about

Mexico City beyond limits. 16-24 March 2019

A megapolis with a population of 21 million people is so exciting and yet so terrifying to meet.

The capital of three cultures, the beauty of which lies in its scale, chaotic quality and vast distance, clearly cannot be learned in one week. Is it reasonable to fly 15 hours for such a short time? Wouldn’t it be better to limit the interest to a particular topic or a specific architect whose buildings will be a priority for visiting? How to get through such an unknown large-scale territory and be sure not to miss anything worth seeing?

This seminar week is organised with the belief that digital infrastructure has changed our ability to learn and navigate a city. We cannot get lost anymore in an unknown city when using Google maps. We don’t need a museum guide because Wikipedia can tell us the story of any museum artefact. On Uber the local driver and you, both will know the best route to avoid traffic, and you can discuss it with the help of a translation app, no problem. Navigation has become easy, but the world is still complex and diverse. The real mastership is to navigate through the information according to your own personal interest and to build your own story. Mexico City is a perfect playground to check if we, a group of 25 architects, are able to move through the city, stay constantly connected and informed, exchange information, and build our personal 25 semantic images of the city. By accepting the given generic knowledge, we can focus on personal stories, meeting local professionals, students, visit prominent offices, and go to the backstage that is hardly accessible for the tourists. We are also planning a day trip to the rural area, to see the beauty and complexity of Mexico City from the side.