UEL Unit G 97/98 Unit Trip
Satellite City Towers, Mexico City, Mexico
Degree Unit G 1997/98
The Unit Trip was to Mexico. The real purpose of the trip was to study the work of Luis Barragan, but there were lessons in the juxtaposition of the rigorous architecture and the street life in Mexico City and Oaxaca. Barragan was important because he focused on the subtle manipulation of ordinary architecture, but some of the public works were less ordinary, especially his work in conjunction with the artist Mathias Goeritz - Las Arboledas and the Satellite City Towers - which involved the creation of public spaces using primary geometries. We were fortunate in having an introduction to Humberto Ricalde, Professor at the Universidad Autonomo de Mexico, who arranged extended study visits to Barragan's house and the convent in Tlalpam. Thomas Deckker lectured on the work of Unit G at UAM, and we visited Xochicalco with his students. In Oaxaca, we visted the Santo Domingo Monastery with Enrique Lastra, its architect, and made a trip to Monte Alban. To recover from these studies, we spent 2 days on the beach at Puerto Escondido. The return journey along the washed-out Pacific Highway - dirt roads, pontoon bridges and armed guerillas - was a fitting end to our adventures in Mexico.
Site Studies
UEL Unit G 97/98 Unit Trip
Satellite City Towers, Mexico City, Mexico
Karoline Meyer UEL Unit G 97/98 Unit Trip
Los Arboledas, Mexico City, Mexico
UEL Unit G 97/98 Unit Trip
Los Arboledas, Mexico City, Mexico
Eating Together
UEL Unit G 97/98 Unit Trip
Cantina, Xochichalco, Mexico
UEL Unit G 97/98 Unit Trip
Barraca, Xochichalco, Mexico