TRIPS
OUTSKIRTS-DOWNTOWN
91 - 120 mins > 120 mins
1
CASE STUDY IZTAPALAPA
1/5 of income
for transportation
2020 Public Transportation Horizon
DF COST OF LAND
DF Lack of home appliances
ZMVM
Ultimate Force for Urban Sprawl
NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO, 2014
Given the increasing degree of complexity of the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (ZMVM in Spanish), we developed a rigorous method to identify, evaluate, and determine the areas which would be most challenging and which badly need a housing solution with the characteristics of our house. First, we defined the future limits of urbanization in the Basin of Mexico, identifying where the urban area of Mexico City finishes and where its extension begins. After consulting the planned 2020 public transportation infrastructure horizon, we obtained a reliable polygon that defines the limits of our area of study in order to ensure transit-oriented developments where the inhabitants of the CASA system may live within a maximum radius of one and a half kilometers from a public transportation system. This allows fossil-fuel free transportation (such as walking or riding a bicycle) for the last segment of their way home.
Lack of home appliances
DF ZMVM
ZMVM
CASE STUDY IZTAPALAPA
HOW CAN AN URBAN HOUSING STRATEGY BE DESIGNED WHEN THERE ARE 5 MILLION ABANDONED HOUSES?
17
Existing Residual Infrastructure Space
CASA UNAM (TEAM MEX)
Our model aims at inserting the CASA system into the “grey area”, defined by the two main forces which drive the housing segment: commercial production, and social production. We believe that an option for micro densification could be inserted in a market that housing producers have consistently avoided. true reality, we chose the most adequate possible area for implementation: the borough of Iztapalapa.
Individual Activities
MACRO-HOUSING MODEL POLICIES VS MICRO-COLLECTIVE EMPOWERMENT
The CASA system would offer alternatives for people to buy and build their own houses in legal areas and within the city — even if it were little by little—, to improve their mobility conditions and to help them acquire credits and subsidies for the house, land, and urban resource supply services. Our system can work to trigger individual and micro-collective actions that would eventually interconnect and weave a more complex and efficient social-spatial network and structure in social and anthropological terms. This new way of living preserves social relationships, community patterns, and promotes cooperation without losing privacy. However, this logic does not admit old energy and consumption habits. Innovation can only proliferate through continuous memory and at a multi-level strategy to generate new cycles in sustainability terms. It is in the link between retro and meta where the system aims to build a new structure within the existent one, without incurring in urbanization costs in the regional budget. We want to assume diverse realities in order to react symbiotically towards them, by contributing to regenerate the urban fabric and local micro-economies.
EXISTING CONTEXT
RESOURCES RESOURCES
“In the housing sector, everything can be progressive, except location.” - E. Soto YEAR 1
1-5 YEARS
5-10 YEARS
10-15 YEARS
YEAR 15
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE THESIS
YEAR 0
2,000,000 KM2 TOTAL SURFACE
ZMVM
650,000–750,000km2 HOUSING 0.5 %
70% 30% INFORMAL FORMAL
67% Informal Housing / Self-built
33% Regulated Construction
SELF-CONSTRUCTION: PROGRESSIVE GROWTH HOUSING: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REPRODUCTION MEAN
NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO, 2014
A multi-level strategy: mutualism and symbiosis within the existing urban context. National policies of urban development and investment for housing have focused on macro-developments outside the city, where there are approximately 5 million abandoned houses (INFONAVIT).
GRID INTERCONNECTION SYSTEM
MUTUALISM SYMBIOTIC
18 CASA UNAM (TEAM MEX)
Community Laundry Common Areas
NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO, 2014
Community Gardens/ Wetlands
Community Workshops
SHARED SPACES WITHIN THE BLOCK RAINWATER + SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTION PROPOSED WETLANDS SDE 2014 PROTOTYPE LEGEND
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE THESIS
INCREMENTAL HOUSING UNIT (UHVG SAMPLE BLOCK)
HOW CAN YOU MAKE YOUR NEIGHBORS WORK WITH YOU?
CASA UNAM (TEAM MEX)
Imagine that you live on an island-system city, surrounded by fresh and salt water.
19
UHVG IZTAPALAPA HOUSING UNIT / MEXICO CITY
Imagine a megalopolis of 21 million inhabitants built over said enormous lake. Imagine that you share your water intake with two neighboring houses. Imagine that you only have water once or twice a week.
NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO, 2014
Imagine that the water tab lies in your neighbor’s courtyard who, unfortunately, happens to dislike you. Then, besides the reality of lack of water, you would be even more vulnerable and have no water since he could simply choose not to share it with you. We strongly believe that by reinforcing the link between immediate neighbors, in a symbiotic way, we can achieve a communal benefit energy-wise. On the other hand, social and economical activities may be triggered by simple tasks such as rooftop farming or rainwater collection. Associating with your neighbors might be the cleverest solution to become resilient in an ever-changing environment that is heading towards even more lack of resources and economic crises. Reinforcing micro- collective decisions and shared goods might lead to a rhizomatic micro-urbanism that will unleash a series of enormous positive impact on the megalopolis, and simultaneously, identical individual benefits. In this way, if there is mutualism between neighboring citizens, the impact of urban development can be rapidly restructured at a feasible one-to-one impact radius to unchain a wider transformation at an urban scale.
UHVG IZTAPALAPA, OUR CASE STUDY SITE “Why don’t we build a cistern to collect rainwater? [We could use it] to water the trees or in the bathroom, to clean, or for whatever we need.” “Having a sustainable house is worth it and can be done.” SDE SOLAR ENVELOPE
INTRAURBAN:
REGENERATIVE:
Densifying the built environment, diminishing the cost of land, and reducing the distance between people-activities.
Transforming its implementation site into a healthy, diverse, and abundant place towards a greater expression of life.
SYMBIOTIC:
RESILIENT:
Establishing relationships of mutual benefit and dependence.
Acquiring a growing capacity to surpass situations without permanent rupture.
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE THESIS
“It is urgent to fix the infrastructure so we can always have power at home. But the problem is that we are talking about 10,000 houses only in this housing unit. It is evident that the government will not do anything about this, because it involves costs, materials, and manpower.”
Social Space
17
Private Space
16 Entrance 2
14
Technical Room
Hydraulic Tower
Social houses in Mexico have been built based on a typology that has been repeated thousands of times, and are conceived in square meters rather than cubic meters. Since Mexican society is very diverse, creating the same house for everybody is counterproductive for urban planning. This social reality transforms housing physical forms and thus creates rooftop polygons that are always irregular and unique. CASA must approach sustainable architecture to the urban population, adapting itself to all the necessary contextual conditions.
SDE CASA UNAM PAVILION
15 14
12 11
9
10 9 C 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
19
3
REQUIRED HOUSING MODEL
CURRENT HOUSING MODEL
18
CASA is not a house, even though it is the word in Spanish for house. It is a symbiotic and regenerative system; a change of paradigm and a return to Mexican spatial tradition. CASA is a lightweight system that allows its users to conďŹ gure dierent spatial typologies according to speciďŹ c needs. This prototype was designed for two dierent houses in three dierent rooftops obtained from our case study, and adapted to the Solar Decathlon Europe’s competition requirements.
21 1 2 3
23 24
THESE COMPONENTS FORM OUR TOOLBOX; CASA’s POSSIBLE CONFIGURATIONS ARE PRACTICALLY UNLIMITED WITH THEM
4+ J K L
F G
HYDRAULIC TOWER
FLOORING
A B C D E F G H I J K L 1 2 3 4 5 6
Cumaru wooden flooring 15 mm plywood Mineral whool insulation Pine wood structural frame 15 mm plywood Shade cloth Glazed flat-plate solar collector Vegetation Bike water pump Galvanized steel modular structure Non-heated water tank (450 L) Thermo-tank PVC double-glazed window frame Galvanized steel frame structure Sub-superficial wetlands Flooring Goliath extensible table Modular wall-deployed furnishings
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
2x layered plaster & fiberglass wall Waterproof plaster panel wall Ceiling (B + C + D + E) Rainwater-gathering sloped textile Tubular steel column High performance textiles Rainwater collection textile High performance textile Textile roll & structure Alluminum structure Polychrystaline silicon solar panels Ventilated terracota VV Upwind steel cable Irving grating (steel) Electrical equipment Waste water tank Gray and treated water tanks Hydraulic tower
FACING OPENINGS
SOUTHERN PORCH
CROSSED VENTILATION
SPATIAL GRADIENT
Our prototype is an enclosure, an introspective net of multilayered mutable areas where functions and spaces overlap. This adaptable housing system was achieved through a modularity that can adapt to dierent topographies and rooftop footprints. Flexible spaces, volumes opening towards interior terraces and vegetated patios, reconďŹ gurable furnishings, and an ever-changing adaptable textile envelope are the key concepts to achieve dierent spatial conďŹ gurations. All of this, in addition to the modularity of every component and the exible spaces, make CASA’s architecture truly symbiotic.
A A
ROOM 2: SOCIAL SPACE
B B
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE THESIS
22
NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO, 2014
13
CASA UNAM (TEAM MEX)
Community Space
20
SOCIAL HOUSING: A CHANGE OF PARADIGMS
21 CASA UNAM (TEAM MEX) NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO, 2014
TRADITIONAL MEXICAN
WATER
Concrete Cement Aluminum Plywood Steel Glass Brick Incandescent lighting 284,148.45 kg CO2
No energy production
Steel PVC Textiles Thermal glass No heavy metals Wood Plywood LED lighting 99,442.01 kg CO2 67% reduction Produces 7,502.24 kWh/year
Uses 4,157 kWh/year: 2,397 kWh/year + 1,760 kWh/year (128 kg gas)
Uses 4,922 kWh/year
946 lt. per day, 4 people (no water recovery)
530 lt. per day, 4 people (+ water recovery) 56% reduction
EMISSIONS NO ENERGY PRODUCTION RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION WATER RECOVERY
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE THESIS
ENERGY
EMISSIONS
MATERIALS
HOUSE
(and no gas)
EMISSIONS ENERGY PRODUCTION RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION WATER RECOVERY
The CASA system for incremental housing alllows for multiple conямБgurations to reuse waste spaces. Moreover, its design components allow for the unit to adapt to various uses and changing climatic conditions.
22 CASA UNAM (TEAM MEX) NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO, 2014 BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE THESIS
To show the ease in the implementation of the construction system, the CASA UNAM student group assembled the whole prototype during the ďŹ rst two weeks of the competition in Versailles, France. Photo by Solar Decathlon Europe 2014
23 CASA UNAM (TEAM MEX) NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO, 2014 BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE THESIS
The prototype is now part of a long-term exhibition in UNIVERSUM, one of Mexicoʼs most important science museums, and it is used to raise awareness regarding sustainable incremental housing. Photo by Solar Decathlon Europe 2014
PLAZA PEDRO MORENO GUADALAJARA, MEXICO
DMP Arquitectura, 2012 Co-ARQ Open International Ideas Competition (1st Place)
04
PROFESSIONAL
Architectural Design and Graphics Production, Summer Internship In collaboration with Angel Badillo, Carlos DÃaz San Pedro, Mauricio Morales, Santiago Mota, and Jonatan Paredes https://www.dmp.com.mx/info.php?p=57
FACADE DETAIL
RESIDENTIAL FLOOR
PEDRO MORENO BUILDING Dining Room
Steel Frame
Living Room
Concrete Slab
Kitchen
Concrete Beam
TV Room
Ceiling
Bathroom
Glazing Panel Wooden Panel
The apartment building is incorporated into the plot in an elevated position on top of several concrete brackets that make up all the spaces, freeing the ground floor and semi- public space. The main access is generated in a mezzanine, allowing users to interact with the lower levels within their own perspective. Each floor plan is organized around central service cores, which allow great spatial flexibility inside each of the apartments. The building’s envelope is generated by a ventilated facade made up of quarry lattices, and is based on the same concepts as the pedestrian corridor: the use of regional materials and the effects of solar incidence.
Main Bathroom Bedroom Main Bedroom
Glazing/Wooden Panels
Furnishing Proposal
PARKING LOT ACCESS POINTS
Facilities Core
Structural Core
UNDERGROUND AUTOMATED PARKING LOT Semi-Public Plaza
We implemented an automated “crane” system between the streets of Escorza and Marcos Castellanos. Two cranes on rails optimize the system’s operation by moving vehicles horizontally and vertically and placing them on a three-level substructure. This system allows us to obtain 432 parking places in three underground levels (only 2000 sq. m.), reaching an astonishing efficiency rate of 14.5 sq. m. / parking space
PROTECTED BUILDINGS We identified and categorized existing buildings to protect constructions of high architectural and urban value. Solar Impact
Application
Pavements Staircase Car Access Protected Buildings Automated Parking Pedro Moreno Building Car Route Car Exit
NEW DENSITIES The remaining properties are densified to the maximum allowed by the Urban Development Plan, which allows us to consider the future transformation of the corridor.
ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING A well-lit street is a safe street. The nocturnal vault of the corridor is illuminated by elegant lines of highly-efficient optic fiber that provide the necessary illumination without resorting to posts and reducing energy consumption considerably. Light accents also exist on key points such as intersections and parking entrances.
PAVEMENT DETAIL Solar incidence provides the tectonics of the quarry in an intangible way. Pavement modules densify or disappear according to the solar impact analysis, generating different conditions for pedestrians, drivers, and other users. In areas of lower solar incidence and higher projected shadows, the pavement is consolidated in order to generate a “hard” surface where pedestrians can move in conditions of optimum comfort. The pavement disappears as vegetation grows on a grid-based, highstrength polymer structure, enabling vehicular transit without damaging the flora in areas of greater solar incidence.
Pavement Module Polymer Structure Fertile Soil Geotextile Filter Gravel Geomembrane Waterproof Seal Concrete Slab Pipelines Concrete Ribs Compression Layer
PAVEMENT TEXTURE After determining the mass of the new built environment, we obtained solar incidence levels on the surface of the semi-pedestrian corridor in order to generate and locate the quarry pavement modules. The resulting texture encourages comfortable pedestrian shadows, as well as vegetation with abundant sunlight. Local quarry, present in the built legacy of downtown Guadalajara and the Plaza Tapatia, is the fundamental material component of this proposal.
URBAN CORRIDOR + RESIDENTIAL BUILDING
CO-ARQ OPEN INTERNATIONAL IDEAS COMPETITION (1ST PLACE)
Two access points are located at each end of the corridor. Both of them have entrance and exit ramps, vehicular drop-off areas, and public service cores (bathrooms, lockers, security checkpoints, etc.). Two glass pavilions, located on the streets of Escorza and Marcos Castellanos, indicate pedestrian access points that help to completely free the Pedro Moreno corridor.
DMP ARQUITECTURA, 2012
Quarry Lattice
PLAZA PEDRO MORENO
Quarry Lattice
25
26 PLAZA PEDRO MORENO
MEZZANINE
APARTMENTS
ROOF GARDEN
SECTION
FACADE
DMP ARQUITECTURA, 2012
GROUND FLOOR
CO-ARQ OPEN INTERNATIONAL IDEAS COMPETITION (1ST PLACE)
PEDRO MORENO BUILDING
The building’s envelope is generated by a ventilated facade made up of quarry lattices, and is based on the same concepts as the pedestrian corridor: the use of regional materials and the effects of solar incidence.
27 PLAZA PEDRO MORENO DMP ARQUITECTURA, 2012 CO-ARQ OPEN INTERNATIONAL IDEAS COMPETITION (1ST PLACE)
EXTERIOR VIEW
Local quarry, present in the built legacy of downtown Guadalajara and the Plaza Tapatia, is the fundamental material component of this proposal.
PAR LEXICON
BICULTURAL EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH MIT CoLab, 2019 Product Design (w/ Betzabe Valdés)
05
PROFESSIONAL
Participatory Action Research (PAR) 1, Dayna Cunningham + Katrin Kaeufer In collaboration with Andrea Grimaldi, Chelsea Hodgkins, Tanvi Sharma, and Samantha Saona https://www.colab.mit.edu/
29 PAR LEXICON MIT COLAB, 2019 PRODUCT DESIGN
EMBRACING OTHER WAYS OF KNOWING The goal of this “other ways of knowing� is to raise awareness regarding the meaning and use of popular terms in Participatory Action Research projects. As a follow-up product based on the final project for MIT course 1.236, Participatory Action Research I, this memory card game aims to introduce English and Spanish speaking audiences to collaborative community engagement processes. The goal of the game is to collect the most pairs of cards, which consist of an English definition, a Spanish definition, and an image of relevant terms for community engagement. Furthermore, all background images come from murals found mostly in Latin America, allowing the game to be grounded in a real-life context.
DENI LOPEZ LOPEZ MDes Risk and Resilience + MAUD Design Portfolio (Selected Projects)
2012-2019