Unbuilt Work

LIFE SPACE-SOS Children’s Village, Mexico City, D.F.

Concept:
From the beginning it was noted that food plays an important role in the Mexican culture.  Traditionally the afternoon meal time seats the most important social gathering throughout an entire day.  This social convention became my guiding design concept for reorganizing the SOS Children’s Village.

Strategy:
This strategy responds to its’ prime location and relationship to surrounding neighborhood form.  This site is backed by Mount Tepeyac and then surrounded by thick mixed-use blocks on all other sides.  Additional neighborhood features include proximity to the Basilica Guadalupe, Parque Mestizaje sits across the main road where the defunct aquaduct runs parallel

3-Stranded approach to site intervention, including public and private space:

1. Press
   a. Buildings built into mountainside
   -harnassed by communal kitchen terraces
2. Interwoven
   a. Interior circulation delineates family private and village public space.
   b. Kitchens and dining areas are level and facing outward.
   c. Pocket parks break monotony of building block while showcasing interior activities.
3. Folding Commerce
   a. Exterior circulation connects to surrounding mixed-use neighborhood by design and program.
   -broken façade
   -variation in building mass, height, and material
   -folding sidewalk market
   -work-live commerce