Design School in Mexico City

An addition to the IMSS headquarters, Mexico's social security bureau, in Mexico City: a design school that plugs into the existing office building without major changes to its structure. On our studio trip we read the city as a palimpsest, built in layers, with new buildings and materials laid directly against the ones before them. The proposal continues that reading. Studios, classrooms, a gallery, a café and a library stack as blocks on one another and on the IMSS building, a public plaza opens at street level, and a mesh facade drapes over the whole: one more layer of the city.

*Made with Nate Smith

Final model with the mesh facade draped over the stacked program — Model | Final model with the draped mesh facade

Model close-up: sloped floor plates, ramps and trusses — Model | Floor plates, ramps and trusses

Section AA through the design school and the IMSS building — Drawing | Section AA

Ground floor plan with the public plaza — Drawing | Ground floor plan and public plaza

Model detail: brick-clad blocks and the truss bridge — Model | Brick-clad blocks and truss bridge

Section BB, cross section — Drawing | Section BB

Study massing set in the Mexico City site model — Model | Study massing in the city site model

Design School in Mexico City

LA Dance Shed