Two Interconnected Ecologies in Mexico City: Modernist social housing projects and villages in the valley

In this third lecture, Mexican architect and urbanist Pablo Lazo presented his ongoing research of Mexico City exploring the last two of the four key ecologies that have defined the urban evolution of Mexico City during the 20^th century.

In no other country outside of Europe did modern architecture have as strong an impact on social housing projects as it did in Mexico. The social housing program built over 25 large scale urban projects that contributed to shape Mexico City’s urban fabric between 1940 and 1955. The research argues that in addition to the architecture, this initiative also gives shape to a way of living – or lifestyle–, that is now the only possible alternative the city has in order to address the social housing shortage. The lecture presented the key findings of this lifestyle called “multifamiliaridad” and will argue the prospective value of building new social housing within Mexico City’s central area.

The urban fabric of the city can be analyzed through a system of interconnected villages. The lecture will present the last of the 4 metropolitan ecologies in which these small old trading villages became the nodes of an interconnected system – namely, the tram–, that shaped Mexico City’s contemporary urban pattern. The research argues that the tram system provided the anatomy for the city’s future road system and influenced real estate’s urban expansion during the 20^th century.

Pablo Lazo is currently Director of Urban Development for the World Resources Institute, and for more than decade he was Deputy Director for the British design, consulting, and engineering company ARUP, where he led architecture and urban planning projects in various parts of the world.

This lecture presents the research of a forthcoming publication under the support of Mexico’s Ministry of Culture.