URBAN ENCLAVE: SERIES 1

The first in a series, this proposal offers a new method of development for Monterrey, Mexico that challenges the current Tabula Rasa typology of creating public space. Rather than demolishing city blocks, the compound is carefully inserted within the existing city fabric in order to take advantage of abandoned and underutilized land.

        At its core, the goal of this mixed-use development is to foster a greater sense of place and communal pride by crafting a new neighborhood hearth. Conceptually, the project is driven by the recognition that urban centers are becoming increasingly populated and heterogeneous. Consequently, community-gathering spaces that promote diverse exchange are increasingly important.  In response to the desire to create an innovative and hybridized space, there is a formal and intentional overlapping of public and private realms; of interior and exterior domains that blur spatial divisions in favor of a collective mindset. This project was a partner project with Shani Saul which was completed during our last semester at the University of Texas at Austin.