C·002
ALAMEDA PIER
Status: Competition entry
Year: 2023
Location: Mexico City
Client: Mextropoli
Collaboration with: Licia Joppini
Alameda Pier, is a pavilion presented for the Arquine Competition No.25 in the Historic Center of Mexico City within the framework of the MEXTRÓPOLI Architecture and City Festival 2023.
roof as a market
roof as a EXHIBITION SPACE
roof as a playground
roof as rest area
Our entry wants to bring consciousness and remind the visitors of the history of Mexico City and its fundamental and unique relationship with WATER.
Nowadays is almost impossible to imagine the hydrological system of the canals and the remnants of what was once the great Tenochtitlán and its chinampas.
Our proposal seeks to bring back the TRAJINERAS to the Historic Center and give them a new function.
The trajineras are traditional boats that were used as a mean of transportation in ancient times and that nowadays are only found in the south of the city and are used mainly for touristic and amusement purpose.
The action of relocating them to the Historic Center aims to surprise users who see an object of historical significance belonging to the collective imagination, recontextualized for our times.
Concept
The pavilion is made of six trajineras which are lifted and turned upside-down creating a ROOF that becomes a social activator: it can be used as a playground, a resting space, a covered market, an exhibition area, a forum, or simply a shelter from the sun and rain.
These boats are supported by a wooden structure, and the columns recall the poles used as paddles.
The pavilion is FLEXIBLE in its program and SUSTAINABLE, as it could be constructed using trajineras that are no longer suitable for navigation, or boats that can then return to the canals of Xochimilco, resuming their original functions.
Similarly, the pavilion could be relocated and continue to function after the festival in other locations.
roof as a market
roof as a EXHIBITION SPACE
roof as a playground
roof as rest area
The pavilion is FLEXIBLE in its program and SUSTAINABLE, as it could be constructed using trajineras that are no longer suitable for navigation, or boats that can then return to the canals of Xochimilco, resuming their original functions.
Similarly, the pavilion could be relocated and continue to function after the festival in other locations.
Concept
This urban action seeks to remind the visitors of the importance of how these vessels—recognized as entertainment since the Porfirio Díaz era—were initially essential for life in Tenochtitlán and to provoke reflection on possible RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE MULTIPLE HISTORICAL LAYERS OF MEXICO CITY.
