Location: Mexico City, Mexico.

Architect: studio CACHOUA TORRES CAMILLETTI.

The E-Central Building in Mexico City is an eight-story apartment building that houses 20 apartments, each with 60 square meters of inhabitable space. The building is located in a central borough that has started to redevelop as a result of a change in the city’s development plan for the area. The project responds to the need for low-income housing in the area, but the architects wanted to ensure that the design provided its final users with a sense of pride and dignity about their dwellings. The architects wanted to break the orthogonality present in the trace of the streets and the surrounding buildings, but they had to work within the confines of an uncomplicated concrete frame structure and a low budget. They came up with a facade that undulates both horizontally and vertically, making the building seem to change shape depending on the perspective. The concrete walls were stamped with wooden forms to bring out their natural beauty. The housing units were designed for the lowest income levels in the city, but the architects managed to produce a formal and sculptural building within their budget by carefully designing and defining building materials. They believe that building costs are the same for a poorly designed building as for a brilliant one, so they chose to design a brilliant one. The architects believe that architecture should strive to dignify the human condition in any context or scale. They believe that low-income housing projects should not be undignified for their final users, regardless of the budget. They believe that the design should provide its final users with a sense of pride and dignity about their dwellings. They also maintain that appropriation is the only measure of success an architectural project should be judged.

Photo credit: Jaime Navarro.