Brick Mountain

In Collaboration With Ka Leung Wilson Chan

Instructor: Maxi Spina

The second studio of the third year introduces students to the comprehensive design and development of a large scale, building on an urban site. Advancing on the pedagogy established in previous studios (AMIGAA: Architecture as Mass, Interiority, Ground, Aperture and Articulation), this studio focuses on the design,development, and tectonic logic of the building envelope and its ability to articulate contemporary formal organizations. Assemblage versus monolithic form, surface versus mass, iconicity and image, the intentional obscuring of hierarchical mass, layered, and graphic assemblies, tectonics and materiality,constitute a range of concerns in the design work. Beyond design competence, students are expected to articulate and argue for conceptual and disciplinary positions in relation to issues of AMIGAA in anticipation of more advanced work in vertical and thesis studios. The 3B studio will work on the problem of urban contingency. The project sites are located in the Historic Center of Mexico City. Vast and Complex, the larger metropolis has evolved historically to produce sites adventurous, often at the same time. In the end, the studio seek to transform a situation by fully embracing both what is there and what it might become. It is incumbent on each team to engage the city; on what fronts and to what degree is a question.